GLENWOOD SPRINGS (10/3/14) – With the Devils knocking on the Demons’ Homecoming door, the Glenwood defense dug in for a four-down stop inside the ten yard line, and though the stand came just a few minutes into the second quarter, it proved critical in what turned out to be a 42-0 victory waltz.
Before the goal-line stand, the Demons led 21-0 on a series of heroics by Evrett Marr, who ran in a touchdown from the eight, caught a perfectly thrown pass in stride from Dante Sparaco for a 64-yard touchdown, and set up Sparaco’s 1-yard TD with an interception at midfield, returned to the Devil 17 on the last play of the first quarter.
But Eagle Valley (4-2, 1-2 WSL), which came in having won 4 of its first 5 games and averaging 32 points a game in its double-wing offense, mounted a convincing 9-play, 74-yard drive, featuring five first downs that set the Devils up with a first-and-goal inside the Demon ten-yard line. A pitch gained 3 to the seven, and Riley Rowles bulled up the middle to the four before Cristian Gonzalez chased quarterback Harrison Stevens down on a bootleg at the two. On fourth down, Stevens tried an option to the right but Chase Nieslanik wrapped him up for no gain.
The Demons (4-2, 3-0 WSL), couldn’t add to their 21-0 lead before halftime, but the long drive coming to naught seemed to deflate the Devils, who managed just 42 net yards in the third quarter. Most of those came on a 10-play drive that was halted when Gonzalez and Sam Carver sacked Stevens for an 8-yard loss on 3rd-down at the Demon 43. The snap to punter Xavier Mendoza went through his legs and was covered at the Eagle Valley 28. Sparaco went up the middle for 9 yards, then Marr did the rest, taking the ball down to the 7, where he scored his 3rd TD of the game with 2:55 left for a 28-0 Demon lead.
On the Demons’ next possession, Sparaco completed a 21-yard pass to Luke Prosence out of the backfield, and hit tight end Nieslanik for a dozen yards to the Devils 32. Then the sophomore QB executed a nice counter fake and broke free through the right side for the final 32 yards and a touchdown with 45 seconds left in the quarter. Robert Hiles, who was a perfect 6-for-6 in point-after kicks for the game, booted the Demon lead to 34-0.
Glenwood started a running clock after getting the ball back in the 4th quarter when Marr’s halfback pass for 45 yards to Jake Townsley set up Sparaco’s 3rd touchdown of the game from the 5 with 7:33 remaining.
The defense held Stevens to just 18 yards passing, sacked him 3 times, and in addition to the pick by Marr, Matt Osier, and Tristan Harris had interceptions. Prosence led the Demons with 70 yards rushing on 12 carries. Sparaco had 56 yards on 8 attempts, and Marr added 42 yards and two TDs on 8 runs and caught 5 passes for 94 yards, including the 64-yard touchdown.
Glenwood, which cracked the 3A state top ten after defeating Palisade last week, will travel to Delta (4-2, 2-1) next Friday. The Panthers were the number-three ranked team prior to their 36-19 loss at home to Rifle (6-0, 3-0) Sept. 26. Rifle and Glenwood are both 3-0 in Western Slope League play with Palisade and Delta next at 2-1.
