The Fossil Ridge Sabercats won their first road game of the season last Friday, defeating the rival Windsor Wizards 33-0. 

There were many questions heading into the game, mostly surrounding the quarterback position. After the injury suffered by senior Tyler Kubat, there was plenty of uncertainty heading to their matchup against their 4A foe. The solution was found in plain sight, as starting running back Colton Pawlak made the full time transition to the quarterback position.

The transition went as smooth as possible, as Pawlak was responsible for all five of the Sabercats’ touchdowns, including three through the air. 

“This was my first game in at quarterback. I’ve tried it a couple times…It was definitely something different. We put in [the game plan] Monday. We weren’t sure how it was going to work out, but the execution was there,” Pawlak said.

Perhaps the biggest score of the game came as right before halftime, Pawlak connected with sophomore Marcus Mozer on a 56 yard touchdown pass to put Fossil up 14-0.

“I knew I just had to catch the ball. I dropped one earlier in the end zone so I couldn’t let that happen again,” Mozer said.

Mozer is part of the Sabercats’ new offense, as the team looks to make the best of a bad situation. In addition to Kubat, senior wideout Mac Busteed was out of action for the past three weeks. The Fossil coaches have been spending plenty of time adjusting their strategies to make the correct moves.

“I feel good. I feel that everything the coaches have done for us in getting prepared for this [week’s game],” Mozer said.

Despite the offensive outburst, this victory wouldn’t have been possible without Fossil’s defense. The team was led by senior defensive back Jake Decklever, who totaled seven tackles along with a solo tackle for loss. Decklever continues to rack up tackles, bringing his total for the season to 37 through the four games. After Windsor ran for 400 yards in last week’s game against Fort Collins High School, the Sabercats were able to hold them under 150 yards.

“We had the edges covered really good tonight. Our defensive ends did a great job keeping them inside. We had 11 guys on the ball every single time, it was awesome,” Decklever said.

Decklever is not only the tackle leader on the defense, but the main moral booster as well. He does a spectacular job of playing with confidence and keeping his teammate’s heads in the game.

“I like to hype up the team. When something happens I like to be there…we got special handshakes with everybody, it’s nice,” Decklever said.

Fossil will have no time to bask in their glory, however, as they face a big test on the road against Arvada West High School on Friday at 7:00 p.m. in their last non-conference game of the season.

Gallery • 12 Photos

Senior Ryan Pollyea before gametime.