STEAMBOAT SPRINGS (9/16/16) — Under a full moon in Steamboat Springs, Glenwood’s football team matched its win total of a year ago with a 48-7 thrashing of the Sailors.
The Demons, after dropping a one-point decision against Kennedy in their second game of the season, used a devastating first-quarter ground game to punish Steamboat, which has dropped down to the 2A Western Slope League due to decreased enrollment.
Senior Easton Gaddis led the way in the contest with 128 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, running for two of those scores and 80 yards in the initial quarter as his team made a 21-0 lead look easy.
Glenwood scored on all three of its first period possessions, driving 60 yards in 5 plays after the opening kickoff, capped by a 9-yard TD run from Gaddis. After forcing a punt, the Demons went 68 yards in 7 plays, this time with quarterback Jake Townsley going the final 5 yards. An interception by Erwin Rodriguez set Glenwood up at midfield, and after first down runs from Gaddis and Townsley moved the ball to the 8, Luke Gair picked up five before Gaddis finished the 5-play, 51-yard scoring drive from the 3 yard line, for a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
The Glenwood defense, featuring a 16-yard sack from Stephen Romero and Juan Felan, held the Sailors to a net 11 yards and one first down while the Demons gained 170 rushing yards, along with 11 first downs.
The Demon offense was slowed by penalties in the second period, but the defense added a pair of scores on a 20-yard interception return by Felan and Rodriguez took the carom 15 yards for a touchdown after Jake Brown blocked Canon Reece’s punt.
Leading 34-0 at halftime, it took less than three minutes for Glenwood to initiate a running clock after a sack by Burley Quoetone set up a 4-play, 48-yard scoring drive with Gaddis going over from the 6 for a 41-0 lead.
After Alex Trejo’s seventh of eight kickoffs, the Sailors snapped the ball over QB Nate Roach’s head and covered it at their five yard line. But Roach had the ball knocked loose on the next play with Romero recovering in the end zone for the Demons’ final score with 6 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Tyler Deitrich booted his 6th of seven PAT attempts to make it 48-0.
The backups took over for Glenwood the rest of the way, and running back Ford Louden, who’d been held to two yards on five carries, switched to quarterback, breaking off two long runs, setting up Kaden Mendonca’s two yard score with 2:19 left in the game.
Townsley added 99 yards on 11 carries to Gaddis’s 135 to complete a one-two ground punch that made the Demon QB’s 3-of-10, 17-yard passing game irrelevant. The defense keyed four scores and held Steamboat to 26 net yards with four turnovers.
Next Friday Glenwood, now 1-2, hosts 3A Harrison in another non-league contest with an opportunity to surpass last season’s win total.
