No. 3 Columbine scores 5 TDs in 5 minutes in win over Highlands Ranch

LAKEWOOD — If you left your seat at Jeffco Stadium for a few minutes Friday night you could very well have missed five touchdowns by No. 3-ranked Columbine.

The Rebels (4-0 record) put up five touchdowns from 1:59 left in the first half to 8:57 remaining in the second quarter to quickly grab a commanding 49-7 lead over Highlands Ranch. The scoring outburst induced a running clock for the remainder of the Class 5A non-league game.

“It got really crazy,” Columbine senior tight end Daniel Althetheuo said after the 49-21 victory. “We found ways to make plays. That was the big thing. If we can find ways to make plays we can win every game.”

Columbine junior Tyree Hayes-Trusty got the incredible run going with a 57-yard touchdown run to open up a 21-7 lead. After an interception by Columbine sophomore Josh Snyder, Rebels’ senior quarterback Brock Zanetell hooked up with Aletheuo for a 26-yard touchdown.

“The play was right, tight, 30, Michigan pass,” Aletheuo said. “The safety came up and it was like the flood gates just opened. I was wide-open. The only thing going through my head was, ‘Don’t get striped.’ I just tucked it and walked into the end zone.”

The Rebels weren’t done through the air. Zanetell hit senior Jacob Clarey for a 58-yard touchdown with 10:46 left in the second quarter to put Columbine up 35-7.

“I’m not going to talk to much against game plan,” Aletheuo joked about the back-to-back touchdown passes. “But, if you can throw the ball it can’t hurt. The offensive line was blocking great and my quarterback was throwing dimes tonight.”

Zanetell had incomplete passes on his first three attempts, but the final two went for scores.

“We have to have more tools in our toolkit,” Zanetell said of his second and third touchdown passes on the season. “The more we have the more teams have to prepare.”

Then it was Columbine’s defense to make its mark. Senior Grayson Headrick snagged an interception and ran it back 20 yards for a defensive touchdown with 9:59 left in the second quarter. A few plays later junior Payton Wainwright and senior Logan Corray teamed up for another defensive score.

Wainwright sacked Highlands Ranch senior quarterback Max Ludwig, who then fumbled the ball. Corray picked up the loose ball and ran in from 10 yards out to make the score 49-7 with 8:57 left before halftime to induce the 40-point mercy rule.

“The whole entire defense came together,” Corray said of the pair of defensive scores. “We realized we had to pick it up and play better. We gave it our all and all of the sudden five touchdowns came.”

Highlands Ranch (1-3) actually tied the game up 7-7 late in the first quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run by sophomore Brayden Larimer, but Hayes-Trusty ripped off his first touchdown run of the night with a 28-yard score after a good kickoff return by Columbine junior Aedan Lowther.

“We came out pretty slow I think on offense and defense,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said. “Then guys made some plays. We broke a couple of long runs and we’ve been working on our passing game all week. It actually kind of worked.”

Columbine’s workhorse running back — senior Seth Cromwell — had a light night with just five carries for 52 yards. He did score the opening touchdown of the game with an 11-yard run midway through the first quarter.

After the big homecoming victory, the Rebels know focus their attention on No. 1 Valor Christian (4-0). Columbine plays at the Eagles’ home field in Highlands Ranch next Friday night in one of the biggest non-league games of the season in Colorado.

“We have been thinking about this next game the whole entire season,” Corray said of facing Valor. “You know it’s going to be a fight next week. Hopefully we’ll come out on top.”