Frederick stuns top-seeded Cañon City

CAÑON CITY • The looks on the faces of the Cañon City players and fans summed it up — pure shock.

The No. 1-seeded, undefeated Tigers had just fallen victim to one of the biggest upsets in Colorado high school football history.

The scoreboard Saturday read that No. 16 Frederick had won the game, 7-6; a result nobody in town saw coming.

“Nobody thought this would happen today,” Cañon City quarterback Colt Palmer said. “We’re all shocked.”

The Tigers rolled into the 3A first-round playoff game with a 10-0 record and a large home crowd to support them. But none of that mattered.

Cañon City took a 6-0 lead just before the end of the first quarter when backup quarterback Logan Nethercot found Matt Schwindt for a 24-yard touchdown while Palmer was temporarily out after taking a big hit.

One of the plays of the game came on the point-after attempt. Nethercot lined up as the holder in a swinging gate formation with receivers out to each side.

Frederick had a breakdown on defense and left a receiver completely uncovered, but Nethercot’s pass was low and couldn’t be handled, leaving the Tigers with only a 6-0 lead that would come back to haunt them.

“I wish I hadn’t hurried, I wish I had made a better pass,” said Nethercot, a sophomore. “Things would’ve changed.”

The rest of the game would play out much like an SEC college clash, with a lot of hard-hitting defense and running on offense.

In the third quarter, 8-3 Frederick received a punt at its 34-yard line. It looked like the punt returner waved his hand for a fair catch, but he then caught the ball and ran to the Cañon City 46. The referees made no call.

Five plays later, Frederick running back KC Rivera pounded the ball into the end zone from the 3-yard line for what turned out to be the winning touchdown.

“I thought it was a fair catch, but that was just one play in a series of many,” Cañon City coach Chris Coppa said. “I didn’t think in any way it was a deciding factor.”
While there were tears of anguish on one side of the field, the other erupted with wild jubilation.

“I don’t think anyone on the outside thought we could do this, but we believed in ourselves and our town believed in us,” said Rivera, who had 34 yards rushing and the touchdown. “We really thought we would win this game from the start.”

Frederick coach Thad Lear knows Cañon City very well — he was a graduate assistant there several years ago. The town will never forget his homecoming.

“Cañon City played a great game, and had a great season and they have no reason to hang their head,” Lear said. “I’ve got to tip my hat to my kids and my coaches.”