Steamboat Pilot &Today • Sunday, November 11, 2007 | 3C

“I thought, it’s gonna be hard,’ so it was just reaching down, grabbing your heart and playing with that,” Parrott said.

Tigers readyA difference in intensity was

apparent from the start. It took the Hayden defense three plays to shut down Byers, and then the Hayden offense took just nine plays to march 65 yards — on six carries from running back Russell Waugh and a 34-yard scramble from quarter-back Mitch Doolin — to put the Tigers on the scoreboard first.

“That was a good first drive to get things rolling and give us some confidence,” Hayden head coach Shawn Baumgartner said.

The Tigers and Bulldogs traded hard hits that led to short series, with neither team making it deep into the other’s territory until Byers freshman quarterback Jordan Dodge, an ace with nearly 1,300 pass-ing yards on the season, finally connected on a pass and Byers running back James Maes finally started cracking into the Hayden secondary.

On six quick plays, the Bulldogs went 68 yards on the ground, in the air and onto the scoreboard. But they did not convert their ensuing two-point conversion pass attempt.

Hayden answered before the half by showing that when it had to the pass, it could. Tight end Aaron Haskins reeled in

a tipped pass that led to a 31-yard gain, and then Waugh connected with Coy Letlow on a halfback pass. Doolin capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Treyben Letlow, whose older brother Coy kicked in what would prove to be the winning score on an extra-point kick.

Coy could’ve upped the ante even further with his 99-yard interception return with two minutes to go in the first half, but the play was called back on an illegal blocking penalty.

“We wasted opportunities and made too many mistakes against a very good football team,” Byers coach David Dodge said. “They did a nice job with the play action and we did not do a good job recogniz-ing — that’s a credit to their coaching staff and kids.”

In the airNo one who had seen the

up-the-gut, on-the-ground, rush-oriented 2007 Tigers play this season would have recog-nized the white-and-orange-jer-seyed team that came out in the second half. Doolin used four receivers and completed seven of eight pass attempts for 80 yards.

“Our receivers were stepping up, and our seniors were mak-ing plays,” Doolin said.

One of those plays was a one-handed, 28-yard catch sucked in by senior receiver Sam Kopsa to keep a third-quarter drive alive.

Despite the big plays and the big breaks — Hayden’s next

drive was salvaged by a rough-ing-the-kicker call — Hayden could not capitalize with a touchdown.

Fortunately, the Tigers caught a break to start the fourth quarter when Mitchell VeDepo recovered a fumble by Byers’ Sevelle Hasan on a punt return.

Hayden got as far as the Byers 11-yard line. Hasan then redeemed his turnover on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrim-mage, taking a screen pass from Dodge 89 yards to the end zone.

Hayden assistant coach Bob Harris said this game would likely come down to extra points, and sure enough, both crowds held their breath as Maes tried to pile-drive up the middle on a two-point conver-sion to tie the game with four

minutes to go.Hayden shut down the rush. The Tigers then orchestrated

a final, smash-mouth drive to kill the clock, highlighted by another crucial Coy Letlow fake punt that secured the Hayden win.

“That’s the toughest game we’ve had all season,” Haskins said. “All around, they were great. The line was huge, and they were hitting hard.

“This is the best feeling I’ve ever had,” he continued. “Now it’s nothing but giving every-thing we’ve got for another week.”

On the other side of the playoff bracket, No. 6 Wray upset Western Slope League champion Grand Valley, 20-19 and will play its semifinal at No. 2 Limon, which defeated No. 10 Highland 39-20.

