LAKEWOOD — The homecoming celebrations on the football field came early and often for Columbine.
The Rebels scored 30 points in the opening quarter against Fort Collins on the way to a 57-13 victory on homecoming night at Jeffco Stadium.
“I love Jeffco Stadium,” Columbine senior running back Josh Snyder said. “There is something about Jeffco and Friday Night Lights. It’s just special to me.”
Junior James Basinger, along with Snyder and quarterback Reeve Holliday all had rushing touchdowns in the first quarter. Basinger scored a 34-yard touchdown run on the Rebels’ first offensive snap to give Columbine a 7-0 lead less than 2 minutes into the game.
“I feel like we have more depth (at running back) more than any year that I’ve been here,” Snyder said. “Every guy gets 8 to 10 yards a carry. It’s awesome.”
Snyder and Holliday each had a touchdown run sandwiching a safety to push the score to 23-0 with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
The longest touchdown run of the night was just before the end of the first quarter by Snyder. Fort Collins had a nice punt that pinned the Rebels’ back on their 2-yard line, but that wasn’t an issue for Columbine’s offensive line and Snyder to solve.
“I think we had to call the timeout because we had an offensive lineman late coming out on the field,” said Snyder about the Rebels taking a timeout right after the punt. “All the credit to the offensive line and the other backs for blocking for me. All I did was run down the sideline. I didn’t even need to make anybody miss. I just ran and scored.”
Snyder broke loose for a 98-yard touchdown run as he sprinted past the Lambkins’ sideline to make the score 30-0 before the second quarter.
Fort Collins (0-5 record) had its best drive of the first half, but the Lambkins’ 15-play drive that got down to Columbine’s 9-yard line ended when senior Spencer Houle sacked Fort Collins quarterback Elias Torres.
On the next play, senior Mason Moreno got into the scoring act with a 78-yard touchdown run with 7:31 left in the second quarter.
“They work hard. They execute and block for each other,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said of his stable of running backs this season. “I’m really proud of them.”
After an interception by Columbine junior safety Brennan Goodwin, Holliday hit senior Hunter Hamilton for a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it a 43-0 lead with 6:10 before halftime.
Columbine pushed the lead to 50-0 with the running clock to start the second half. Junior Jack Hansen scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 4:35 left in the third quarter. Sophomore Mark Snyder put in the Rebels’ final touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter.
Fort Collins did score a couple of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to prevent the shutout.
“It defintely helps us with confidence,” Houle said about cruising to victory. “We just want to play as good as we can.”
Columbine — No. 3 in this week’s Class 5A Select Media Football Poll — finally got to play a home game after four road games to start the season. The Rebels were coming off last week’s dramatic 31-29 road win over No. 4 Arapahoe.
The victory was a historic one for its longtime coach. Lowry — a Lakewood High School graduate who spent two seasons as the head coach at Lakewood before moving over to Columbine in the mid-1990s — picked up his 300th career coaching victory last week.
“Winning never gets old,” Lowry said after win 301 Thursday night. “It is one week at a time and always trying to get better. We are healthy right now which is a big thing.”
The coaching legend has guided Columbine to six 5A state title games with the Rebels winning five state championships in the largest classification.
“That is really nice knowing that we were the class that got him his 300th win and kept going,” Houle said. “It’s going to be nice to remember that forever.”
The undefeated Rebels (5-0) begin 5A Jeffco League play next week. Columbine head to the North Area Athletic Complex to play Pomona (0-4) on Thursday, Sept. 28.
“It’s battle. Jeffco football is a battle every week,” Lowry said. “We better be ready.”