Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The Soroco High School football team was good before and good after, but it was one short stretch of the second quarter in Saturday’s game at Plateau Valley that really made the difference.

The Rams scored three touchdowns in the final six minutes of the second quarter, greasing the wheels for a big 48-18 win.

“We have a lot of things to work on still, but we played a lot better in the first half than we had,” Soroco coach David Bruner said.

It at first appeared the six-minute stretch of the game might actually pivot against Soroco. The Rams were poised to push in for a touchdown but gave up an interception at the Plateau Valley 3-yard line, then a 97-yard return for a touchdown.

Seemingly a moment from at least a 20-6 advantage, the lead was slashed to 14-12.

But the game turned around quickly. Soroco’s Richard Gonzales returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. An interception by Soroco set up a Nic Paxton to Matt Regan touchdown. Paxton then found Gonzales for another score, setting up a 34-12 halftime lead that would provide more than enough cushion for the Rams.

“Those minutes were really critical,” Bruner said. “We made a lot of plays right there before halftime to break things open for us.”

Soroco, 2-1, got a total of three touchdown passes from Paxton and one running touchdown.

Regan caught two of those scores and threw one of his own, to Gonzales, who also had three total touchdowns, the return and two receptions.

Ian Palyo added the team’s final touchdown with a fourth quarter run.

Bruner said the performance was the best of the season so far for the Rams, piling on plenty of credit to the defense.

Still, he said there were plenty of areas to be worked on. That list starts with turnovers. A pair of fumbles and an interception helped Plateau Valley stick in the game.

“That’s something we’ve talked about after all three games now,” Bruner said. “We have to cut the turnovers out. We can’t be doing that in league play.”

League play gets under way at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Vail Christian, when Soroco will celebrate homecoming.

— To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253 or email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com