EVERGREEN, Colo. — The Mountain Bowl trophy stayed at its home at Evergreen High School, after the Cougars shut out their rival Conifer 41-0 in the regular season finale Friday night.
"We did it last year and we did it this year and it's the same feeling. It's just great," senior quarterback and captain Tommy Poholsky said. "Here at Evergreen, and for Conifer, that trophy means a lot to both of us and it really just shows us who the better team is up here in the mountains, so we're pumped to get this back again!"
Poholsky led his Cougars down the field on the first drive with a quick strike to senior wide receiver Kelten Ocasek. Senior running back Jack Johnson also punched in a rushing touchdown in the first quarter. The Cougars finished the half with a Gabe Zimmerer rushing score to take a 21-0 lead into the halftime locker room.
In the second half, the Cougars put the exclamation point on the game with touchdowns from Sam Grimshaw, a pick-six from Nash Carroll, and even a 50-yard scramble-and-score from the quarterback himself.
"I'm not really known as a fast guy, but the wheels just started moving, you know?" he said. "It picked up and it was a nice little run! I gotta give it to myself, I'm a little proud."
He was also proud of his entire team, finishing off a season 8-2 with a pounding over their rival to set up a fierce 3A playoff bracket next week.
"This was really a statement game. I feel like this game, we needed a win, we needed to show people what Evergreen football is like. We're going into playoffs strong and hungry to go deep, so we're excited."