No. 1 Pine Creek rolls over No. 5 Durango in 4A football
MONUMENT – This game didn’t live up to its hype.
Pine Creek, ranked No. 1 in the latest Class 4A CHSAANow.com poll, didn’t allow its match-up against No. 5 Durango to have any drama.
The Eagles scored on their first six possessions to speed past the Demons 41-3 in a Pikes Peak League game Friday night at Don Breese Stadium.
“We are building and when you are going towards what we want you can’t have any bad investments,” Pine Creek coach Todd Miller said. “We have to have every practice (be) worth it and we have to get out there and we did a good of putting everything together this week.”
The Eagles, who have won back-to-back 4A state championships, improved their record to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the PPL. Durango dropped to 7-1 overall and 2-1 in the PPL.
The Eagles dominating performance didn’t come as a surprise as this was their 33rd victory in a row. It was also their fourth win over a top-5 opponent this season.
University Nebraska-bound JoJo Domann started with a flurry for Pine Creek recovering a fumble on Durango’s first play from scrimmage, giving the Eagles first and 10 at the Demons’ 4-yard line. Two plays later Domann ran in for a 3-yard score at the 11:10 mark.
That was a sign of things to come.
After a Durango three-and-out, the Eagles marched 40 yards, culminating with a 15-yard scoring pass from junior Brock Domann to his brother JoJo Domann to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead with 7:27 left in the first quarter.
“We wanted to make a statement and when we play Pine Creek football and we prep the way we did this week in practice no one can stop us,” said Brock, who completed 10-of-12 passes for 184 yards and four touchdowns.
JoJo Domann also thrilled with how things transpired early and often for the Eagles.
“It all goes to our preparation in what we put into the week,” the 6-foot-1, 212-pound JoJo said. “It obviously showed (Friday night).”
On the next drive, Brock Domann zipped a 19-yard TD to Joseph Celestino to extend Pine Creek’s advantage to 21-0 with 3:58 remaining in the first.
The Eagles unveiled another weapon when it got the ball back as senior running back DeAndre Toliver raced 71 yards down the left sideline for a score on – putting the Eagles up 28-0. Toliver had 106 yards rushing on eight carries.
Pine Creek’s scoring binge kept going when the Domanns hooked up again – Brock to JoJo for a 26-yard score at 7:24 of the first.
“It’s great,” said Brock about playing with his brother. “I know I will always have an open receiver and it is fun to play with your brother for sure.”
JoJo concurred with Brock.
“It’s awesome (playing with him), but he’s just trying to hit the open guy and if it comes to me I will just try and make a play on it,” said JoJo, who had four receptions for 63 yards and two scores.
Celestino joined in the barrage again when he made a 7-yard touchdown reception with 4:02 left in the half to start the running clock as the Eagles were up 41-0.
Durango did avoid the shutout when Nick Jernigan knock in a 29-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. The Demons ended up with 185 yards of offense – 132 through the air by quarterback Terrence Trujillo, who was 10-of-29 passing with one interception.