Hayden continued from 1C

Haskins: ‘That’s the toughest game we’ve had all season’

Hayden Byers 17 First Downs 551-171 Rushes-Yards 18-9412-20-0 Comp-Att-Int 4-17-1135 Yards Passing 157306 Total Yards 2514-40.7 Punts-Avg. 7-37.42-2 Fumbles-lost 1-13-35 Penalties-Yards 3-30

SCORE BY QUARTERSByers 00-06-00-06—12Hayden 07-07-00-00—14

SCORING SUMMARYFirst QuarterH – 6:28, Russell Waugh 1 run. (Coy Letlow kick).Second QuarterB – 8:22, James Maes 5 run. (pass fail).H – 3:07, Treyben Letlow 5 pass from

Mitch Doolin. (Coy Letlow kick).Third QuarterNoneFourth QuarterB – 4:08, Sevelle Hasan 89 pass from Jordan Dodge. (run fail). INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushingH: Coy Letlow 25-100; Waugh 17-48, 1 TD; Doolin 7-20; Aaron Haskins 2-3.B: Maes, 13-69, 1 TD; Ben Lloyd 5-25.PassingH: Doolin 11-17-0, 135 yards, 1 TD; Waugh 1-3-0, 9 yards.B: Dodge 4-17-1, 157 yards, 1 TD.ReceivingH: Haskins 4-46; Waugh 3-29; Sam Kopsa 1-28; Coy Letlow 2-20; Treyben Letlow 2-12, 1 TD.B: Hasan 2-109, 1 TD; Maes 2-48.

Game statistics

SPORTS

Big DExcluding the last 10 minutes

of the fourth quarter, Saturday’s game was all about defense.

Fossil Ridge, which came in giving up just more than 10 points a game, proved why it has one of the best defensive squads in the state.

The SabreCats limited the Sailors to 57 total yards in the first half, and 241 in the game. Steamboat came into the game averaging 214 yards rushing, including more than 350 yards in each of the previous four games.

Saturday, Steamboat finished with 68 yards rushing on 29 attempts.

“That’s the best defense we’ve seen all year,” Finch said of Fossil Ridge. “That was the best core of linebackers. We’re used to using our speed, and they kept right with us. We’re used to getting out to the outside, but their linebackers were so fast.”

When Steamboat couldn’t get anything going on the ground, the team found a niche through the air.

It started with Alex Wood’s 39-yard touchdown pass from Austin Hinder, just one minute into the fourth quarter, to tie the game at 6.

Hinder threw for 151 yards in the second half, after tallying just 28 yards passing in the first half.

Wood caught 12 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown.

But whenever Steamboat got any momentum, Fossil Ridge took it right back.

After Steamboat’s first scor-ing drive, for example, Leistikow turned a seemingly harmless quarterback sneak into his 71-yard touchdown play.

After a Sailors drive came up empty, an errant Fossil Ridge pitch gave Steamboat a chance, and the ball, at the SabreCats’ 5-yard line.

Two plays later, Steamboat senior running back and defen-sive end Jay Hanley scored from two yards out to tie the game at 13.

Fossil Ridge, which came into the game 3-2 in games decided by less than eight points, had one last shot.

Inches awayOn the eighth play of the

SabreCats’ last drive — a fourth-and-two play — Leistikow faked the handoff, rolled to his right, faked the Sailors defend-

er who was covering Ochwat, and then lofted a perfect toss into Ochwat’s hands.

But Steamboat was not done.

With only 54 seconds left and the ball at its own 22-yard line, Steamboat drove all the way to the Fossil Ridge 5-yard line.

After a swing pass to Wood produced a 5-yard loss, Steam-boat had one more chance with five seconds remaining and 10 yards to go.

Hinder dropped back and just overthrew a fade route to Joe Dover in the back left side of the end zone.

“We let up a couple of big plays and that’s what matters in the playoffs,” Hanley said. “They’re a good team, but we shouldn’t have done that.”

The loss ends the season for Steamboat. While it certainly wasn’t the way the team wanted to go out, most of the seniors said it was still a successful sea-son after starting 1-2.

“We went out with a bang. It could have gone either way,” senior Ben DeLine said. “I’ll always have good memories from this. All throughout the season, no one ever quit.”

