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Demons show resilience, beat Panthers 14-10

Post Independent Writer

DELTA – Glenwood Springs overcame 10 fumbles and a 10-point first-half deficit to down Delta 14-10 in its Class 3A Western Slope Conference football opener here Friday.”It was a win, it just wasn’t a pretty win – pretty ugly actually – but I’m happy to take that little step in building the program,” said first-year Glenwood head coach Rocky Whitworth.The victory was the first as a Demon for Whitworth and evened Glenwood’s overall record at 1-1. Delta dropped to 1-2 overall (0-1 WSC).The Demons didn’t make it easy on themselves. Of the 10 times Glenwood put the ball on the ground, Delta came out of the pile with the turnover six times. The Demons also had a 44-yard Jake Mauldin interception return for a touchdown nullified due to a personal foul.But the Demons defense held fast despite the obstacles, and Jeremy Christner and the Glenwood offense did enough to pull out the victory.”The entire team fought the adversity and there was never a time of relaxed intensity or effort,” Whitworth said. “I was really proud of the way the whole team hung in there with an inordinate number of turnovers. We should have either won by 38 or lost by 28, but because of the football spirits it just came out to that score.”Delta took a 10-0 lead in the first half before Christner broke off a 40-yard run to cut the lead to three. Running behind a line Whitworth said “took a big step forward,” Christner scored both Glenwood touchdowns and finished with 121 yards on 12 carries. He also had an outstanding day on the defensive side of the ball at free safety.”He had an extraordinary night as an athlete. He made a lot of plays,” Whitworth said of Christner.Justin Montover and Marcus Munoz, both linemen, paced the defensive effort.”Marcus Munoz had an outstanding game on defense, and Montover – they’re both defensive linemen, and it has to start there,” Whitworth said.Glenwood took its first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter, converting a fumble recovery by Justin Montover into points when Christner bolted into the end zone on a short run.The excitement, however, was far from over. A defensive stop by Glenwood with less than three minutes left in the game forced a Delta punt, but Christner bobbled the return and the Panthers pounced on the opportunity and ended up with the ball at midfield with 2 1/2 minutes left.The Glenwood defense forced a fourth-and-14 only to commit a penalty on the ensuing play and give Delta another shot at fourth-and-4. The second chance was snuffed out with an incomplete pass and the Demons sealed the contest with a 22-yard run by Pat Reardon. Reardon finished with 84 yards rushing. Demon quarterback Eric Lundin was 4-for-6 for 79 yards.”Confidence is something we work on and to have confidence you have to have that first little bit of success,” Whitworth said. “Unfortunately in football it comes down to those wins and losses, so this should help our confidence level some.• Glenwood plays a nonconference game Friday against Alamosa. The game is “Youth Football Night” and players from Three Rivers Football and Glenwood Springs Middle School are invited for a pregame tour at 5:30 p.m. Youth players who wear their jerseys receive free admission to the game.• Glenwood plays a nonconference game Friday against Alamosa. The game is “Youth Football Night” and players from Three Rivers Football and Glenwood Springs Middle School are invited for a pregame tour at 5:30 p.m. Youth players who wear their jerseys receive free admission to the game.


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