No. 3 Eagle Valley football team hands Steamboat Springs first loss, improves to 7-0

In case you were wondering, the answer is yes, this Eagle Valley football team is for real.

“We haven’t been in this situation for, I don’t even know how many years,” head coach Chris Lake said regarding his team’s 7-0 start. “That’s kind of what the locals have been telling me — they haven’t seen this start in a long, long time.”

Historical deep diving aside, let it be known that Lake’s group is good. For the second-straight week, the senior-led squad handed a top-10 team its first loss. On Friday, the Devils went on the road and rolled over Steamboat Springs 35-14. That came on the heels of a dramatic double-overtime win over Conifer last week. Malachi Barros came up with a clutch overtime interception in the Conifer victory and continued to be a force on both sides of the line of scrimmage against the Sailors.

“Malachi has had a great couple weeks,” Lake commented, adding that the senior actually came into the evening banged up and was a game-time decision. “You wouldn’t have known it once he started playing.”

After Thomas Krupp — Steamboat’s slippery and shifty back, who came into the contest averaging 103.5 yards a game and 8.4 yards a carry — opened with an 80-yard touchdown on the game’s first play, Barros brought life back to the Eagle Valley bench with a strip-and-score late in the quarter to make it 14-7. He caught a 12-yard touchdown later and had an interception in the second half to seal the deal — and sufficiently meet his helmet sticker quota.

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“Heck of a game for the situation for sure,” Lake said.

Colter Blakey went 19-for-25 with 263 yards and three touchdowns and Nathan Leeper ran for 95 yards and a score for the Devils, who benefited from a balanced aerial attack. After scoring 16 touchdowns in the first five games, Keaden Lake once again faced bracketed double coverage. While he still managed three receptions, 47 yards and a touchdown — all while playing with the flu — the attention he drew opened things up for his teammates. Barros tallied 4 catches for 67 yards, Xander Deherrera caught three for 43 and Leeper hauled in six passes for 89 yards and a touchdown as well.

“Our receiving core all made big plays at different points of the game,” Lake said. “Nobody cares whose scoring or getting the touches. As long as we’re winning, that’s all that matters. And that’s what the kids are starting to realize.”

Perhaps the bigger story played out on the other side of the ball, however, as the Devils shut out their opponents in the second half for the seventh-straight game. That’s right: Eagle Valley hasn’t allowed a second-half score yet this year. Lake said in lieu of size, the defense’s success sprouts more from coordinator Miki Barros’ game planning and the players’ intuitive second-half adjustments.

“The Conifer game could have gone a whole different direction if the defense hadn’t shut them out. Same with Steamboat,” Lake said before adding that winning the turnover battle matters, too. “When you do that, 90% of the time you win the game.”

Eagle Valley is now ranked third in the 3A CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index and is one of only two undefeated teams, with No. 2 Windsor (5-0) being the other. Lake said being in the RPI conversation is special, but winning out and hosting a playoff game or two is way more important.

“Like I tell the kids and coaching staff, we’re playing one game a week and that’s all that matters,” he said. “The games before don’t mean anything and the games after won’t mean anything if we don’t win this game. That’s kind of been our mindset — trying to stay humble of course.”

Eagle Valley returns to its home turf next Friday for a homecoming game against Glenwood Springs. While Lake said the I-70 rivals can’t be overlooked, the team still seems to be on a collision course with No. 6 Palisade, whom they face on Halloween in the regular-season finale.

“They’re always tough and they’re tough again this year,” Lake said. “That’s going to be the game of the year as long as we take care of business with these next two.”

While gridiron greatness isn’t something the valley has gotten to savor much lately, the evidence suggests locals should get used to it. Eagle Valley’s third and fourth-grade team is undefeated in its first year of existence, the fifth and sixth graders haven’t lost yet either and the middle school program is not only undefeated, but playing for a league championship on Monday. Needless to say, there’s some talent coming up.

“They’re putting in the work and building great teams,” Lake said, giving a special nod to Chad Leeper, who, along with some guidance from Lake, launched the youth league. “We’re going to see what that does in the next couple years in the high school program.”