Fort Collins handles Fairview to remain Colorado 5A's last unbeaten
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This Fort Collins High School football team is for real.
The Lambkins remain Colorado's only unbeaten Class 5A team, flying past Fairview 44-36 on Oct. 9 in Loveland.
The Fort Collins offense continues to look nearly unstoppable in a remarkable 7-0 start.
Junior quarterback Jace Garcia is playing like an absolute star, tossing four touchdown passes and running for another to outduel dynamic Fairview senior Ki Ellison.
Even a blustery night in Boulder couldn't ground this aerial attack.
Garcia went well over 300 yards passing for the fifth time in seven games and now has 30 total TDs (27 passing, three rushing) in his debut season as starting QB.
The Fort Collins defense also made a pair of fourth-down stops and held serve enough against one of Colorado 5A's high-powered attacks.
That gave this Lambkins offense all the chances they needed.
Donovan Dumas caught two of the touchdown passes, Bode Hammerschmidt took a screen 80 yards to the house and Preston Mozer added the knockout blow in the fourth quarter on a slant score.
The run game kept Fairview off balance, too. Vicente Romero earned some hard yards and scored the first touchdown of the night.
This was a statement win for a Fort Collins squad that is surging to contender status in Class 5A.
Fairview had won 42 straight games against Fort Collins city opponents, including five against the Lambkins, dating back to 2008. The Knights had also won eight of the last nine league championships.
None of that mattered here.
Fort Collins only briefly trailed 22-21, but scored on the very next play from scrimmage via Hammerschmidt's long catch and run.
That started a barrage of 23 straight points for the Lambkins that put the game away.
Even the final score was a bit cosmetic. Fairview scored a touchdown with 21 seconds left after teams had started making some late substitutions.
Fort Collins won't get many more chances to make a regular-season statement, with only Riverdale Ridge over .500 on the remaining slate.
However, the Lambkins (ranked fifth in Class 5A entering this week) will have a prime opportunity to finish in the top eight and earn a rare playoff bye.
Next up, though? Fort Collins has a rivalry game against Harmony Cup foe Fossil Ridge on Oct. 16.
This story will be updated. Return to coloradoan.com/sports for more.
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins handles Fairview to remain Colorado 5A's last unbeaten