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Balanced Tigers run past Aspen, 28-7

Devon O'Neil
Summit Daily/Brad Odekirk
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FARMER’S KORNER – When sailing into uncharted waters, it sure is nice to have a host of capable skippers.Behind 262 yards rushing from seven different running backs, and a pair of aerial touchdowns from quarterback Jimmy Stein to tight end Mike Holloway, the Summit High School football team routed Aspen 28-7 at home Friday night to improve to 2-1 overall and remain unbeaten (2-0) at Tiger Stadium.Nobody associated with the victory could remember seeing the Tigers enter Week 4 with more wins than losses. What’s more, nobody associated with the victory was resting on its laurels.”I’m thrilled,” said third-year SHS coach Rob Royer, whose team finished 1-9 last year. “But the first thing I told the team is, we’re not satisfied with two wins.”Summit opened the scoring with a 78-yard march punctuated by senior tailback Brandon Ives’ 29-yard touchdown scamper 8:41 into the first period. After breaking through the right side of the line, Ives outran the Skiers secondary to reach paydirt for the first time this season.

Aspen countered with a 9-play, 69-yard scoring march of its own, and monstrous fullback Jacob Welsh did much of the damage. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Welsh carried six times for 41 yards, and bulled into the end zone from 10 yards out. Then he kicked the extra point to give his team the lead (SHS went for two and failed after its score).Not wishing to be upstaged in front of their home crowd, the Tigers took just two plays to strike back. After sidestepping the rush, the senior Stein found his classmate Holloway wide open behind the secondary and hit him in stride with a perfect spiral for his first career touchdown pass.”I knew if I just stood in there, he’d be open,” Stein said later.The duo connected again three minutes into the second half when Stein, rolling to his right and nearing the sideline, hit his tight end at the last second for a 7-yard TD on 4th and 3.Stein, who came out in the fourth quarter with a bruised wrist, completed five passes for 100 yards in what was his best game of the season.

Much to Summit’s delight, Aspen stopped giving the ball to Welsh as the second half wore on, despite his early success.Instead the Skiers went to the air to try to get back in it. But SHS safety Sean Star picked off two second-half passes and Summit continued to control the ball on the ground offensively, keeping the clock moving and never allowing Aspen another chance.Junior Cameron Chapman put the icing on the cake for the Tigers with a 10-yard scoring sprint up the gut midway through the fourth quarter. Then he plunged in for the 2-point conversion to make it 28-7.The matchup between Summit and Aspen was the first meeting between the two skiing powers in recent years.”We came out not knowing what to expect,” said Ives, who finished with a game-high 73 yards on 12 carries. “It’s just really cool that we stepped it up. The (offensive) line was doing a heck of a job all game.”



Senior Nick Nilsen contributed to the rushing dominance of the Tigers, zipping to and fro for 71 yards on 11 carries and adding 31 yards on a kickoff return. Pat Dooney chipped in with 41 yards on the ground, and Robert Phipps added 38.Junior Jordan McCarthy stepped up with 32 yards on two catches and a kick return of 39 yards.The Tigers host another mountain rival, Battle Mountain, in their Homecoming game next Friday at 6 p.m.Devon O’Neil can be contacted at (970) 668-3998, ext. 231, or at doneil@summitdaily.com.


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