Niwot held scoreless at Thompson Valley

Niwot Cougars head coach Nikolas Blume didn't mince his words after the team's 34-0 loss on the road at Thompson Valley (2-4) on Oct. 14.

"I'm not sure if we ever got off the bus," he said. "We were bad, 100 percent. We were just bad."

It's an assessment that's hard to refute, though there were mitigating factors, notably the absence of junior quarterback Ben Classen, a difference maker on both sides of the ball. In five games for Niwot this season, he has amassed 582 yards, which is good for 10th in Class 3A. He is also Niwot's leading scorer, with seven touchdowns, and is a key contributor on defense.

Also missing was starting center Rhett Davis, and then two more seniors, Thomas Carnagie and Craig Wright, ended up leaving the game due to injuries. Also banged up with backup quarterback Chad Volf, who suffered a minor injury to his hand early on.

"We're plugging more guys in, and we just don't have the depth to do that," Blume said. "It's not an excuse, but it's where we're at right now."

Which is not a good place to be. Thompson Valley outplayed Niwot in all three phases of the game, and Cougars' normally solid play at the line was instead ineffective on both sides of the ball. Negative yardage plays outnumbered the positive ones on offense, while Eagles' running back Elijah Menendez was seemingly able to run at will against the Cougars' defense.

"When that happens, we're going to be in a tough spot, regardless of whether we have all the rest of those guys," Blume said. "So I think that's the biggest takeaway-we're not indestructible. Even in our losses, so far, we've dominated on both sides of the ball. And we just ran into it today. They were prepared, and we were not."

Niwot will be back on the field on Friday, Oct. 22 to host Mountain View. Kick-off is at 7 p.m. at Everly-Montgomery Field.