Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Unbelievably, the Sailors' special teams scored three touchdowns Friday night before the team's offense ran its sixth play of the game. Led by sophomore Joe Dover's three kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns, the offense didn't need to do much.

But it did anyway.

Steamboat punished Montezuma-Cortez, 60-20, on Friday. Sailors head coach Aaron Finch said when his special teams play like they did, Steamboat is near impossible to stop.

"Joe (Dover) was special. He did a great job," Finch said. "I've never seen three kickoffs returned in a game, but it was pretty fun to watch."

Finch also enjoyed watching the Sailors put together their most complete game of the season.

Although the defense struggled with the spinner series offense Montezuma-Cortez ran early in the game, it didn't take long for the unit to catch on and resemble the dominant group of the season's first two games.

Add in an offense that finally started to show some continuity and consistent play, and Finch said he's excited about what the team brings as it enters the meaty portion of its schedule.

Steamboat (3-0 overall, 2-0 in league play) plays 7 p.m. Friday against Eagle Valley at Gardner Field, before traveling Sept. 25 to Palisade.

"All three elements of football came together," Finch said about Friday's win. "Add to that we played the entire game and a lot of pieces came together."

Although Eagle Valley (0-4, 0-2) enters this week's game with a winless record, Finch said that doesn't speak to how good of a football team the Devils are.

Eagle Valley opened up the Western Slope League with games against league - and state - favorites Glenwood Springs and Palisade.

Considering Eagle Valley and Steamboat have split their matchups the past two seasons - with both games being closely contested - Finch said he expects a battle Friday.

"I don't think their record is reflective of how well they've played," Finch said. "The past years have always been a battle. We got to take the next game. We've had a good start to the season. We won our first two league games. Now we're in that position to keep going and build from here."