CANON CITY — There’s nothing fancy about the way George Longoria runs the ball. And there doesn’t have to be.
Ball security, identifying the gaps and breaking tackles are attributes that make him one of the best runners in the state and also why he was able to lead Class 3A No. 5 Pueblo South to a 26-21 win over No. Canon City on Friday.
“When you come out to Canon City, they have a good team and and they get good momentum,” Longoria said. “When get out there in the first 10 minutes, you have to fight.”
After winning the state wide coin toss on Thursday, South coach Ryan Goddard instantly knew that he wanted to put the ball into the hands of his high-powered offense. He fed Longoria early and often as the Colts (3-0 overall, 3-0 South Central League) found the end zone three times before the Tigers (3-1, 3-1) could blink.
“We came out with balance with run and pass,” Goddard said. “We’re a little more fresh. You have to remember this is only our third game. We mixed things up and we made some plays.”
Longoria carried a heavy load in that time, carrying the ball 19 times for 115 yards and all three scores in the first half alone.
But it was far from a one-man show. While Longoria was putting on a show with his running attack, junior quarterback Jace Bellah complimented the ground game by spreading the ball out to his squad of receiving targets.
In the same first half that saw Longoria rush for 115, Bellah hit four different receivers for 122 yards, most of which helped set up Longoria’s runs.
Canon City got on the board thanks to a long kick return from Josh Rall which put Lucas Walcott in position to find Seth Newton for a 16-yard score.
“Once that happened it opened up the flood gates, Canon City coach Tom O’Rourke said. “The kids realized we were in this. They needed that for the emotional and momentum part of it.”
That momentum carried right over into the second half.
The Tigers struck gold in the third with Walcott finding Rall for a 43-yard touchdown strike to make it a 20-14 game. It was the only score for either team in the third as the Tigers seemingly adjusted to South’s running attack.
But Longoria wasn’t going to be held down for long. He broke for runs of 10, 18 and 16 yards to set the Colts up for their fourth touchdown of the game. That came courtesy of Bellah on a one-yard run to push the lead to 26-14.
But the Tigers were quick to strike again as Walcott found Newton for a 65-yard touchdown pass cutting the lead to just five points.
Unable to sustain a drive, the Colts punted back to the Tigers and out the game in the hands of the defense. A botched snap helped, but the Colts held strong getting the ball back into Longoria’s hands where he capped off his night with 38 carries for 223 yards and three touchdowns.
“That’s George,” Goddard said. “He’s the guy that’s going to continue to pound and pound and he’s going to get a crease and make things happen.”
Overall the performance was better than what the Colts saw last week against Pueblo East but know there is plenty of work to do with the playoffs looming.
“All week we worked on cleaning up our mistakes from last week,” Bellah said. “I think we did a good job in the first half and next week just need to do a better job of carrying it over in the second half.”
