CRAIG (10/11/12) — Nothing was going Glenwood’s way in the second half of an unusual Thursday night game at Moffat County. A 22-point lead had been cut to ten heading into the fourth quarter, and the Demons’ thriving first-half offense was without a first down until handed one on a Bulldog penalty.
Glenwood’s playoff hopes barely had a pulse when Travis Lundin completed his first pass of the second half, across the field to Grant Fegan. Then Lundin turned a 4th-and-8 scramble into a first down that helped provide a 35-18 victory on a night when the two teams combined for 200-plus yards in penalties.
The Demons had lined up to attempt a 27-yard field goal with 5:26 left in the game. But Glenwood’s sensational first-half had slid to a flag-infested halt and the Bulldogs, fueled by Bubba Ivers’ 55-yard TD pass on the last play of the second quarter, and another score in the third period trimmed the lead to 28-18.
Lundin explained the time out and change of plans this way: “We thought we saw something with Cole (Adams),” so Lundin rolled out left, “but they man’d him (Adams) up, so I just ran it,” eight yards to the one. On the next play, Henry Hill scored his third touchdown of the game to cap a 13-play drive that consumed 5:12 and clinched the victory.
Hill had a superb first quarter, rushing for 104 yards and two touchdowns as the Demons took a 14-0 lead with 5:44 to go in the period. But then came the flags — six hankies in the remainder of the quarter.
After a 17-yard Glenwood punt to start the second quarter, Mike Samuelson covered 54 yards in 5 carries, cutting the lead to 14-6 with a burst up the middle from the 31.
The Demons answered when Lundin hit Caiden Sorensen in stride at the 10 for a 34-yard touchdown. With just 21 seconds to go before the half, that combo clicked again, concluding a 75-yard drive with a 22-yard TD pass and a 28-6 lead.
Ivers’ herclean heave to Jaret Walt slowed the Demon momentum.
Glenwood had just six net yards and lost a fumble that set up another Samuelson score in the third quarter placing their playoff chances nearly on life support.
More critical than the game’s outcome was an injury scare to Glenwood’s Collin Schriber who was taken to the hospital for precautionary examination following a helmet-to-helmet collision with Samuelson. As he left the field on a stretcher, Schriber gave his teammates two thumbs up, but play was understandably subdued for a while after the 20-minute time out with 4 minutes left in the third quarter.
Eventually Josh McKee’s 4th-down sack of Ivers halted the Bulldogs in Glenwood territory. After an exchange of punts, Lundin and his mates recovered to put together the 13-play, game-clinching drive in the final quarter.
For the game, Lundin completed 11-of-21 for 152 yards, most going to Sorensen, who had 5 catches for 96 yards and two TDs. Hill finished with 151 yards in 28 carries, despite gaining just 12 in the second half.
The playoff drive for Glenwood (3-4, 3-3 WSL) goes on hold for a week as the Demons travel to Evergreen (3-3, but with a 17-10 win over number-two Conifer) for a non-league game next Friday.
