PARKER — New money trumped old blood on Thursday night in the Battle of the Rock.
Castle View trailed 16-0 within the first six minutes against Douglas County, but the Sabercats didn’t blink. Instead, they rattled off 37 unanswered points, running the ball at will and notching a slew of impressive defensive stops to dominate the rivalry at EchoPark Stadium.
The 37-16 outcome once again affirmed the stronger football program in Castle Rock. After Douglas County won the first three match-ups in the cross-town rivalry from 2012-14, Castle View’s now won eight of the last 10.
“We knew they were going to come out firing, because we already had the trophy from last year and they had nothing to lose,” Castle View senior quarterback Derek Gordon said. “But we knew if we kept swinging, they would give up. And we told our running backs, ‘You’re going to get the rock a lot. Better tote it.’ They did a great job, and our line killed it.
“I think we ended up making another statement (in this rivalry).”
Douglas County raced out to its big lead before the Sabercats offense even had a chance to touch the ball. Early on, it looked like it could be a blowout the other way.
On the game’s opening possession, DC junior quarterback Aaden Parsons found junior receiver Nolan Case wide open on 3rd and 15. Case reeled in the pass and then outraced everyone to the endzone for a 75-yard TD reception.
Then Castle View committed a blunder on the ensuing kickoff, when senior Jeremiah Craft attempted to reverse the field after getting the ball. But he ran backwards into the end zone and slammed into the backjudge, falling down for a safety as a gang of purple corralled him. That made it 9-0.
After the Sabercats punted, Douglas County again found the endzone on third-and-long. This time it was on 3rd-and-goal from the 12, when Parsons rolled out on a play-action boot and pass to Cameron Cayou. The senior tailback then powered through a Sabercats defender to get into the endzone, giving Douglas County a 16-0 advantage.
That prompted the purple faithful to hit the Castle View student section with the “why so quiet?” chant. But the Sabercats sideline wasn’t rattled, and posted 16 straight points of their own to tie the game before halftime.
First, Castle View put together an impressive 80-yard drive highlighted by several long runs and capped by senior Aaron Perry’s three-yard scoring scamper. That would set the tone for the night as DC consistently failed to stop the run.
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Source:: The Denver Post – Sports
