Eagle Valley football smacks Moffat, 49-12
CRAIG — Eagle Valley football’s bus got rather quiet about 30 minutes outside of Craig Friday night.
“You could tell the guys were getting focused,” Devils coach John Ramunno said.
That was exactly what Ramunno and all Devils football fans wanted. All that focus turned into an emphatic 49-12 victory at Moffat County.
It also bodes well for the traveling Devils, who were in Denver last week, up in Craig this week and get to go down to the Four Corners in two weeks for Montezuma-Cortez.
“We have the kiss-of-death schedule,” Ramunno joked. “We had such a great schedule last year. We knew we were going to pay for it this year. Knock on wood, the guys have been doing well with it.”
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90-yard Pick-six
Eagle Valley scored on its first drive off the bus, and really didn’t stop. Quarterback Orin Reichardt got the first three touchdowns off the option.
Riley Rowles was Riley Rowles with 13 carries for 149 yards, including a 53-yard scoring scamper.
But the big play of the night came from Harrison Stevens. Moffat was threatening to make this game a little too close at the half, driving deep into Devils territory. Stevens came up with a 90-yard pick-six, crushing any chances of a comeback.
“That kind of took the wind out of their sails,” Ramunno said.
And that would be a well-deserved rhino-sticker for Stevens. For the uninitiated, the coaching staff looks over the game and awards helmet stickers for big plays and performances. They didn’t need to look at the tape for Ramunno to hand that one out.
Running Game
Eagle Valley was trying to work in a bit of passing, but it was nasty in Craig, so it was back to the run, which is A-OK for Eagle Valley (4-1 overall, 2-1 in the 3A Slope).
Luis Chavez had a 30-yard rushing score, while Victor Avila had eight carries for 92 yards. Ramunno also credited Avila and fellow senior Joe Felix with setting the all-business tone of the trip.
On defense, Chavez led the squad with 12 tackles and a sack. Mike Ramunno had nine tackles. Sonam Lama added eight tackes and a sack.
Devils Vs Demons
Next up for Eagle Valley is a whopper of a game against Glenwood Springs in Gypsum for Homecoming. The Demons are 2-3, but that doesn’t mean much. They’ve been very competitive in losses to Palisade (34-18) and Rifle (13-7) and beat Delta, 15-7, Friday night.
Glenwood Springs runs a spread offense, which will make next week’s game a study in contrasts.
“They’re a good throwing team and they can spread you out to run the ball,” John Ramunno said. “We’ve got to be disciplined in our lanes and get pressure on their quarterback. We have to contain him and not let him get out and run.”
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 and cfreud@vaildaily.com.
