Football roundup: Mullen storms back to beat Fairview

Mullen rallied from down 23-0 at halftime to stun Fairview with a 37-30 win in a top-10 game in Class 5A football on Friday.

The second-ranked Mustangs scored right as the second half opened, and though No. 8 Fairview answered to make it 30-7 in the third quarter, Mullen just wouldn’t quit. It was 30-14, then 30-22, and then it was tied.

Finally, with 2:16 remaining, the Mustangs took their first lead of the game. It was 37-30, with Mullen scoring 30 unanswered points.

Fairview did have a final drive, but Mullen turned the Knights away.

Marcus McElroy had three touchdowns for the Mustangs.

(9) Holy Family 43, (8) Mead 35

Holy Family picked up a big top-10 win this season that moved the Tigers into sole possession of first place in the Tri-Valley League.

“We talked about what it would take to put ourselves in a situation to win a league championship, and they responded really well,” Holy Family coach Mike Gabriel told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “It was a great battle.”

Holy Family led 9-0 after the first quarter, and 22-13 at the half. But Mead kept fighting, and kept the game close until the end.

In fact, Mead had one final drive that Holy Family had to turn away.

“With a few seconds left, they still had a shot,” Gabriel said. “Our kids responded to put it away.”

3A: (9) Sterling 27, (6) Weld Central 13

Not only did Sterling hand Weld Central its first loss this season, the Tigers also snapped their 12-game winning streak, which was the longest in the state.

“It was good battle across the board, two teams that kind of wanted it pretty bad,” coach Rob Busmente told the Scoreboard Show. “It came down to two plays that we were fortunate enough to be able to capitalize on.”

Sterling led throughout, going up 7-6 after the first quarter, and 20-13 at halftime and after the third quarter. The Tigers added another score early in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.

Sterling is now 5-3 following an 0-3 start, and sits in first place in its league, the Patriot East, at 4-0.

“It’s been good, it’s been fun,” Busmente said. “The kids have been showing a lot of resiliency and a lot of perseverance to go through some of those things. We ran a pretty tough gauntlet there at the beginning with some of those top teams.

“We were able to come back and regroup and put a pretty good push here toward the end,” he added. “Hopefully we can keep riding this momentum as we’re riding out the season.”

2A: (7) Bayfield 23, (5) Delta 7

Bayfield broke open a close game on a pick-six early in the fourth quarter, and is now 6-2.

The game was tied at 7 at halftime.

“I thought our team came prepared to play,” coach Gary Heide told the Scoreboard Show. “We just felt that if we stayed with it play by play by play, that we would be the one to make the plays in the second half.”

“They are one tough team,” Heide added of Delta. “They are going to be reckoned with in the playoffs.”

Notables

Longmont Christian beat Mountain Valley 71-20, snapping an 18-game losing streak that dated to the 2013 season. (Longmont Christian didn’t field a team last season.) Stay turned here as QB Luke Puchino broke the state passing record last week.
3A No. 1 Discovery Canyon very narrowly avoided a massive upset with a 35-34 win against Canon City. The Thunder got a 99-yard kickoff return for a score from Josh Tomjack in the game, but had to rally from down 31-21 in the third quarter to win.
Lakewood’s Brock Miller also had a 99-yard kickoff return for a score against Poudre. Lakewood edged Poudre 35-33.
No. 3 Meeker won a big clash in 1A by topping No. 2 Paonia 12-7. “It was a defensive struggle most of the night,” Cowboys coach Shane Phelan told the Scoreboard Show. “It’s been a long drought against Paonia. … Our kids just played hard. We’ve got a bunch of good, tough hard-nosed kids.”
Pueblo West recently dropped from the 4A football rankings, but the Cyclones may soon be back: They upset No. 8 Mesa Ridge 31-17.
1A No. 6 Peyton is now 8-0 following a 35-8 win over Buena Vista. “We’ve been talking about it since June, about how good this football team could be,” coach Richard Deems told the Scoreboard Show. “The kids have grasped it.”
8-man No. 3 Akron beat No. 8 Haxtun on a Hail Mary, 48-43.
There were two top-10 matchups in 6-man: No. 10 Eads upset No. 4 Cheyenne Wells 36-34, and No. 7 Hi-Plains knocked off No. 3 Stratton/Liberty 61-50.
In 1A, Olathe trailed Hotchkiss 21-0 in the second quarter, but rallied to win 28-21 in overtime.