BROOMFIELD — Broomfield’s football team has made a habit of statement wins this season, and Friday night against a nearby rival was no different.
In the toughest contest to date for Class 4A’s second-ranked squad, the Eagles consistently outmatched No. 10 Erie, both offensively and defensively. In the end, they put the Tigers away, 35-14.
To date, the Eagles have put up 202 points on their opponents and hadn’t won by fewer than 33 before coming face-to-face with Erie.
“I think right now, we’re playing as a family,” Broomfield head coach Blair Hubbard said. “We’re playing as a team. There’s a lot of buy-in across the board that started back in December, in January. They’ve been building together and we’re on a march right now and hopefully, we can keep marching through the season.”
Broomfield senior quarterback Cole LaCrue passed for 141 yards as he collected four rushing touchdowns. Senior running back Ryland Boehmer added 134 offensive yards and his own touchdown on the ground.
On the other side of the ball, Erie’s junior quarterback Blake Barnett threw for 128 yards, including a strange touchdown. Sophomore running back Gavin Lusk accounted for the other score, adding 81 yards to his name.
“They did a lot of good stuff,” LaCrue said. “Offensively, they got Blake and they got Caden Lettis and a bunch of guys that are real D-I dudes. We were thinking about this game from last year, 50-21, I think was. They just pounded us and we’ve been thinking about this for a year, we had a great week of practice, a great week of preparation for these guys.”
The Eagles soared to a quick start when, on their first drive, LaCrue ran the ball just 4 yards into the end zone. He repeated that feat twice more before the end of the first half, scoring nearly all of Broomfield’s 21 points in the first 24 minutes.
His defense consistently kept the Tigers on their toes as it forced two turnovers, a fumble and an interception, both of which eventually led to LaCrue touchdowns.
Erie kept pace with the Eagles through much of the first half, even putting points on the board in unique fashion.
At the 8:12 mark in the second quarter, Barnett connected with senior wide receiver Caden Lettis, who then fumbled the ball a couple of yards forward before recovering it in the end zone for a touchdown. That 29-yard play pulled the Tigers within seven before Broomfield increased its lead once more.
“That was just a rough one for me,” Lettis said. “I don’t know, I caught it. And then he slapped it down and I just wanted that touchdown so bad that I had to go get it.”
The Eagles led 21-7 at the half and showed no signs of stopping, but the Tigers found ways to slow them down. Each team managed to put up a touchdown in the third quarter, as Broomfield’s Boehmer and Erie’s Lusk both stepped up for their teams.
With the win, the Eagles stayed perfect while Erie, who played its third top-10 opponent with Broomfield, fell to 1-3. The Tigers will look to rebound when they host Windsor next Friday while the Eagles will look to continue rolling when they head to Brighton on the same night.
Lettis believes that, though his team has yet to achieve that second win, the Tigers are trending in the right direction as they face unforgiving team after unforgiving team.
“I think they’ve handled it well and I think it’s forced us to really look at ourselves and make sure we’re competing with the little things and getting better at the little things,” Erie head coach Jeff Giger said. “Last year, I think (Chatfield) caught us in a state championship game, because when you win, sometimes you overlook a lot of things. When you lose, you got to really self-reflect.”
