Football roundup: Doherty knocks off No. 6 ThunderRidge for first win

Brian Mosley rushed for three touchdowns to help Doherty football pull off a big upset of previously unbeaten and sixth-ranked ThunderRidge on Friday night.

“We knew this was going to be a four-quarter fight, and it came down to the last minute of the game,” Doherty coach Jeff Krumlauf told CHSAANow. “ThunderRidge is truly a top-10 program in the state right now. They have some special kids and some great coaches. For us to be down by 14 and sustain a course was huge for us on a high level.”

The Spartans entered the week winless at 0-4, but had played the second-toughest schedule in the state according to the RPI, with losses to Cherry Creek, Mullen, Pine Creek and Fairview to open the season. All have been ranked in the top-10 at some point this season.

On Friday, Doherty rallied from down 14 to take a 21-14 lead at halftime, thanks to two scores from Mosley, and a defensive fumble return for a TD.

In the end, the Spartans were able to hold off a rally from ThunderRidge, which had started the season 4-0.

Colorado PrepsCast

A recap of Friday’s games:

1A: (2) Limon 36, (1) Strasburg 6

Limon led 21-0 early, taking that lead into the break, before Strasburg made it 21-6 after three. But the Badgers only added to the margin in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our kids were really ready to play; I think they were excited to play,” coach Mike O’Dwyer told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “With our win that we had last week against Meeker, our kids got a little bit of confidence playing against a really good team. And obviously Strasburg is also a great team, and I think they were really looking forward to the challenge.”

Hauk Hubbard led Limon with 111 yards rushing and two scores, while Celby Hollenbaugh also had a rushing touchdown. Cannan Bennett also threw a touchdown pass for Limon.

The game was briefly interrupted in the second half when the sprinklers came on.

“You don’t see it too often,” O’Dwyer said. “I think that was the second time in my career I’ve seen that happen.”

Limon limited Strasburg to just 15 yards rushing. Strasburg entered the game averaging close to 200 yards per game.

The Badgers rushed for 291 yards themselves.

4A/3A: (4A 4) Montrose 21, (3A 2) Palisade 17

MONTROSE — Fourth-ranked Montrose won 21-17 in front of a full house on Friday night.

The game went back-and-forth all night. Palisade grabbed a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, but Montrose cut it to 10-7 on a 85-yard interception return for a touchdown from Cauy Boulder with 23 seconds left in the half.

Montrose grabbed its first lead when Cole Simmons scored on a two-yard run in the third quarter, but Palisade responded with a rushing score from quarterback Cam Tucker with 8:34 to play.

The ensuing kickoff went out-of-bounds, giving Montrose the ball at their own 35. They then used a clock-chewing drive to score the winning touchdown with 40 seconds left. Again, it was Simmons who scored, this time on a six-yard rush.

“We beat a good team,” Montrose coach Brett Mertens said afterward. “Cauy Boulden’s interception was big for us. We had some young kids step in and play the line and they did a great job.”

“We had some young kids fill in on the line and they open holes for me,” Simmons said.

— Tom Hoganson

6-man: (1) Stratton/Liberty 77, (2) Otis 6

The Knighted Eagles flexed their muscles in a matchup of 6-man’s top two teams.

Stratton/Liberty raced out to a 61-6 lead at halftime.

A photo gallery from the game is available here.

Radio: Stratton/Liberty, Palmer Ridge, Rifle emerge victorious

Notables:

5A No. 7 Eaglecrest quarterback Dylan James rushed for three touchdowns as his team cruised to a 5-0 start this season with a 50-14 win over No. 8 Arvada West.
Pueblo West led 4A No. 9 Pine Creek 9-0 at halftime, but the Eagles scored 21 unanswered points to win 21-9. The turning point was a muffed punt return in the third quarter that set Pine Creek up with a short field, and led to their first touchdown.
Alameda defeated Valley 51-43 to end an 18-game losing streak.
Fountain-Fort Carson sophomore Alexisius Jones Jr. rushed for 340 yards and four touchdowns in his team’s 58-18 win over Overland.
6-man: In a win over No.4 Flagler/Hi-Plains, freshman Yahir Enriquez rushed for six touchdowns and 292 yards on 22 carries for No. 8 Idalia. He also threw a touchdown pass, and caught another. He had 383 all-purpose yards. “Everything was clicking for us,” Idalia coach Colby Newton told the Scoreboard Show.
2A No. 10 Kent Denver scored a tying touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:42 to play in regulation, then went on to beat Pueblo Centennial in overtime, 34-28.
Hinkley football is now 4-0 after a 30-14 win over Sand Creek. Hinkley was 1-19 over the past two seasons, and has won more than three games in a season just once since 2004.
Steamboat Springs football cruised to a 40-7 win over Hotchkiss in their first game in their home stadium after it was renovated.
5A No. 5 Grandview had its way with Mullen, beating the Mustangs 56-3.
In 1A, No. 6 Centauri beat No. 10 Buena Vista 41-7.
In 8-man, No. 6 Holly edged No. 8 Fowler 29-28. “It was crazy,” coach Dayne Eaton told the Scoreboard Show. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a game where the kids were playing that hard against each other.”
Fort Collins beat Poudre in overtime, 20-14. The Lambkins had led 14-0 at halftime, and Poudre rallied to tie it and send it to OT.
Vista PEAK is now 4-0 in 4A after beating Aurora Central 30-14. This is the best start in the seven-year history of the program.
6-man: Granada and No. 5 Cheyenne Wells traded scores seemingly every other minute in a shootout, one that saw Granada ultimately pull off the upset win 74-64.
Emmanual Heurta rushed for three touchdowns to help 1A No. 5 Wray beat Brush 26-7.
Noah Roper scored three touchdowns on just seven carries as 3A No. 1 Erie topped Canon City 55-7. He also recovered a fumble.
Denver East quarterback Myles Patterson threw for 242 yards and three scores in a 44-6 win over Mountain Range. The Angels are now 4-1 after going 2-8 last season. It’s their best start since they opened 6-1 in 2014.
In a matchup of returning champions, 3A No. 6 Palmer Ridge beat Pueblo South 45-14.
Joshia Davis, a running back who missed the past three games with injury, made his return for Valor Christian in a 27-0 win over Menlo Atherton (Calif.). He had six carries, and scored a touchdown.