David and Goliath
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Ryan Marr turning in another all-star performance.
Taurean Paxton looking the ball into his hands.
ESTES PARK — With a high school enrollment nearly triple that of Gilpin County High School, Estes Park has a bigger pool of athletes to draw from. As a rule, that usually translates to the larger school fielding a better team. But not always.
The Gilpin Eagles and Estes Park Bobcats entered the Friday, October 23 football game with similar records and similar results against common opponents. Giving the Eagles hope, it was still a David (Gilpin) vs. Goliath (Estes Park) matchup.
With a sling and a handful of stones, the Eagles bravely entered the arena to face the giant heavily armed and armored Philistine warrior.
The first quarter didn’t go well for Gilpin. On each of their first two possessions, Estes Park blocked the punt deep in Gilpin’s end of the field which led to two touchdowns. A 48-yard pass play to Ryan Marr brought the score to Estes Park 15, Gilpin 6.
A successful onside kick by Gilpin only led to an interception for a touchdown. The Bobcats followed that up with a touchdown pass to make the score 31 to 6 in favor of Estes at the end of the first quarter.
A touchdown run by the opposition took the score to 38-6. Gilpin answered with a 62-yard punt return touchdown by Marr. Score at halftime: Estes Park 38, Gilpin 12.
You could be excused for thinking that the contest was over at that juncture, but none of the three dozen or so fans in the Gilpin bleachers went home. They were then treated to a heck of a football game.
A Neko Cope fumble recovery for a touchdown in the third quarter set the tone. Not long thereafter, Jack Fisher duplicated the feat with another touchdown. Early in the fourth quarter, a Gilpin onside kick was recovered by the Eagles and set up a Marr 14-yard touchdown run to make the score Estes Park 38, Gilpin 34.
Perhaps worn down by the Bobcats’ bigger players, three more touchdowns scored by Estes Park were too much to overcome. Final score: Estes Park 59, Gilpin 34. Unable to slay the giant on this occasion, David would not be crowned king just yet.
The Eagles face another tough team (Front Range Christian) on October 31 in Littleton for their final game of the season.
