Hayden snuffs Soroco in 20-Mile Tussle rivalry football game
Fans packed the stands in Hayden for the 20-Mile Tussle — the Routt County rivalry football game — on Friday night.
The game, famously played between the Hayden Tigers and Soroco Rams, was played under a homecoming setting for Hayden, who defeated Soroco 60-20.
Hayden senior Joe Harris was a major contributor to the victory including pulling in a 43-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. He attributed the energy of the Tigers team to the fans who came to cheer on the hometown team. He said the Tigers focused on dialing in offensively for the game to help close out the season in a strong way.
“I didn’t realize how many people we had until I looked up one play and saw our stands were full,” Harris said. “That was the first time I’ve ever seen that in the four years I’ve played high school football. That was awesome, it helped a lot and a lot of us noticed.”
The Tigers offense was rolling to begin the game including 16 unanswered points to start. Sophomore quarterback Peyton Johnson was credited for five touchdowns in the game — three on the ground and two in the air.
Hayden managed 46 points in the first half and a Danek Demorat pick-six sealed the game in the fourth quarter to solidify the Tigers victory. Hayden now sits 3-4 on the season with an even 2-2 record in league play.
The Rams showed immense improvement in the game, creating gaps for rushing attempts and finding open receivers down the field in the passing game. Defensively, Soroco also managed to force fourth downs and collected many tackles for loss throughout the game.
Soroco quarterback Joseph Cordova had two touchdown passes and one 43 yard rush into the house as well. Both passes went to sophomore receiver Brayden Dudley who amassed nearly 200 yards receiving in the game.
Rams head coach Casey Hill said the team is playing harder each game and refuses to quit. Soroco is hungry to earn its first win of the season despite sitting on an 0-7 record to this point.
“Every week the opponents have no idea what is coming because we are getting better and better,” Hill said. “We are starting to play to our strengths and the guys are starting to show up. It is fun and makes games exciting.”
The Rams close the regular season with back-to-back home games. The first is against Lake County on Friday before the Rams close the season with their homecoming game on Nov. 1.
Hayden looks to build off its victory and take the final two games of the season on the road against Vail Christian on Friday night and then at home against West Grand on Nov. 1.
“Momentum is probably the best way to describe it,” Hayden head coach Matt Linsacum said. “We have had a couple of tough games, we’ve got some injuries that have plagued us and as we’re rotating young guys in, half of our starting lineup recently has been sophomores… This was huge to get our guys back on track for these next couple games which will be big league games for us.”
Soroco 20, Hayden 60
S: 6 0 6 8
H: 24 22 8 6
To reach Tom Skulski, call 970-871-4240, email tskulski@SteamboatPilot.com.
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.