The fourth annual Canvas Community Classic took place Friday night. The event was full of energy and continues to grow each year. This year’s matchups were Fossil Ridge High School vs. Fort Collins High School and Timnath Middle-High School vs. Wellington Middle-High School.
The FRHS SaberCats and FCHS Lambkins’ 5A Front Range North league rivalry matchup was a thriller; FCHS won 28-21. Game two was won by Wellington 27-15.
“(I am) very proud of the outcome,” FCHS head coach Matt Yemm said. “There’s a lot for us to work on. We battled through some adversity.”
Some of that adversity came in the last minutes of the game when FRHS senior Eli Swanson caught a touchdown pass, making it a one-possession game.
FRHS was in the game at the final whistle; however, they were clawing their way back for the entirety of the game. Final efforts were great but not enough, and the SaberCats continue 0-5 on the season. Part of what made FRHS’s shot at winning that much harder was FCHS’s Senior Kaden Souders’ crucial pick-six while backed up on their own endzone late in the third quarter.
“That was a momentum shifter,” Souders said. “We had a second-and-long, so I got back, read the quarterback’s eyes, followed my blockers. That’s a team effort all along.”
FCHS, on the other hand, was coming off its one and only loss.
“We had to bounce back,” Yemm said. “I think it didn’t take a ton of motivation to play against your rival in this kind of scenery. We had a great week of practice, great preparation that helped lead us.”
The FRHS and FCHS matchup was all tied at the half, but the Lambkins added to their win column.
“Every single week, the goal is to go 1-0,” Yemm said. “So, we’re just going to focus on Horizon next week and go 1-0 next week.”
Game two, a non-league 2A matchup, started much slower with repeated special teams mishaps in the first quarter. One of them ended up giving TMHS a safety. The story of this game was low scoring, until it wasn’t.
“It was a tale of two cities, you know, two halves,” WMHS head coach Travis Peeples said. “First half, our offense was horrible. We did everything we could to hurt ourselves. Defense was on fire; all game (it) was great.”
WMHS then bounced back with a punt return touchdown in the second quarter. WMHS senior quarterback Tanner Gray sparked the offense with his dual-threat abilities. This was a key factor in TMHS’ slower second-half defense.
“Tanner Gray started to take over,” Peeples said. “We probably could have thrown it around a little bit more, but the game was in a one-possession game, and we kind of like to give it to our big guy and try to close it out. That’s exactly what we did.”
Gray used his big frame to break through multiple runs, standing six feet four inches and weighing 235lbs. He is a player that defenses watch film on and prepare for.
“Mentally, there was no stopping me; I knew what I came to do,” Gray said. “It’s hard-nosed football. Do whatever it takes to win. That’s all we do, and it showed in this game.”
Gray had great pocket presence and maturity and was complemented by his senior running back, Tre Trujillo, who had multiple strong runs against the Timnath defense, capping off offensive drives.
Trujillo was recognized by various of his teammates and coaches after the game following his performance.
“I’m a passionate player, and it’s a game that I need to lock in for,” Trujillo said.
WMHS fought through its slow start and learned a lot about each other.
“I knew these boys (have) got my back,” Gray said. “So, I told them, ‘Hey were going to stick it to them these last six minutes, we’re going to go down the field and win’. And that’s exactly what we did.”
TMHS falls to a 3-2 record. WMHS stays undefeated at four wins.
The fourth annual Canvas Community Classic was a success and continues to gain support from the community. As for Canvas Stadium, it has to get cleaned up right away as Colorado State takes on Washington State all within 24 hours, at home.
Reach Aron Medrano at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @AronMedrano27.
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