— To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com

Steamboat continued from 1C

SabreCats limit Sailors to 241 total yards during entire game

Steamboat Fossil Ridge10 First Downs 1029-68 Rushes-Yards 43-25617-25-1 Comp-Att-Int 1-9-0179 Yards Passing 41241 Total Yards 2976-39 Punts-Avg. 5-451-0 Fumbles-lost 5-35-35 Penalties-Yards 1-10

SCORE BY QUARTERSSteamboat 00-00-00-13—13Fossil Ridge 06-00-00-14—20

SCORING SUMMARYFirst QuarterFR – 4:10, Mike Lamb 46 run. (Kick fail.) Second QuarterNoneThird QuarterNoneFourth QuarterS – 10:12, Alex Wood 39 pass from Austin Hinder. (Kick fail.)FR – 8:42, Brain Leistikow 71 run. (Craig Knoll kick.)S – 3:59, Jay Hanley 2 run. (Ben DeLine kick.)

FR – :59, Landon Ochwat 41 pass from Leistikow. (Knoll kick.) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushingS: Hanley 8-22, 1 TD; Hinder 12-21; Joe Dover 4-(-2); Fraser Egan 5-29.FR: Leistikow 8-71, 1 TD; Lamb 16-114, 1 TD; Sean Romero 3-2; Adam Follett 9-49; Brad Ballinger 7-20. PassingS: Hinder 17-24-0 179 yards, 1 TD; Wood 0-1-1.FR: Leistikow 1-9-0 41 yards, 1 TD. ReceivingS: Wood 12-115, 1 TD; Dover 3-60; Jack Spady 1-5; Matt Lettunich 1-9. FR: Landon Ochwat 1-41, 1 TD.

Around the leagueIn addition to Steamboat, two of the other three teams to make the playoffs from the Western Slope also lost on Saturday. Second-seeded Glenwood Springs was upset in overtime by Sterling, 28-27. Rifle lost to top overall seed Falcon, 37-21, while Palisade — the No. 5 seed — beat D’Evelyn, 42-31.

Game statistics

ring of his own.Along with fellow Steam-

boat Springs alumni Zack Savage and Westin Cofer, Zimmerer has helped Mesa State to a 9-1 record this season.

While a RMAC title’s out of the picture — Mesa lost to No. 3 Chadron State, 7-6, on Oct. 27 — the former Sailors still have their eyes on mak-ing the Division II playoffs.

Mesa State currently is holding the sixth spot in the Southwest region. The top six teams from each of the four regions advance into a 24-team playoff bracket.

“This year has made it all worth it,” Zimmerer said. “It’s my senior year, and throughout my five years I’ve seen players come and go. Of the guys that I came in with, there are only four of us left. Everything’s come full circle. It made it more meaningful.”

Sailor prideWhile Zimmerer has been

entrenched at a guard or tackle spot since his soph-omore year, the other two Steamboat players are serv-ing different roles for Mesa State.

Savage is seeing time on the offensive line and actually is backing up Zimmerer.

Cofer is redshirting this year and starring on the defensive scout team.

“It’s different,” said Cofer, who originally was expected to see playing time on special teams and at linebacker as a true freshman, before decid-ing to take a redshirt to get bigger. “The size and pace of

the game is a lot faster. You’ve got to learn more techniques, but I think I can definitely play at this level.”

Although there are just three Steamboat players on the Mesa State roster, the Mavericks are loaded with players from the Western Slope. Zimmerer and Cofer both said they regularly talk with players they used to compete with.

Both said it’s because of Mesa State head coach Joe Ramunno’s connection to the Western Slope.

Ramunno — whose broth-er John coaches Eagle Valley — also graduated from Steamboat Springs High School and won a state cham-pionship while playing for the Sailors in 1979.

“Anybody who played foot-ball or has gone to Steamboat knows how big of a charac-ter Ramunno is,” Zimmerer said. “If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have come to Mesa State. He’s a phenomenal guy and a phenomenal coach. He makes it comfortable.”

While Mesa State won’t know its playoff fate until today — the No. 7 team in its region, Tarleton State, plays third seeded West Texas A&M — it’s certainly safe to say that Steamboat has had a big impact on the Mavericks’ program this year.

“Our destiny isn’t entirely in our own hands,” Zimmerer said. “But we want to make the playoffs. That’s always the goal.”

And if things go right, that goal might just include a ring for Zimmerer’s finger.

— To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com

Alumni continued from 1C

Coach a draw for players

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