Summit football sinks Steamboat Springs in homecoming thriller 

The homecoming crowd at Climax Molybdenum Field at Tiger Stadium on Friday night, Sept. 27, wanted a show as the Summit football team took on Steamboat Springs High School. After a slower moving first half, the game truly picked up speed for the Tigers in the second, giving way to a homecoming thriller and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

The 1-2 Tigers began the game by kicking to the undefeated Steamboat Springs Sailors. Steamboat Springs picked up several first downs on its opening drive, going for it on fourth-down and one to move the chains for the first time.The Sailors then aired the ball out down the field, pushing the ball into the red zone with a completion. From inside the five-yard line, junior Thomas Krupp then swung wide to the right and into the end zone for the rushing touchdown.

Starting its first drive from its own 20-yard line, Summit kept the ball on the ground on the first two plays before attempting to pass the ball on third down. Facing fourth down and nine, Summit punted the ball back to Steamboat Springs, resulting in a muffed return which was recovered by Summit. 

On Steamboat Spring’s side of the 50-yard line, senior quarterback Simeon Ryan attempted another pass play. Ryan threw the ball to a partially-open receiver who was not able to bring the ball in, but a Steamboat Springs’ defender was flagged for pass interference.

Following the penalty, Ryan and senior Dylan Gonsholt marched the Tigers into the red zone with several powerful run plays. On first and goal from the two-yard line, senior Vander Waerlop rolled into the end zone to tie the game at 7-7 with around three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Steamboat Springs made quick work of the field, putting together a long pass play before Krupp broke free of the Summit defense and into the end zone for a second time. Summit tried to match Steamboat Springs with a touchdown of its own, but the drive stalled near midfield and resulted in a turnover on downs.

Krupp continued to be a problem for the Summit defense, glancing off tackles and picking up a huge carry to bring the ball within the Tigers’ 40-yard line.Summit then came up with a series of huge stops to force a fourth down and two. The Steamboat Springs offense stayed on the field again and handed the ball to Krupp who was wrapped up short of the first-down marker.

Wanting to even the score before halftime, Summit charged down the field with Ryan finding Gonsholt for a successfully completed pass.Around midfield Summit attempted to catch Steamboat Springs off guard with a wide-receiver motion play, but the ball was fumbled and eventually recovered by the Sailors. 

With limited time left in the half, Steamboat Springs produced a rollicking drive which resulted in a passing touchdown from the arm of junior Tanner Cobb.Steamboat Springs led 21-7 at halftime.

Summit took the field for the start of the third quarter and attempted to cut into the two-touchdown deficit. Summit picked up a penalty to push the team back eight-yards behind the line of scrimmage before Ryan threw an interception on a long-pass attempt.

The turnover did not dampen the spirits of Summit’s defense as a few moments later, the Tiger offense was back on the field due to a Gonsholt interception.The next Summit drive was fruitless as the team picked up two penalties that pushed the team deep into its own territory.

The Tigers punted the ball to the Sailors who began a new drive from their own 30-yard line. Following the interception, Steamboat Springs redeemed itself on offense, stringing together a mix of running and passing plays to push the ball over the 50-yard line.

Not wanting to give up a touchdown the Summit defense clamped down, halting Steamboat Springs and forcing a fourth down and five. Deciding to go for it, Cobb scanned to his right for an open receiver and threw the ball into the open hands of the stalking Gonsholt. 

Gonsholt broke down the field, well past a trailing Cobb for the pick-six interception. With a successful 2-point conversion pass from Ryan, life was injected into the Summit sideline as the team now trailed 21-15.

With the momentum starting to build, the Summit defense came up big again. This time, senior Alejandro Baray-Jain picked off a ball that bounced off a Steamboat Springs’ player.

The Summit offense returned to the field with the entire stadium behind the team. After struggling to pick up yards since the first quarter, Waerlop broke through a tackle and brought the ball into the red zone for the Tigers.

Summit continued to churn down the field with Ryan setting the team up with a first and goal from the six-yard line. The Tigers tried to punch the ball into the end zone, but was stopped short, three times. On fourth down from the five-yard line, Ryan passed the ball to senior Quinn Breigenzer in the corner of the end zone who caught the ball, but was ruled out of bounds by the officials. 

Wanting to put Summit away, Krupp exploded from the backfield and picked up 26-yards on the ground. The Sailors picked up another first down to push the ball to their own 42-yard line while draining valuable time off the clock.

Krupp continued to eat up yardage, bringing the ball within Summit’s own 40-yard line before Gonsholt extended backwards to come down with his third interception and give Summit a fighting chance to win the game.

With a little over a minute remaining in regulation, Ryan found Gonsholt in open space to pick up a few yards after a series of Summit penalties. Ryan aired the ball out again on the next snap. The pass bounced off a Steamboat Springs’ defender before falling into the hands of Breigenzer who sprinted all the way to the end zone for the touchdown.

Summit took the 22-21 lead, leaving Steamboat Springs 35 seconds to win the game.

With Climax Molybdenum Field at Tiger Stadium rumbling with noise, Cobb was hit hard in the backfield causing the ball to be jarred loose. The ball was recovered by Steamboat Springs, forcing third down and 27.

Steamboat Springs picked up 26-yards with a trick pass play, giving way to a fourth down and one from Summit’s 46-yard line. With the game on the line, Gonsholt swatted the ball out of the air to seal the game for good. Summit defeated Steamboat Springs, 22-21.

“We just restarted in the second half,” Gonsholt said. “We knew we had to do something else. It was not working. We had a lot of hard talk in there, we came out and we were better. We stayed to our assignments and the scoreboard tells you the rest. At the end of the day, we wanted it more. We showed some heart and we sunk that boat.”

Handing Steamboat Springs its first loss of the season, Summit advances to 2-2 on the season. Summit will face Palisade High School in Breckenridge on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. Palisade is 3-2 overall on the after beating Grand Junction Central High School on Friday night.