No. 3 Columbine rumbles past No. 9 Cherokee Trail

LAKEWOOD — The story continues to be the same year-after-year … Columbine is pretty at running the football, maybe the best.

Longtime Rebel football coach Andy Lowry doesn’t look to mix in the latest offensive scheme trend. Three yards and a cloud of dust is just fine with him.

“It starts up front and our backs and blocking for each other,” Lowry said. “We have our commitments as backs. No. 1 is you better block and No. 2 is you have to carry out fakes, after that you have to take care of the football. Our guys are working hard. Those guys all had great nights.”

Columbine showed off its latest version of its classic physical running attack Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium in a top-10 showdown against Cherokee Trail. The No. 3 Rebels took care of business with a 52-21 victory over the No. 9 Cougars.

The Rebels (2-0 record) scored seven rushing touchdowns with senior Seth Cromwell and junior Tyree Hayes-Trusty leading the way. Cromwell and Hayes-Trusty combined for 34 carries for 414 yards and six touchdowns on the night.

Lowry also handed out credit to the Rebels all stellar offensive line and sophomore James Cillessen who filled out Columbine full-house starting backfield.

“This might be one of the deepest backfields we’ve had in a long time,” Lowry said. “I’ve got about eight dudes that I can run in and out right now. It’s kind of hard to give them all reps right now.” 

Hayes-Trusty began the scoring capping off an opening 74-yard touchdown drive with a 2-yard touchdown. His second touchdown came on a 24-yard run early in the fourth quarter that pushed Columbine’s lead to 38-14.

Cromwell dominated the first half with 11 carries for 180 yards and three touchdowns before halftime. He scored his fourth touchdown midway through the fourth quarter after Hayes-Trusty gashed the Cougars’ defense for a 58-yard run.

“We just had to run it down their throats,” Cromwell said. “We do some specific plays to open up specific gaps and that is what happened.”

The Rebels’ back-up running backs were impressive late with sophomore Josh Snyder scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run in the final minutes. Columbine scored on eight of its nine offensive possessions, punting just once and not turning the ball over.

“This is all we do at practice…trap, trap trap and run, run run,” Cromwell said. “We have to be good at it.”

Cherokee Trail (1-1) did have some success on offense. Quarterback Logan Brook had a pair of first-half touchdowns to Jack Pierce — 59 and 3 yards. Brook was guiding the Cougars on a nice drive to start the second half with the Cougars trailing 31-14, but Columbine senior Grayson Headrick came up big intercepting Brook in the red-zone. 

“I pushed the receiver I had toward the sideline and when I turned around I saw the ball to my left,” said Headrick, who allow kicked a field goal to end the first half. “I just made a play on the ball and was right were I needed to be for that pass.”

The Cougars could only manage a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brook to tight end Gage Gordon for their lone score after halftime.

Columbine heads to Las Vegas next week to face Faith Lutheran next Friday night.

“This will be the first time I go to Vegas and I won’t lose money,” Lowry joked. 

The Rebels are focused on mainly pocketing a third victory to start the season.

“It is a business trip. We might have a tiny bit of fun,” Headrick said. “We want to make sure we win first.”

Cherokee Trail is back home to face Far Northeast next week.