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Cedaredge too much for Saints at Homecoming

Vail Christian's Kellen Kinsella runs for a touchdown against Cedaredge on Saturday in Edwards. Cedaredge won the game, 49-6.
Chris Dillmann | cdillmann@vaildaily.com |

Saints Football

Bruins 0 21 21 7 — 49

Saints 0 6 0 0 — 6

First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

V – Tom Engleby to Kellen Kinsella, 70 pass, pass failed, 8:11

C – Pedro Madelno, 3 run, KG, 7:13

C – Isaac Swoffer, 61 run, KG, 4:42

C – Brandon O’Hern, 5 run, KG, 1:34

Third quarter

C – Swoffer, 11 run, KG, 8:54

C - Madeleno, 15 run, KG, 3:53

C – Madelno to Chris Lindley, 60 pass, KG, 0:27

Fourth quarter

C – Ty Grant, 16 run, KG, 9:07

EDWARDS — In college football, Homecoming is usually scheduled for a weekend when Southern Northeastern Middle State comes to town for a ritualistic beating.

In high school, Homecoming happens when a school’s teams are home, and for Vail Christian football on Saturday, that unfortunately was No. 10-ranked Cedaredge.

The Bruins took it to the Saints, winning 49-6, dampening the festivities in Edwards.



Holding on early

In boxing terms, the Saints (1-2) were moving up a weight class or two within the world of 1A football. Grand Valley and Lake County, Vail Christian’s first two opponents of the season, were one thing. Cedaredge is on another level, having made the state playoffs the last four years running, including a 1A state title in 2012.

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And to their credit, the Saints hung with the Bruins for a bit. Vail Christian’s Joseph Emmer ended a Cedaredge drive in the first quarter with an interception. Bryan Trujillo nabbed another Bruins pass to start the second quarter.

“We showed composure at the start, coming out,” Saints coach Tim Pierson said. “They kept fighting. They kept grinding. I’m proud of the way the defense held early.”

That set up Vail Christian to take the lead with 8:11 left in the half. Saints quarterback Tom Engleby fired a 70-yard strike to Kellen Kinsella.

Cedaredge’s size and talent started to assert themselves as Bruins quarterback Pedro Madaleno broke off a 44-yard run. Madaleno called his own number from 3 yards as the Bruins took a 7-6 lead.

The Bruins’ Isaac Swoffer needed just one play — 61 yards — on Cedaredge’s next drive.

Bruins roar back

Down 14-6, Vail Christian was fighting not only the Bruins, but injuries and discipline. Saints’ running back and linebacker Ethan Kuhns left the game with what looked like a knee injury. The bad news is that Vail Christian was thin on its roster already with accumulated injuries. (Pierson said that Riley Spear and Jimmy Pavelich should be back next week.)

It got worse when a Saints player was ejected for two personal fouls. That helped Cedaredge to a 28-6 halftime lead on a Brandon O’Hearn run, Vail Christian had four personal fouls in all during the game, something which will doubtless be addressed next week in practice.

“You’ve just got to keep your emotions in check,” Pierson said. “You can’t let it get to you when people start trying to get under your skin. You’ve got to keep your composure and roll with it. We definitely need to get those cleaned up.”

Vail Christian is at Hotchkiss next week.

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.


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