Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — If the numbers didn’t tell the story before the Steamboat Springs and Palisade football teams took the field on Friday night, a quick glance at the rosters finished the narrative. 

The Bulldogs had the physical advantage, but they also have 48 players. Steamboat’s roster has a mere 26 — a handful of whom were on the sidelines in sweatpants because of injuries.

Add it all up, and Friday’s 58-7 Palisade win becomes easy to explain. 

“We knew we had our hands full,” Steamboat coach Lonn Clementson said. “They are just plain better than we are.”

The Bulldogs had all but secured the win in the first 12 minutes of the game. Their lead was so large that a running clock was put in place by the end of the second quarter. 

Palisade went up 21-0 in the first quarter on three touchdowns by quarterback Luke McLean — two rushing and an 8-yard toss to running back JT Townsend. The Bulldogs (7-1 overall, 4-1 league) added 23 points in the second quarter to take a 44-0 lead at one point. 

Steamboat got a touchdown on the last play of the first half, an 18-yard strike from Christian Ramirez to Michael Yost. 

The Sailors offense struggled mightily. In 11 possessions, Steamboat had five 3-and-outs and three turnovers. Steamboat had just 103 yards in the game, including none in the second half.  

“Steamboat has some good kids,” Palisade coach John Arledge said. “They just haven’t won this year. They’re just down right now, but I’ve been up here where it’s been pretty rough. ... Our line got off the ball well tonight, and that’s what we needed.” 

Steamboat (0-8, 0-5) returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday when the team travels to Battle Mountain. 

Battle Mountain is currently 7-1 and in line to make the playoffs for the first time since 1994. The team beat Palisade 49-28 earlier this year. 

“We’re not down,” Clementson said. “We’ve still got two more chances to win a football game.” 

Game statistics

Palisade 58, Steamboat 7

Steamboat

First Downs 6

Rushes-Yards 22-43

Comp-Att-Int 8-20-3

Yards Passing 60

Total Yards 103

Punts-Avg. 3-39.3

Fumbles-lost 1-0

Penalties-Yards 3-30

Palisade

First Downs 16

Rushes-Yards 36-319

Comp-Att-Int 4-5-0

Yards Passing 62

Total Yards 381

Punts-Avg. 0-0

Fumbles-lost 5-2

Penalties-Yards 3-20

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Palisade 21-23-07-07—58

Steamboat 00-07-00-00—7

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

P — 5:35, Luke McLean 1 run. (Spencer Jackson kick).

P — 3:29, JT Townsend 8 pass from McLean. (Jackson kick).

P — 0:10, McLean 1 run. (Jackson kick).

Second Quarter

P — 11:20, Stephen DeMerritt 31 INT return. (Jackson kick).

P — 7:43, Lane Orman 61 run. (Jackson kick).

P — 6:14, Safety.

P — 6:04, Caden Woods 70 return. (Devan Lucero kick).

S — 0:00, Michael Yost 18 pass from Christian Ramirez. (Penn Lukens kick).

Third Quarter

P — 7:05, Townsend 5 run. (Jackson kick).

Fourth Quarter

P — 9:11, Austin Terry 1 run. (Lucero kick).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

P: Woods 4-67; McLean 4-6, 2 TD; Townsend 6-34, 1 TD; Quinn Zamora 5-34; Orman 1-61, 1 TD; Ronald Kuntz 3-26; Daniel Salazar 1-5; Dalton Hannigan 4-54; Terry, 4-5, 1 TD; Alexander Wilmore 3-24; Trevor Garcia 1-3.

S: Ramirez 9-(-7); Evan Hornstein 6-45; Michael Yost 3-5; Ben Custer 3-3; Harrison Smith 1-(-3)

Passing

P: McLean 4-5-0, 62 yards 1 TD.

S: Ramirez 8-20-3, 60 yards, 1 TD.

Receiving

P: Woods 2-44. Townsend 1-18, 1 TD.

S: Aaron Higgins 1-6; Custer 3-21; Penn Lukens 2-14; Hornstein 1-1; Yost 1-18, 1 TD.

To reach Luke Graham, call 970-871-4229 or email lgraham@SteamboatToday.com