Football: Erie hands Broomfield its first loss of the season

BROOMFIELD — Struggles throughout its jump to Class 5A had defined the first few weeks of Erie football’s 2024 season, and on Friday night at Elizabeth Kennedy Stadium, all of those bumps and bruises paid off in a big way. The Tigers, who came into their road matchup at Broomfield with a big win against Fort Collins, put their full trust in their defense to upset Class 4A’s top-ranked Eagles with a 13-3 finale. Senior quarterback Ronin Ward provided the lone touchdown in a game that otherwise showcased both teams’ kickers.

The Tigers finished their night with 131 offensive yards and Broomfield accrued 187. “Shout out the defense. It was all of the defense tonight,” Ward said.



“This feels awesome. It’s just something we can ride with just some momentum. We have league play now.

We’re trying to take league, and this is just an extra special victory because we’ve had a little rivalry with these guys these past three, four years.” Broomfield enjoyed the return of its senior leader, CT Worley, who re-energized the defense after sitting out the week before with a knee injury. “They got a bunch of dogs that play both sides of the ball, and we just couldn’t put it together offensively tonight, and that’s all right,” Worley said.

“We’re going to come back better than ever next week.” The Eagles found themselves relying on a facet of their game that had otherwise gone to the backburner through the first few games, as Erie’s stout defense forced them to up their own. That left them with few options.

Junior kicker Max Marchi leaned on his state championship mentality from last year’s 5A soccer run, and used his stellar accuracy to drive a 38-yard field goal home midway through the first quarter. The Tigers, which had faltered against earlier 5A competition this season, put their trust in their own soccer man, Mason Guven, who sent two daggers through the uprights — from 27 and 31 yards out — to give Erie a 6-3 lead at the half. The Eagles held Erie to just 62 offensive yards in the first half while their offense put together just 61 yards of their own.

Erie’s head coach, Jeff Giger, knew nothing would come easy for either team. “There really isn’t a drop (from 5A competition). I mean, Broomfield, they’re just as big as all the teams we’ve played, and they do such a great job with what they do,” he said.

“We don’t really look at it as a drop at all, but then you do have the rivalry component that is always fun. It’s kind of nerve-wracking during the week, but then when you get in there and then you see the excitement in the stadium and stuff. I think then it’s fun.

” The Tigers finally figured out Broomfield’s defense in their first possession of the second half, moving the ball well despite penalties trying to hold them back. Senior quarterback Ronin Ward dotted that exclamation point with a 36-yard bullet to a wide open Gabe Sema, who took it past the pylon. Their effort put Erie up 13-3 with 7:46 remaining in three third.

Marchi tried to provide a bit of relief for the Eagles with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, but sent his 30-yard field goal attempt wide left. When everything looked like it was set and done for the Eagles, senior quarterback Darien Jackson sprinted 46 yards into the end zone, but a holding call brought it all the way back. Their last gasp of hope began to evaporate with less than three minutes left in the game, then fully disappeared with an interception from Erie’s Dylan Firebaugh.

Erie improved to 3-2 and will return home to take on Rangeview next Friday while, Broomfield, now 4-1, hits the road to Longmont on the same night. “We expected it to be a tight game, and that didn’t really surprise us,” Broomfield head coach Robert O’Brien said. “But I did think it sent a message to the kids that we’ve got to have great weeks of practice, great preparation in everything we do.

I think that kind of set in with the kids this week and they worked really hard this week in practice.” View a list of Prep sports and high school teams we cover..