Cougars held scoreless against resurgent Skyline

Both student sections were loud and rocking last Friday night, as the Niwot football team hosted cross-town rival Skyline at Everly-Montgomery Field, the Longmont venue that serves at the home stadium for both teams. Coming into the game, these programs found themselves in similar, if unfamiliar territory. Both have returned to Class 4A after two years in 3A. Both have second-year head coaches. And both are experiencing their first winning seasons in years.

But just one of them would win on Friday night. Following the game, it was Skyline students who would stream onto the field in celebration of their team’s fifth consecutive victory, a 28-0 shutout of the Cougars. It was Niwot’s second consecutive loss, with turnovers and other mistakes continuing to hamper their offensive attack.

“Defensively, we played better,” Head Coach Dylan Hollingsworth said. “But missed reads and mishandled balls and things like that really hurt us on offense.”

Skyline got on the board quickly, when Falcons sophomore quarterback Nate McGregor ran it in from 24 yards out just five plays into the game. The PAT was successful, putting Skyline up 7-0 less than two minutes into the game. Skyline added a 25-yd rushing touchdown by senior tailback Nate Higgins as the quarter ended, giving the Falcons a 14-0 lead going into the second quarter.

Junior Trae Gomez started under center for the Cougars, but was unable to generate much positive yardage during two drives in the first quarter. Junior Matt Baun, who platooned with Gomez throughout the game, was also stymied. On defense, the Cougars held the Falcons scoreless in the second quarter, and the Cougars went into the break down just two scores.

However, Niwot’s offense sputtered during the second half as well, despite some short-field chances, including first down on the Skyline twenty yardline, courtesy of back-to-back Falcon penalties. Gomez threw two interceptions, the first of which led to Skyline’s third touchdown, and the second of which cut short a promising Niwot drive. Baun, was also held in check in the half, and the running game was virtually nonexistent.

“We have to do a better job preparing this week,” Hollingsworth explained. “They did some things that caught us off-guard on offense, and we didn’t have an answer.”

The Falcons added a fourth touchdown with less than five minutes remaining in the game, and the final score was 28-0. Skyline moved to 5-0 on the season, while Niwot is now 3-2.

Despite the two straight losses, Hollingsworth said his team is not getting discouraged.

“We’re fine,” he said, when asked about his players’ frame of mind. “We just have to get it together mentally.”

Next week, Niwot will face the Brighton Bulldogs for their first conference game of the season. Though Brighton has yet to win a game in 2016, Hollingsworth says his team is preparing for a tough match-up.

“They’re looking for their first win,” said Hollingsworth. “That makes them dangerous.”

Skyline 28, Niwot 0

Skyline (5-0) 14 0 7 7 — 28

Niwot (3-2) 0 0 0 0 — 0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING —.Niwot: Baun 7-24, Hollingsworth 6-7, Gomez 5-7, Jensen 4-5, Oelsner 1-1.

PASSING —Niwot: Baun 11-18-1-67, Gomez 2-8-2-19.

RECEIVING —Niwot: Hollingsworth 3-29, Oelsner 3-13, Kolakowski 3-8, Nielsen 2-21, Helgeland 1-9, Jensen 1-6.