On a cold night at Dutch Clark Stadium, no. 15 Pueblo South Colts hosted no. 17 Lewis-Palmer in a battle of 3A Pikes Peak opponents.
With a win, the Colts would enter the final week with a chance to win the league title. In the event of a loss, the Colts would find themselves in a situation where they would need to win next week to solidify their playoff position.
In a back-and-forth game, the Rangers dominated the Colts 28-26 to take the lead in the Pikes Peak League.
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The Colts fail to come back
“I thought it was a very solid effort from our guys,” head coach Ryan Goddard said after the game.
“We never stopped playing. When we needed a stop, we had to stop,” Goddard said. “We had to go 98 yards to score there at the end. We had some opportunities; we did a few plays throughout the sequence. We didn’t win enough.
Pueblo South came into this game looking to make a statement, not only to the league but to all of Class 3A. They were ready to head into the playoffs.
They started by running the ball, but were ineffective in the first quarter, with Caeden Herrera throwing two interceptions, including one for a touchdown.
“It was a good high school football game,” Goddard said. “We got hurt early on, but we got out of that hole and it was just an effort of resilience from our guys to keep playing and get back in this game.”
The game wasn’t over at all at that point, and the Colts did what they could to fight back. However, with too many mistakes early on, it was too difficult a mountain to climb.
Pueblo South made things interesting late in the game. They had a chance to win but had to travel the entire length of the field to do so. They managed to enter Rangers territory, but were ultimately stopped in their tracks.
In what looked like a playoff game, the Colts showed that they still need to work on some things if they want to make the playoffs.
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“I think the next game will definitely be a playoff game,” Goddard said. “That’s what it’s going to come down to. We had the opportunity to make our way. That’s all you can ask for this time of year, and we look forward to it. Luckily, we have some things we’re really going to focus on and improve on this week. But hey, we had a hell of an opportunity to go play our way next week, so we’re going to take advantage of it.
With next week’s game now a must-win for the Colts, Goddard will have his team refocused and ready to play the final game of the regular season.
“I told them to keep their heads up,” Goddard said. “We need to do things better. We need to prepare better. We all need to be better, including me. You know what we’re going to get and we need to fix it, so let’s do it.
This article was originally published on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo South comeback fails against Lewis-Palmer in 3A Pikes Peak game
