Cottonwood KO: Colts defeat Highland in slugfest win

MURRAY — The pregame build-up for the Highland at Cottonwood game was one of a championship heavyweight fight. It didn't disappoint.

"The first quarter was like a boxing match, with a big punch here, and a punch there," Cottonwood coach Tom Jones said after his Colts' 49-20 victory over the Highland Rams on Friday.

Cottonwood threw the first jab with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Alex Cate. The Rams answered right back with a haymaker on a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown by Aton Sykes.

If the rest of the ballgame was a boxing match, the second quarter was a track meet, with Cottonwood breaking the tape first.

The Colts started with another 1-yard run by Stanley Havili, then decided to try an onside kick, which worked. After recovering the kick, four plays later it was Cate connecting with Havili for a 39-yard touchdown pass, the first of Cate's two scoring passes.

"That was a big change of momentum," Jones said.

The momentum swing was keyed by big scoring plays of 39 and 45 yards in the second quarter, and two other scoring plays of 63 and 52 yards in the first and fourth quarters, respectively.

"Our offense is capable of making big plays," Jones said. "We want everything to be a big play. With players like Stanley, Mike (Martinez) and Alex, we are a big-play offense. We aren't going to grind it out on you."

After the dominating performance by Cottonwood in the second quarter, Highland came out after the half trying to re-establish some momentum. It held Cottonwood to no points in the third but scored none itself. The Rams struck first in the fourth with a 40-yard reception for a score by Jake Orchard from Thomas Bradley, but the Colts were quick to squelch any thought of a comeback by adding two quick touchdowns to finalize the game's scoring.

Havili had another big game for the Colts, with four touchdowns, three of them on the ground. Cate scored twice on the ground as well to accompany his two in the air.

After the game, Jones put the win in perspective, "We still have two games left, but this win was a big step in the right direction," he said. "It puts us in the driver's seat in region."