Football: Niwot goes down to Loveland 63-0

The Niwot Cougars suffered their fourth shutout of the year last Thursday, losing 63-0 to the fourth-ranked Loveland Indians at Ray Patterson Field.

Still depleted by injuries and ineligibility, Niwot once again found itself with inexperienced starters at key positions, and wasn’t able to put much of a dent in the Indians’ stingy defense.

Sophomore Eric Ruiz and junior Daemonte Terry were the running backs du jour for the Cougars, and they had some success toward the end of the game. Ruiz managed 39 yards on 11 carries to lead the offense, his longest a 12-yard scamper in the third quarter for one of Niwot’s two rushing first downs.

Matt Baun and Ayden Bartko couldn’t get much going in the air for Niwot, but Baun had some success on the ground. On defense, senior Brandon Barton was once again the Cougars’ leading tackler, with six solo tackles, followed by sophomore Noah Peña with four. Ruiz, pressed into action on both sides of the ball, had three solo tackles. Senior Trent Tadewald, who has ably filled a number of roles for the ailing Cougars this season, had the night’s only pass reception as well as two unassisted tackles.

Senior kicker James Lerner had another impressive night, averaging more than 38 yards on seven punts. Senior Nate Nielsen, who left the game in the first quarter with an injury, had 21 kick return yards, while sophomore Matt Bitterman had 33, as well as four assisted tackles.

Overall, the Cougars played a relatively clean game, with very few penalties. They also had no turnovers for the first time all season.

Up next for the Cougars is another Thursday night game, this time against Broomfield at home on Oct. 19. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Everly Montgomery Field.

Loveland 63, Niwot 0

Cougars (0-7, 0-2) 0 0 0 0 — 0

Indians (7-0, 2-0) 28 21 7 7 — 63

Niwot Individuals

Rushing — Ruiz 11-39, Baun 4-2, Terry 6-(-6)

Passing — Baun 5-1-0 (-2), Bartko 1-0-0-0

Receiving — Tadewald 1-(-2)