Lightning Beats Lambkins 19-13 to go to 2-0

Legacy DE Bookends Ryan Paulson and Nick Kasa pressure Ft. Collins QB Cody Donaldson

As Reported in the Coloradan by Hap Fry

WESTMINSTER - Caleb Spaulding emerged from the North Field locker room Friday night with this proclamation.

"Man, it was a lot of fun out there," he said.
Spaulding's definition of fun probably differs from most. After all, the Fort Collins High School junior banged heads with some of the biggest offensive and defensive linemen the state has to offer in Legacy.

But Spaulding and his teammates learned Friday that they can stand toe-to-toe with anyone.
Fort Collins nearly pulled off the upset but fell short against Legacy, losing 19-13. "You don't want to ever say you're happy after a loss, but I'm just so proud of how the kids played," Fort Collins coach Eric Rice said. "They stayed with it and just kept battling. I really feel good about this."

Legacy (2-0, 2-0 Front Range League) entered the season as the prohibitive favorite to win the FRL and also features the state's top recruit in 6-foot-7, 255 pound offensive/defensive lineman Nick Kasa. Kasa was a fixture in the Fort Collins' offensive backfield, but he knows that the Lightning must make improvements to realize its ultimate goal of winning a league and state title. "It shouldn't have been this tough," Kasa said. "We should have done a lot better, especially on offense. We did not play our best."

That might be true, but Fort Collins' defense deserves a lot of credit for forcing the Lightning to punt six times.

Sophomore cornerback Jade Ariaz returned an interception 24 yards for a touchdown to give Fort Collins (1-1, 1-1 FRL) a 6-0 lead with 5 minutes, 37 seconds left in the second quarter.
Legacy countered on the very next possession with a 38-yard TD pass from Luke Bublitz to Bryson Romero to take a 7-6 lead. It was a prelude of things to come.

With the game tied 13-13, Bublitz and Romero struck again with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter, this time on a 36-yard TD pass that gave the Lightning the lead for good.

"I was thinking it never should have come down to this, and then I started thinking that we had to make a big play," Romero said. "I was supposed to run this funky banana route and end up right in the end zone. Luke threw this perfect pass right over the cornerback's head, and it worked out perfectly."

Fort Collins was able to tie the game 13-13 thanks two big plays from quarterback Cody Donaldson. The senior quarterback zigged-and-zagged his way for 48 yards on the first play and then hit a diving Chris Ranglos with a 10-yard TD pass four plays later on fourth down to tie the game 13-13 with 5:05 left.

Fort Collins had another chance to tie or win the game with under two minutes to play after forcing and recovering a fumble.

Donaldson hit Andre Alvarez with a 22-yard pass to put the Lambkins in Legacy territory. But four plays later, on fourth-and-four, Chris Ranglos was stopped two yards short of the first down to end Fort Collins' comeback hopes.

"They were (blitzing), and we had a screen called," Rice said of the fourth down play. "We were a shoestring tackle away from having a chance to win the game. But shoulda, coulda, wouldas will kill you. If you say those a bunch, you end up having a 2-8 season.

After Friday night, it does not appear a 2-8 season is on the horizon for the Lambkins.
"There were so many guys who stepped up," Donaldson. "It's disappointing that we came up short, but we gained a lot of confidence. We're all ready to go next week for Boulder."