While they all essentially count the same in the standings, some wins just feel bigger than others.

Photo by ACP Media – Berthoud quarterback Skyler Streicher hands off to running back Alex Larson on Friday night. The Spartans turned in another excellent performance, with Larson’s 279 yards and three touchdowns leading the way.

Facing Fort Lupton in their first conference game of the season last Friday night at Max Marr Stadium, the Berthoud High football team served further notice to all of Class 2A that they will be a force with which to be reckoned this season. The Spartans played magnificently, once against shining in all three phases of the game as they manhandled visiting Fort Lupton, winning by 35-14 final tally.

“That was a playoff-type football game, a couple of 3-1 teams, that was a big win for the Berthoud Spartans,” said Berthoud Head Coach, Cory Ticnor, whose team improved to 4-1 with the victory. The win helped the Spartans get notice in the CHSAA rankings as Berthoud earned the No. 10 spot in the latest coaches’ poll, their first appearance in the state top-10 in Ticnor’s four-season tenure.

Fort Lupton brought a sophisticated offensive attack into the game; led by star senior quarterback William Alvarado and a quartet of speedy wideouts that spread the field and work to find one-on-one matchups to exploit. Berthoud proved more than ready for the challenge.

The Spartans played a bracket coverage with a cornerback and a safety over the top on junior wide receiver Anthony Blan-Mendenhall while, on the opposite side, where the Blue Devils would often put three wideouts, Berthoud’s zone defense kept the receivers in front of them and stymied Fort Lupton offensive attack.

“They have an all-state caliber quarterback and (Blan-Mendenhall) is one of the best receivers you’re going to see at the 2A level,” Ticnor said. “(Berthoud defensive coordinator) Coach (Isaac) Vandeweert, put together a heck of plan and our kids executed it well. Coach (George) Ramirez has them doing some really good things in Ft. Lupton, we held them to two (touchdowns) in the first half and we shut them out in the second half, that’s how you execute a game plan. I’m super happy with how it turned out for us.”

Fort Lupton, employing a hurry-up, spread offense, was a contrast to Berthoud’s approach where they prefer to control possession, dominate on the line of scrimmage, prevent big plays, avoid mistakes and play solidly on special teams. The Spartans’ old-school approach won the day.

The Blue Devils got a big play, their one and only on the night, late in the second quarter when wide receiver Kaidyn Taylor caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage, shook a few tackles and burst down the right sideline to score and knot the game at 14-14 with 3:12 remaining before halftime.

But the Spartans answered on the very next play of the game.

Freshman Jayce Newbill, exploiting a weakness the Berthoud coaching staff identified in game-planning, took the subsequent kickoff and shot up the middle, sprinting 66 yards to give the Spartans plum field position at the Fort Lupton 17-yard line.

“We made an adjustment on our kick return, normally we hit the outside, but we knew they were weak in the middle, so I just found a hole and took it up there and it got great field position for us,” Newbill explained of his momentum-altering return. It took only three plays for Berthoud the cash in when junior Aiden McGrath took a handoff on a sweep to punch it in and give the Spartans a 20-14 lead heading into the break.

Berthoud took the momentum they generated at the end of the first half and carried it over into the second. The Spartans defense forced back-to-back three and outs for Fort Lupton and between them sandwiched a drive that saw superstar junior tailback Alex Larson, behind the blocking of a great Berthoud o-line anchored by his twin brother, Ben Larson, and led by his older brother, senior fullback Willem Larson, do the damage. Alex would score his second of three touchdowns to cap the drive and give Berthoud a 28-14 lead with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter.

Alex finished the game with 279 yards on 32 carries to bring his total to 898 yards on the season, the top mark in all of Class 2A by more than 200 yards. With four regular-season games remaining, Alex is within striking distance of the Berthoud High single-season rushing record, but the humble junior said after the game that winning is what matters.

“For me, it’s about the team, I don’t really care about my stats, I want to go out there and win, we’re 4-1, that was our goal, and that’s what I’m really happy about tonight,” he explained and added that he tries to plan his runs pre-snap, looking for potential holes in the defense he can exploit. “I think the biggest thing with running is having a vision and reading the defense before the play starts, knowing where those cut-back lanes are going to be.”

Coach Ticnor added, “Alex Larson is having a special season, it was really special tonight to have his twin brother playing center, to have his older brother playing fullback and having him in the backfield whenever we needed a big play, we gave him the rock and he really delivered tonight.”

Even with a two-touchdown deficit, Fort Lupton continued to battle and did their all to keep things interesting. The Blue Devils, after advancing 76 yards to the Berthoud seven-yard line, were stopped on a fourth and goal play that basically iced the game for the Spartans when they gang-tackled Joseph Gallegos on a swing pass to force a turnover on downs. The Berthoud defense put an exclamation point on the win when junior Uriah Chacon picked off an Alvarado pass, the second turnover in as many possessions for Fort Lupton, and the Blue Devils’ subsequent drive.

On the night, Berthoud’s defense held Blan-Mendenhall to just 48 yards on three catches, both season lows, and Alvarado’s passer rating of 79.3 was below his season average. Ben Larson paced Berthoud with 18 total tackles while Joey Finnegan turned in a spectacular performance with three sacks, two hurries and 13 total tackles.

“For us to come out and get this victory, another three-phase win, against a 3-1 team to open the league (schedule), it’s huge confidence boost for us,” Ticnor said.

Berthoud (4-1, 1-0 conf.) will travel down to Arvada this Friday to take on Faith Christian (2-3, 0-1 conf.) in another critical conference matchup. The game will be a late afternoon affair with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m.