No. 3 Montrose football gets top-5 win over No. 5 Fruita Monument

No. 3 Montrose football raced out to a 17-0 lead, and went on to grab a big top-5 win over No. 5 Fruita Monument on Thursday.

Montrose won the Class 4A matchup, 24-12.

“I thought our defense played outstanding, so credit the defensive coaches and kids for executing the game plan,” Montrose coach Brett Mertens said. “I thought we ran the ball effectively in the first half.”

After a 27-yard field goal from Landon Ruiz Diaz to open the scoring in the first quarter, Montrose got the ball back and made it 10-0 on Chris Eckerman’s four-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.

Montrose then forced Fruita Monument to punt, and drove 74 yards down the field for yet another touchdown. It was Eckerman again, this time scoring from 12 yards.

In the third quarter, Montrose pushed its lead to 24-0 on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Keagan Goodwin to Cauy Boulden.

Fruita Monument’s Zach Rush threw for a touchdown and rushed for another in the loss.

“Montrose did a good job of switching their strength, which took our defense time to adjust,” Fruita Monument coach Cameron Ross said. “Overall, they executed better then we did on both sides of the ball.”