The CyChron

The Pueblo West Cyclones went into the Pigskin Classic as the champions for the third straight year and Thursday night was no exception to their winning streak. With pure determination and prolific running by junior tailback Derek Jackson, the Cyclones ran the Pueblo County Hornets out of Dutch Clark Stadium after the first quarter of play in a packed house of over 8,000.

Sophomore safety Kameron Clough wasted no time forcing the Cyclone issue by taking the opening kickoff 86 yards to the house. This set the tone for a 28 point shutout in the first quarter for the Cyclones. In the quarter, quarterback Zac Drury scored on a run from 14 yards out, along with carries of 21 and 44 yard by Jackson that went to the house as well.

The Hornets finally put points on the board with 7:23 left in the second quarter with a two yard run by Hank Martinez and a successful two-point conversion. Jackson had a 43 yard scamper on a 3rd and 18 making the score 35-8 with 4:21 left in the first half.

Jackson had one last hurrah by running up the right side for a 60 yard touchdown run. He was pulled after a night in which he only carried the ball 11 times for 195 yards and 4 touchdowns. Jacob Enriquez also scored from a handoff from a yard out to bolster the score to 49-8 by the end of the third quarter.

With the game already decided a running clock was put into place and the Cyclones started to put in substitutions giving junior Cameron Barry and senior Jeff Martinez some time under center. The Hornets ended up making the score respectable after scoring two touchdowns by Lane Lanier and Troy Keys with runs of 65 and 74 yards. The final score was Cyclones 49 Hornets 24.

Before the game in a pep assembly, head coach Monte Pinkerton talked about the history of the Pigskin Classic saying “After losing this event the first five years I made it my goal to turn things around…I want this High School to be known throughout the entire state.” Since then, the Cyclones have dominated this game winning it six of the past seven seasons.

What an opening day it was for the Pueblo West Cyclones football team. The team went into their first game Friday night playing the Dakota Ridge Eagles on their home turf.

It turned out to be a defensive battle between the two teams, with a solid ground game led by cyclones tailback, Derek Jackson. The Cyclones’ defense opened up the first quarter with a leaping interception by Jacob Torres which, to many, set the tone of the game.

 In the early second quarter though, something seemed to click for the Dakota Ridge offense. They drove efficiently down the field with passes completed by Eagles Senior quarterback, Ben Nigh, to receivers Damihn Tran and Trace Pozek, as well as hard running by Alex Olvera.

Olvera ended up capping off the drive with about a twelve yard run into the end zone to mark the games first score. Eagle momentum did not last long however. Later on in the second quarter, Rayshawn Fuchs came up with another Cyclones’ interception. This marked Nigh’s second interception of the night, who could not seem to figure out the Cyclone defense.

Through the second quarter the cyclone offense struggled getting consecutive three and outs, and a failed fourth down attempt. The spark came from a likely hero in the junior tailback, Jackson. He recieved the ball on a fourth and five, got around the left side making tacklers miss along his way, to scamper for a long touchdown run to even up the score at 7.

With 7:38 to go in the third quarterback Zac Drury scrambled into the end zone to give the Cyclones the lead. They never looked back. After a 15 minute delay in play because of lighting issues, the two sides resumed play, and defense dominated the rest of the game.

Nigh flung a deep desperation pass with 1:18 left in the final quarter that fell incomplete.