Football roundup: Alamosa knocks off No. 1 La Junta in 2A

Alamosa and new coach Drew Sandlin have a signature win early in the 2019 season.

The Mean Moose knocked off defending Class 2A champion and top-ranked La Junta 22-6, on the road, no less. It put an end to La Junta’s 14-game winning streak, which had been tied for the longest in the state.

Alamosa led 7-0 at the half, and pushed it to 14-0 midway through the third. La Junta returned an interception for a score later in that quarter, but then Alamosa scored again, securing the win.

8-man: (5) Mancos 48, (3) Merino 34

Trailing 8-0 after the first quarter, Mancos rallied to score 18 consecutive points in the second quarter to build a lead. The Bluejays continued the momentum in the third quarter, and ultimately fended off a late rally to secure the top-5 win.

“We made a lot of mistakes in the beginning,” Mancos coach Josh Gardner told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “And one of the messages I was trying to get to our boys last night at the hotel, and today, was you’re going to make mistakes, but you have to forget about it, you have to move on. And so at halftime, we just kind of sat together and talked about it. We said, ‘Hey, you made mistakes, that’s ok. You’ve got to forget about it, and you’ve got to move on.’ And I think that was the difference. We were able to move on from those big mistakes.”

Chase Moore had three rushing touchdowns, including a 52-yard score in the second quarter which got the scoring started for Mancos, and a 39-yarder early in the third quarter that made it 24-16.

Anthony Medina had two rushing scores, while Breccen Morelli had a score through the air and on the ground.

Mancos pushed its lead to 34-16 as the fourth quarter started. Two quick touchdowns from Merino made it 34-28. Morelli threw a 74-yard touchdown with four minutes to play to put Mancos back up two scores, but Merino responded with a score with less than two minutes to play, making it 40-34.

Medina then added his second rushing score, a 57-yarder, in the final minute to make it 48-34.

“It was pretty crazy,” Gardner said. “Merino was a hard-fighting team, and they just could not let us get any distance. They fought real hard, we fought real hard, and yeah, it was a little wild and crazy at the end.”

Mancos is now 2-0 this season.

“We’re trying to change the mentality of our program,” Gardner said. “We’re trying to be as confident as we can be. We’re trying to just play with a positive attitude, and just keep our spirits high, and you’ve just got to forget when you make mistakes because everyone makes mistakes.”

3A: Frederick 21, (7) Erie 20

Frederick won its rivalry contest against No. 7 Erie thanks to this stop of a two-point conversion attempt:

Frederick gets a stop on the 2-point conversion and defeats Erie 21-20 🏈 Miner’s Trophy returns to the Warriors! @BoCoPreps @CHSAA @Warriors_of_FHS pic.twitter.com/AUrvK5D2Uq

— Frederick GBB (@FrederickCOgbb) September 14, 2019

Frederick coach Travis Peeples told the Scoreboard Show that it was “a great night to be here. A great win.”

The Warriors, now 2-0, were led by quarterback Jake Green.

“He kind of took the game over,” Peeples said. “He was a big difference tonight in getting us the win.”

Of the late two-point conversion stop, Peeples said: “We kinda were ready for what they were going to do, and we prepared all week for it. … It was exhilarating. The crowd, it was a packed house, and it was just an unbelievable win. Our kids kinda willed themselves to win the game. They wanted this really bad for our community and our school.”

BoCoPreps has a full recap of this game.

And here are highlights of the game from 9News.

3A: (4) Green Mountain 28, (2) Palisade 14

Green Mountain 28 Palisade 14 Final @CHSAA @neildevlin @MaxPreps @CHSAANow @ColoHSFootball @coloradopreps @postpreps @9Preps rams complete game upset the #2 team on the road. pic.twitter.com/xD2IucOcNT

— Luis Cedillo (@LTRAIN01) September 14, 2019

Green Mountain quarterback Trey Towndrow threw four touchdown passes, two each in the first and third quarters, as the Rams went on the road to secure a big win.

“It was a great win, a great battle,” Green Mountain coach Jesse German told the Scoreboard Show. “Our kids, they just hung in there and they just kept fighting.”

Palisade tried to rally late, but Green Mountain wouldn’t let the Bulldogs get back in the game.

“Huge win for us,” German said. “Super proud of our boys just to keep fighting and finishing that game.”

On Towndrow, German added: “He’s one of the top quarterbacks in the state, and really one of the top athletes in the state. I think he’s a game-changer for us.”

Here’s a recap of the game from the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

3A/4A: Sand Creek 21, Cheyenne Mountain 6

Following this win over Cheyenne Mountain, Sand Creek has matched its win total of the the previous four seasons combined.

The Scorpions, led by first-year coach James Everett, are 2-0 for the first time since 2013.

“This is exciting, man,” Everett told the Scoreboard Show. “The school is behind us, the community is behind us. We had a packed house tonight. we had guys outside of the gate watching the game. It was a nice atmosphere to be in tonight.”

Here’s a recap of the game from the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Notables

As they celebrate their 100th season, 1A No. 1 Limon opened a new football stadium and pressbox on Friday night. They beat Crowley County 46-7:

Beautiful night for Badger Football in Limon as we open all new bleachers, pressbox and legacy brick walkway at Gaskill Field! Limon is celebrating its 100th season of Football! @CHSAANow @RhondaCHSAA @CoPreps @limonathletics @LimonLeader pic.twitter.com/qCFu5eybwx

— Craig Bailey (@CraigBailey2001) September 14, 2019

In 1A, Pagosa Springs knocked off No. 5 Centauri 28-20.
4A No. 8 Ponderosa also made a stop on a two-point conversion attempt to seal the top-10 win at the end of the game, beating No. 10 Windsor 24-23.
An upset in 6-man, where Granada knocked off No. 8 Eads 54-46. “It was a hard-fought victory,” coach Manuel Gonzales Jr. told the Scoreboard Show. “We had just enough in the tank to pull it out.”
Top-10 matchup in 6-man: No. 2 Fleming 55, No. 7 Peetz 18.
Another top-10 game in 6-man: No. 6 Prairie 48, No. 10 Briggsdale 28.
5A Arapahoe won the Milk Jug against rival 4A No. 9 Heritage, 9-7. Photos from that game are here.
Longmont beat Fort Collins in overtime with a stop on a two-point attempt. The Trojans won, 36-34. Sage Yazzie had five total touchdowns.
5A No. 2 Cherry Creek won its annual rivalry game with Mullen, 34-0. Here’s a photo gallery.
Woodland Park ended a 13-game losing streak by beating Sierra 51-0.
Liberty football went 0-10 last season, and has now started 2-0 after being Pueblo Centennial 21-8. It’s the program’s first 2-0 start since 2015.