AURORA | Locked in a low-scoring battle with Fort Collins Friday night at Legacy Stadium, things changed quickly in favor of the Cherokee Trail football team.
Coach Justin Jajczyk’s Cougars scored back-to-back touchdowns in short order in the third quarter and tallied 20 unanswered in the pivotal stretch of the game to come away with a 27-13 victory that evened their record at 2-2.
Sophomore Noah Collins finished with 111 yards rushing and scored a two-yard touchdown to break the tie midway through the third quarter and sophomore Eliot Ming connected with sophomore Peyton Sommers on a 25-yard touchdown pass seconds later after a turnover as the Cougars quickly gained separation from the Lambkins (1-3)
Senior defensive back Kalib Davis had a 39-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter to give Cherokee Trail a 20-point lead that gave it plenty of cushion to absorb a late Fort Collins touchdown.
Ming finished with 159 yards passing and also had a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior Noah Greer in the second quarter for the Cougars, who were stopped on a fourth-and-goal at Fort Collins’ 3-yard line earlier in the period.
Cherokee Trail closes out non-league play with a 7 p.m. Sept. 23 game at Legacy Stadium against Castle View (1-3).
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHEROKEE TRAIL 27, FORT COLLINS 13
Score by quarters:
Fort Collins 0 7 0 6 — 13
Cherokee Trail 0 7 13 7 — 27
SCORING
Second quarter
Fort Collins — Nicky Maguire 16 yard pass from Ez Campos (Joel Lopez kick)
Cherokee Trail — Noah Greer 10 yard pass from Eliot Ming (Nate Gilmore kick)
Third quarter
Cherokee Trail — Noah Collins 2 yard run (kick blocked)
Cherokee Trail — Peyton Sommers 25 yard pass from Ming (Gilmore kick)
Fourth quarter
Cherokee Trail — Kalib Davis 39 yard interception return (Gilmore kick)
Fort Collins — Maguire 21 yard pass from Griffin Daknis (kick failed)
