FRISCO (10/23/15) – It was a night for firsts on a snow-soaked field in Frisco as Matt Osier and his Glenwood Springs teammates defeated Summit, 27-13. Osier, a senior, had never scored a varsity touchdown and the Demons were seeking their first win of the season as they played their first game ever on Climax-Molybdenum field.
On the Demons’ first play from scrimmage, Osier burst 58 yards through the Tiger defense to put Glenwood ahead 6-0 just under two minutes into the game. That was an indication of more to come, as Osier added two more scores and finished with 206 yards rushing.
Summit, which has now lost seven straight since winning its opening game, played as though it had nothing to lose, going on 4th down nine times in the contest. The first of those attempts was stopped on Summit’s own 35 yard line following Osier’s breakaway. Glenwood took advantage of the field position, with a big assist from a Jake Townsley-to-Sam Liotta shovel pass that helped overcome a holding penalty. Osier scored again from 14 yards out, giving the Demons a 12-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
With sophomore quarterback Vale Hildebrand twice scrambling for first downs, Summit used five minutes to drive to Glenwood’s 40, but Nick Lippman stripped the ball with the Demons’ recovering. However, three plays later, Townsley returned the favor with Jason Tilley taking his fumble 40 yards for a touchdown on the last play of the quarter.
Hildebrand‘s two-point conversion pass was intercepted in the end zone by Townsley, leaving Glenwood ahead 12-6.
Following the kickoff, the Demons fumbled again at their 40, and sophomore Riley Beck took over at quarterback for Summit. The switch paid immediate dividends as Beck completed passes to Tilley and Hildebrand, setting up a 15-yard draw play for a TD by Drew Chastain. Beck’s extra point kick barely cleared the crossbar, giving Summit a 13-12 lead just three minutes into the second period.
The Demons took their own 4th-down gamble as Townsley needed 6 and gained 7 to the Tiger 27. The Demon QB also converted a 3rd-and-7 down to the 16 and Osier did the rest, breaking tackles for his third touchdown of the half. Townsley passed to Sonny Reynolds for two points and a 20-13 advantage with 4:14 until halftime.
Summit used all but those 14 seconds in picking up two fourth-down firsts, reaching the Demon 27. Beck misfired on four straight passes to sink the drive.
Glenwood attempted to put the game away on its first drive of the second half, running for four first downs, but came up a yard short on 4th-and-3 at the Tiger 23. The Demons forced just the second punt of the game by Hildebrand, but failed on another 4th down attempt inside the 30. However, the wet conditions contributed to another turnover with Herbie Vega recovering Chastain’s fumble at the 30.
Four plays later, Townsley dashed 12 yards on a quarterback draw with Vega’s kick giving Glenwood a more comfortable 27-13 lead with 1:45 left in the quarter.
On Summit’s next possession, Hildebrand fielded a low 4th-down snap in his own endzone, but scrambled free down the right sideline 22 yards for a first down. However Beck was intercepted by Jack Ries on the next play.
Continuing the turnover-exchange trend, Sam Hull picked off Townsley’s 4th-down attempt at the Tiger 24.
Summit controlled the ball for the next seven minutes, with Hildebrand again running 20 yards out of punt formation – this time from the Tiger 19, but after four first-downs, the drive died at the Glenwood 16.
The Demons answered with five first downs of their own before taking a knee to end the game and their seven game losing streak.
In addition to Osier’s dominating game, Townsley added 108 yards rushing and completed 4-of-9 passes for 51 yards.
After the exhilaration of breaking into the win column, the Demons face a top-ten challenge in Rifle next week.
