Niwot loses 23-15 in a back-and-forth season finale

Niwot High School football ended its season Nov. 4 in a matchup against the Denver North Vikings. In one of their closest games of the season, Niwot had a fighting chance all the way up to the final seconds.

Niwot's passing game looked a lot stronger this week, highlighted by receiver Parris Lee who caught multiple passes for a total of almost 80 yards. Niwot's run game was also moving as running back Jesus Rosas strung together multiple long runs for a big day on the ground.

On the other side of the field, Niwot's pass defense looked a lot better as it has been improving over the last couple of weeks. While they did give up one touchdown through the air, Niwot's defense was able to get two sacks, and an interception by Sergio Pimentel that set up a final drive with a chance to tie up the game.

Niwot took the ball for the first drive of the game, and after four rushes went for almost 20 yards, the Cougars fumbled the ball on a miscommunication between center and quarterback as Niwot was playing with a backup center.

Denver North's first drive had four rushes going for almost 40 yards, and on the fifth play of the drive, they scored off a corner route that was uncovered in the corner of the endzone. After notching the PAT, the Vikings held a lead of 7-0.

Niwot's next drive started slowly, gaining three yards on three plays, but on fourth down, quarterback Chad Volf connected through the air for 40 yards as Sergio Pimental got his first catch of the game. The momentum was short-lived as Volf fumbled a snap, with Denver North's recovery almost going for six points, but Lee chased down the Denver North player before he could score. Niwot's defense stepped up to stop Denver North's offense. Garrett Ecker and Raiden Stahly each notched a ½ sack on second down to push the Vikings back 12 yards. After a long third down play, Denver North went for it on fourth down, but Niwot's defense came up with a big stop and the Cougars took over on downs.

Niwot continued with the theme of smash-mouth offense as Rosas notched a 23-yard run on the second play of the drive. After 12 yards of rushing and an incomplete pass, the first quarter came to an end.

Again, just when it looked like a successful drive had started strong, Niwot's running back had the ball stripped with Denver North recovering the ball again. On the second play of Denver's drive, Ecker was able to pull the quarterback down a second time, collapsing the pocket and causing a loss of nine yards on third down. The Vikings decided to punt it on fourth, but Harrison Vanselus was able to take advantage of a muffed snap and tackled the punter inside the 5-yard line.

Niwot had a little trouble pounding the ball in, but on fourth down Rosas was able to break some tackles and fall into the endzone for a touchdown. Kicker Matt Hansen was able to notch his only kick of the game on the PAT, making the score 7-7.

Denver North had a handful of minutes left to try and lead a drive down the field, and was able to score with 32 seconds left in the half. They missed on the PAT, making the score 13-7. Niwot got the ball back, but fumbled on their last play of the half.

Denver North's first drive of the second half was able to get all the way down into Niwot's red zone, but a 20-yard sack by Stahly knocked Denver North temporarily out of field goal range on second down. A 10-yard pass helped set up a Denver North field goal attempt, which was good, making the score 16-7 in favor of Denver North.

Niwot's first offensive play of the half was a 47-yard run by Rosas which put Niwot in great field position.However, Niwot wasn't able to take advantage, and on fourth down, the Cougars decided to go for first down rather than attempt a field goal, but came up empty.

When it looked like Niwot might stuff Denver North's offense, they connected through the air, gaining 42 yards on the play and setting up a scoring drive as the next play was a 13-yard rushing touchdown that put the Vikings up 23-7. With Rosas taking the primary share of carries, leading Niwot 80 yards down the field and setting up a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Pimentel. Niwot looked to sophomore Hayden Shaw for the 2-point conversion, where he pounded the ball in, making the score 23-15.

Denver North was quick to put a drive together as they were able to get the ball past the midfield point rather quickly. The Vikings got greedy and Niwot took advantage as Pimentel was able to pick off Denver North's quarterback on a deep pass.

Niwot had 90 yards to go in a minute and 12 seconds, with two timeouts left. The Cougars gained 30 yards on two rushes before using their first timeout. After a second and third down run went for only one yard, Niwot looked to the air on fourth down, and Lee caught a 27-yard pass, putting the Cougars past the Denver North 30-yard line.

The Cougars used their final timeout. After first and second down plays combined for only one yard, and a pass on third down fell incomplete, Niwot was left with just one play. As the pocket collapsed, Volf forced a pass that was intercepted, as the Cougars ended their season with a hard-fought 23-15 loss.