LONGMONT — Joey Foot has been a weapon for Longmont football from the moment he stepped onto Everly-Montgomery Field three years ago, but another cannon was lying in wait within his family the entire time.
On Friday night during their 48-28 win against Skyline, the Trojans unveiled the newest firecracker in their arsenal with Joey’s younger brother, Jacob. The freshman wide receiver made the Falcons pay on explosive play after explosive play, eventually ending his night with 278 yards and three touchdowns.
He accrued 108 yards before he ever touched the end zone. Those first-half scoring plays came through a 71-yard run, followed by a 50-yard catch from senior quarterback Kolby Holmes. That was just the beginning. The Foot brothers — the Feet? — gave Skyline’s defense fits all night long.
“I definitely look up to him. He’s a leader,” Jacob said of his brother. “He’s also fun to play with. Itap a blessing to be able to get to play with him. The two games prior to this one were a little rough, but I definitely worked all week and we bounced back.”
Joey finished his night with 142 yards and two scores, as well, while senior quarterback Kolby Holmes added 168 passing yards and four touchdowns.
Skyline junior quarterback Servando Morales accounted for much of the Falcons’ offense, airing out 176 yards while netting another 155 and a rushing touchdown with his own feet. He served as the bright spot for a winless team thatap still learning to fly under first-year coach Justin Vogt.
“Itap mainly fundamentals,” Vogt said. “Itap just teaching them how to catch the ball, how to run the ball, how to block, tackle. Our tackling has been struggling, but we’ve been doing some tackle circuits and working hard. We talked about their why this week. Why are they playing the game? They’re playing for their family and not being selfish and playing for each other.”
The Trojans started the game on shaky ground, when the Falcons robbed them of a touchdown with a fumble on the 1-yard line, but they recovered with grace just a few minutes later with a forced fumble and recovery of their own.
The teams traded six turnovers in the first half alone, but most favored the Trojans. They got on the board first with a 12-yard run from Ben Starkel as time expired in the first quarter. The Falcons met them tit-for-tat five minutes into the second via a 21-yard connection between Morales and Johnny McCray.
That was as close as the Falcons would get.
The Trojans passed the pylon three more times before the end of the half, but none were more impressive than their final drive. Logan Johnson forced a Skyline fumble with 1:09 on the clock, then converted it into a score 35 seconds later with that 50-yard torpedo from Holmes to Jacob Foot.
Longmont led 27-6 at the half, but the Falcons put together a fearless drive to open the third quarter. On a fourth-and-20, following two straight false starts and a scramble, Morales launched a perfect 40-yard throw to McCray in the end zone.
Skyline completed the two-point conversion to draw within two scores of the Trojans, but that didn’t sit right with Joey Foot. He punched in another 2-yard score following a five-minute Longmont drive. The Trojans blew past the Falcons after that.
Longmont, now 2-6, will make the long haul to Grand Junction Central next Friday with its eyes on CHSAA’s Class 4A Selection & Seeding Index. Prior to its victory over the Falcons, it sat at No. 28, just four spots outside of playoff qualification.
The Trojans hope to make their case during the last two weeks of the regular season.
“As bleak as itap been, we’re in the playoff hunt because of our strength of schedule,” Longmont head coach Doug Johnson said. “We got a game to win and after we win a game, then we can worry about winning another game. Because of our strength of schedule, we’re (four) seeds out of the playoffs right now, which is shocking, but we’ve played some really, really good teams.”
Skyline, meanwhile, will resume its search for its first win of the season at Adams City on Thursday.
“We just need to be more consistent with what we do,” Morales said. “We’re going in the right direction.”
