PRESTON

Easton Valley opened against Lone Tree with an onside kick recovery an hour and a half earlier than scheduled.

The early start was to combat a third contender in this football game, mother nature and her wrath of pouring rain and threat of worse weather.

Lone Tree held Easton Valley to no points on their first drive and continued this dominating effort for the entire game, winning 58-0.

“A win is always good for team culture,” head coach Joe Donovan said. “It gets us headed to the playoffs in a positive frame of mind.”

Lone Tree’s offense wasted no time, a two-play drive capped off by a Maddox Jondle 56-yard touchdown coming from the I formation.

When the Lions line up from the I, it’s a sign they’re comfortable in their abilities on the ground. It was something that they could not manage a week ago when they played Central City.

Lone Tree’s rush game proved unbeatable against Easton Valley.

Jondle finished with 224 yards on the ground with four touchdowns. His second touchdown came on his second carry when the junior broke free for a 62-yard score.

The puddles collecting on the field as coaches and field personnel dressed in raincoats watching players bobble the ball were all tell-tale signs of a game played in the heavy rain. The rain played as an advantage to the Lion’s run game so long as they could maintain possession.

“We definitely thought the rain worked to our advantage with our run game and on the same note, hurt their passing game,” Donovan said. “We created three turnovers and did not give up any so that was another positive.”

Lone Tree diversified their scoring in this game, tallying up points at each stage of play. In the first quarter, the River Hawk’s long snapper overshot the punter who lost the ball in the back of the end zone. Lone Tree was close to recovering for the touchdown but settled for the safety.

Later in the fourth quarter, sophomore Emmett Burke concluded his impressive night on defense by shadowing the receiver and reading the quarterback, falling back into coverage and snagging the ball for an interception.

Burke wasn’t done.

Burke took the ball from the 36-yard line to the end zone for the Lions final touchdown of the game. In addition to his pick-six, Burke led the Lions with 11.5 tackles.

“Emmett played a great game on defense. Leading us in tackles and getting a pick-six capped off his night,” Donovan said. “Moving from defensive back to linebacker this year, we believe he gets better every game. He helps get our defense lined up correctly and does a great job of recognizing opponents’ offensive tendencies.”

Junior Brody Magruder, who rushed the quarterback relentlessly all night, was second with 10.5 tackles. Five of Magruder’s tackles were for a loss as two were sacks.

Quarterback Ethan Bockelman rushed for 67 yards with two touchdowns. The senior added one touchdown through the air on an 18-yard completion to senior Jader Sanchez who broke a few tackles along the way to the endzone.

GAME SUMMARY

LONE TREE 58, EASTON VALLEY 0

LT      24      12       8     14      58

EV      0         0       0      0         0

LT: Maddox Jondle 56 rush,7:52 1st (Jondle 2pt rush)

LT: Jondle 62 rush, 3:57 1st (Jader Sanchez PAT)

LT: LT Safety, 2:45 1st

LT: Jader Sanchez 18 pass from Ethan Bockelman, :40 1st (Sanchez kick)

LT: Bockelman 26 rush, 9:12 2nd (2pt no good)

LT: Jondle 2 rush, 5:55 2nd (2pt no good)

LT: Jondle 34 rush, 6:56 3rd (Cole Abbott 2pt rush)

LT: Bockelman 4 rush, 6:34 4th (2pt no good)

LT: Emmett Burke 36 interception return, 4:00 4th (Abbott 2pt rush)

GAME STATS

PASSING: Lone Tree: Ethan Bockelman 1-1-18, 1 TD.

RUSHING: Lone Tree: Maddox Jondle 14-224, 4 TD; Bockelman 8-67, 2 TD.

RECEIVING: Lone Tree: Jader Sanchez 1-18, 1 TD.

LEADING TACKLERS: Lone Tree: Emmett Burke 11.5; Brody Magruder 10.5; Jondle 7