LONGMONT — The recipe for success at Longmont is pretty simple.
And even minus several key starters on the offensive side of the ball, the Trojans has subscribed to the whole “next man up” theory and really haven’t skipped a beat.
On Saturday, coach Doug Johnson’s team wrapped up their second consecutive Longs Peak League crown with a 45-14 win over a good Greeley West squad at Everly Montgomery Field.
“The thing that I am most proud about is the guys that stepped in a did a super job,” said Johnson, who pointed to freshman quarterback Oakley Dehning, running backs Logan Goodner and Kobe Martin and guard Drew Willyard as vital cogs.
“I’m just super proud that we could execute with those guys.”
Longmont (9-0 overall, 3-0 in the league) wrapped up the league title with the win and will try and sweep the league next Thursday night in Loveland against Thompson Valley. Greeley West drops to 6-3 overall and 1-3 inside the league.
Things got interesting for the Trojans late in the third quarter. After turning the ball over on downs on their first possession, they watched the Spartans march 61 yards on 11 running plays for a score. Tre Gonzales’ second touchdown of the game made it a 21-14 with 2:59 to play in the third.
“Our league man, every single game has been tough,” Johnson said. “here we are playing two 6-2 teams to finish out the league. You know we won the league today, but what a dogfight.”
Longmont had an answer and a decisive one at that. Six consecutive runs from the trio of Ethan Gabrielle, Dehning and Eli Sullivan spiked the lead back up to 14 points and took a lot of air out of the Greeley West comeback.
“We knew if we stuck to our stuff and blocked well and put our nose right in their chest that we would come out victorious,” said Sullivan , who finished with 116 yards on 12 carries, including a 50-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.
Up 31-14 after a Cooper Rothe 36-yard field goal, Longmont, just 15 seconds later, closed the door on the Spartans. Rothe intercepted Greeley West quarterback AJ Lopez and returned it back to the Spartans 5-yard line. On the next play, Dehning scored.
“We knew they were a good team and had to power to knock some people off,” Sullivan said. “But we weren’t going to let that happen.”
In addition to Sullivan’s big day on the ground, Dehning also topped the century mark with 102 yards on 17 carries. All totaled, Longmont rushed for 402 yards.
Dehning was efficient throwing the ball, completing half of his eight passes, including a tipped ball that lineman Telvin Townsend reeled in for a 9-yard catch-and-rumble on the last play of the first half.
Jon Yunt: yuntj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/JonEYunt
Longmont 45, Greeley West 14
At Everly Montgomery Field
Greeley West (6-3, 1-3)
0
7
7
0
—
14
Longmont (9-0, 4-0)
14
7
7
17
—
45
First quarter
Longmont — Eli Sullivan 50 run (Cooper Rothe kick).
Longmont — Sullivan 3 run (Rothe kick).
Second quarter
Longmont — Oakley Dehning 3 run (Rothe kick).
Greeley West — Tre Gonzales 3 run (Alex Silva kick).
Third quarter
Greeley West — Gonzales 8 run (Silva kick).
Longmont — Ethan Gabrielle 9 run (Rothe kick).
Fourth quarter
Longmont — FG Rothe 36.
Longmont — Dehning 5 run (Rothe kick).
Longmont — Kobe Martin 47 run (Rothe kick).
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Greeley West: Nick Trujillo 10-112, Darren DeLaCroix 15-83, Tre Gonzales 12-43, Aron Krautschun 6-35, Devin Sirio 1-(minus-2), AJ Lopez 4-(minus-19). Longmont: Eli Sullivan 12-116, Oakley Dehning 17-102, Ethan Gabrielle 8-62, Logan Goodner 5-60, Kobe Martin 2-57, Cooper Rothe 1-5.
PASSING — Greeley West: Lopez 4-13-1-46. Longmont: Dehning 4-8-1-63
RECEIVING — Greeley West: Caleb Vannest 1-27, Israel Carlos 1-14, DeLaCroix 1-9, Gonzales 1-(minus-4). Longmont: Sullivan 1-33, Kelvin Townsend 1-17, Telvin Townsend 1-9, Gabrielle 1-4
