LONGMONT — Well, at least one of them was ready for some football.
In only the second regularly scheduled Monday night game in Colorado annals, Class 4A Longmont had no trouble handling 5A Arvada West 43-7 in nonleague play at Everly-Montgomery Field.
While Longmont, a state quarterfinalist a year ago and ranked No. 4 in The Denver Post’s new 4A media poll, generally did whatever it wanted early and often, A-West, featuring several new players, went the other way.
The two programs played Colorado’s first regularly scheduled Monday night game a year ago — A-West won 38-7 — and both will resume action Friday in Week 1 after scrimmaging just a few days ago in a fairly wild scheduling stretch.
But the worst thing about it, Trojans quarterback Forrest Wetterstrom said, may have been the half-dollar-sized brush burn near his left elbow that he was certain would hurt in the shower.
“Even playing Monday, every game is Friday night football for us,” he said. “We just wanted to come and execute, and we remembered last year.”
The Trojans, a regular 4A challenger, were convincing. Wetterstrom, a junior, ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. Braden Hitchcock ran for a touchdown and caught one from Wetterstrom. Longmont’s lines were solid, and its defense laid more than a few loud licks on the Wildcats, who fell under the mercy rule (running clock after a lead of 40 or more points) with 8:08 remaining in the third quarter.
“I’m a little bit shocked, but I was very pleased with the way our kids played,” Longmont coach Doug Johnson said. “I thought we game-planned from last year’s tape and what we were going to see . . . and, man, they really got after us last year. We wanted to make a better showing.”
Meanwhile, A-West showed its inexperience. The Trojans scored the first three times they had possession; it would have been four if not for a fumble at the ‘Cats’ 2-yard line. They didn’t get a first down until 7:08 before halftime. Bad long-snapping, ineffectiveness up front and poor offensive execution were part of a trying equation.
“No doubt, it snowballed,” coach Casey Coons said. “All that stuff . . . (the Trojans) are physical. We just have to keep it together and try to get better. If we do that, we can be more competitive.”
Arvada West 0 0 0 7 — 7
Longmont 20 7 16 0 — 43
L — Fowler 8 run (Bergner kick). L— Wetterstrom 2 run (Bergner kick). L — Hitchcock 41 pass from Wetterstrom (kick blocked). L — Fowler 9 run (Bergner kick). L — Wetterstrom 5 run (Bergner kick). L — Hitchcock 12 run (Bergner kick). L — Safety, ball snapped out of end zone. AW — Petrie 12 pass from Culhane (Lucernoni kick).
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
