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Steamboat Springs — If every great football player has a signature game in which he introduces himself to the state, Friday's game against rival Moffat County might have been that game for Steamboat Springs sophomore quarterback Austin Hinder.

Hinder threw for 83 yards, ran for 135 and scored five touchdowns in Steamboat's 40-24 win against rival Moffat County.

And he did all of that in the Sailors' first six drives before he and the rest of the starting unit exited the game with 11 minutes, 29 seconds left in the third quarter and a comfortable 40-0 lead.

"My success on the field was based on what the other guys on this team did," Hinder said. "I am just going to keep working harder and harder and hopefully make more statements."

While the rivalry game usually reserves declaring a winner until the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Hinder - playing in his first contest against Moffat County at the varsity level - had made the outcome of the red vs. blue rivalry clear by the time Steamboat exited the field after its first drive of the second half.

In what might have been a play that said everything about the offense and the night, on the first play of the second half, Hinder took the ball around the right side, called for a block from Alex Wood - in which Wood pancaked a Bulldogs linebacker - and scampered 80 yards untouched for a touchdown and a 37-0 lead.

"Austin is so passionate about the game," Steamboat Springs coach Aaron Finch said. "He loves playing, and he's incredibly coachable. Obviously, God gave him a lot of natural ability in his size and speed, but most of what has happened with him is because of his work."

Ben DeLine tacked on a 37-yard field goal on the next drive to put the Sailors up, 40-0, midway through the third quarter.

"This is the best feeling in the world to be here," Steamboat lineman and senior Mac Marsh said. "It feels awesome. We're starting to feel chemistry. We're just getting better each day."

Moffat County made the game respectable - albeit against the second and third teams from Steamboat - in the second half with two touchdown runs from Eli Buckner and a fumble recovery in the end zone by Travis Wilson.

"I was real proud of our young kids. They stepped up and played their tails off," Moffat County coach Kip Hafey said. "You got a Steamboat team that has a lot of weapons and is well-coached. Hand it to Steamboat - they took it to us and got the win."

While the offense made the highlight reel, Steamboat was incredibly strong in all facets of the game.

The defense, which also played for little more than the half, limited the Bulldogs to 1.7 yards per play in the first half.

Then on special teams, Kevin Stokes blocked two Moffat County punts - one for a safety - to help set up Steamboat in good field position.

The Steamboat offense, running from the 'Pistol Formation' again, produced more than 200 yards of offense and 30-0 lead in the first half.

Hinder opened the scoring in the first quarter when he turned a broken play into a 14-yard touchdown run. Then, in the second quarter, he had bookend touchdown passes to Matt Lettunich and Nigel Hammond while running for another 2-yard touchdown run.

While Steamboat is only halfway through its league schedule, Finch said, believe it or not, Steamboat's only going to get better.

"It's pretty neat how it's come together. It's a really good group of young men," Finch said. "They're fun to be around. I think so far, we're finding a rhythm as a team, as players and as a coaching staff that's starting to work pretty darn well."