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Summit football trumps Aspen for first win of the season

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Cody Jones

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Cody Jones/Summit Daily News
Felipe Valencia waits for Aspen High School to snap the ball on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. Summit secured its first win of the season with a 19-12 victory.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News

After opening the season on a rainy Saturday afternoon back in August, the Summit High School football team finally got its opportunity to play under the bright lights at Climax Molybdenum Field on Friday, Sept. 19.

With temperatures hovering in the low 50’s at kickoff, Tiger fans from across Summit County piled into the stands and prepared to cheer on the team as it took on a 1-1 Aspen High School football program. 

Summit entered the game with a record of 0-2 after the team fell to Glenwood Springs, 34-23, in week 1 and Canon City, 42-8, last Friday. In need of a huge win, Summit began the game by receiving the ball from the Aspen Skiers.

The Tigers began their first drive by taking a tackle for a loss. Trying to catch the Aspen defense off-guard, senior quarterback Elias Wyatt performed a play-action fake, but was wrapped up in the backfield. Facing third and 14, Wyatt found sophomore Connor Erwin for a huge first down. The deep pass gave Summit momentum, leading to the team bringing the ball over the 50-yard line. 

Summit’s drive was eventually halted by penalties, forcing the team to go for it on fourth down and 10 on Aspen’s 38-yard line. After taking a huge hit on the previous play, Wyatt aired the ball out to Erwin for the passing touchdown. With a successful point-after attempt, Summit led 7-0.

The Summit defense matched the energy produced by its offense. Although the Summit defense allowed Aspen to cross midfield on a lengthy rushing play, senior Henry Eslich came up big for the team on fourth down. Wanting to get the ball back in the hands of his offense, Eslich made a textbook tackle to force a turnover on downs. 

Recording a win against Aspen last fall, Summit’s offense confidently returned back to field for its second drive of the game. Summit tried to move the chains, but ended up punting the ball to Aspen.

After an empty drive from Aspen, the Summit offense quickly gained a first down by handing the ball off to junior Adrian Dominguez. Summit’s pursuit for the end zone was short lived as Wyatt threw an interception, giving the ball to Aspen at the 50-yard line.

Despite the great field position, Aspen could not find a way to slip past the Summit defense. The Skiers settled for a field goal, bringing the score to 7-3.

Following a punt from Summit, Aspen steadily rushed down the field, utilizing the legs of senior Dylan Mika. Aspen’s once-promising drive was staunched by the Summit defense, leading to a punt that was downed at Summit’s 1-yard line. 

Needing to gain some breathing room, Summit put the ball in Erwin’s hands, who hastily moved the chains. Wanting to extend upon the team’s lead before halftime, Wyatt connected with junior Cesar Lozano for a lengthy pass play. 

The completed pass gave Dominguez the jump start he needed to rush for a first down before Erwin brought the ball into the red zone off a screen play. On the doorstep of the end zone, Wyatt found Erwin wide open for the team’s second passing touchdown. 

The Tigers finished the half with Lozano intercepting the ball and bringing it to the Skiers’ 32-yard line. With only five seconds left in the half, Summit went into halftime with a 13-3 lead. 

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Aspen tried to get things going quickly in the second half. The Skiers successfully brought the ball over the 50-yard line, but Summit sophomore Axel Knipp came up with an interception, electrifying the packed stands.

The Summit offense took advantage of the massive takeaway. After Erwin kept the drive alive with a fourth-down conversion, Wyatt found Lozano along Aspen’s sideline for a completion that brought the ball to the two-yard line.

Wyatt then connected with Erwin for Summit’s third touchdown of the game. With a little over a quarter and a half left to play, Summit led 19-3.

It was not long before Summit regained possession of the ball. Feeling Aspen’s energy starting to fade, Summit worked to put more points on the board. The Tigers were able to gain a few yards, but soon punted the ball to the Skiers in the waning moments of the third quarter.

In need of some points in a hurry, Aspen drove the ball to Summit’s side of the field before facing fourth down and five. Aspen found the yard to gain with a short pass play, moving the ball within Summit’s 40-yard line. A face mask penalty pushed the Skiers within the red zone, but the Tigers’ defense clamped down to force fourth down and goal from the nine.

Knowing the team needed a touchdown to keep the game alive, Aspen aired the ball out on fourth down and found the end zone. With a little over six minutes remaining, Summit maintained a 19-9 lead.

The Summit offense returned to the field and began draining as much time off the clock as possible.Handing the ball off to Erwin and Dominguez, Summit managed to drain close to two minutes before having to punt.

What should have been a routine punt for the Tigers went wrong. With Eslich lined up in the backfield as the team’s punter, the snap flew high over his head, resulting in the ball being downed on Summit’s 13-yard line.

The Skiers tried to find the back of the end zone, but the Tigers’ defense produced several tackles in the back field. Aspen knocked home a field goal to bring the score to 19-13 with under three minutes remaining. 

Needing to be careful, Summit chose its plays wisely. Erwin gained a first down on a gutsy run play, carrying the ball over midfield as he did so. Following an Aspen timeout, sophomore Jagger Roberts all but sealed the game with an eight-yard reception.

Summit secured its first win of the season with a 19-12 win over Aspen.

“It was a great team win,” Wyatt said. “We had a couple of mishaps and stuff, but we came together. The defense played amazing. The offense connected. We played a great game. We were 0-2 and it feels amazing to come back like this. We really needed this as a team.”

Summit will now prepare for an away game against Steamboat Springs on Friday, Sept. 26.

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