Colorado's leading rusher pushes Rye past Ellicott, extends rushing lead

If you love the running game in football, then look no further than the Rye Thunderbolts football team.

The leading rusher in all of Colorado, Dylan Hurne and the Thunderbolts took on the Thunderhawks of Ellicott on Friday night at Rye High School. Hurne and the Thunderbolts easily handled the Thunderhawks to the tune of 56-28 and the score wasn’t even that close.

Hurne extended his lead in the rushing category with well over another 200 yards rushing and six touchdowns. Derick Bak and Brendan Gray also got in on the scoring act as well for the Thunderbolts.

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When in doubt, run the ball

The Thunderbolts have had a good season so far up to this point, taking on Ellicott. The only downside to the team’s performance so far is that they tend to get off to slow starts in some games.

Not in this one.

The Thunderbolts scored early and often in the first half and Hurne got the action started for them with a 29-yard touchdown run with about 3 minutes off the clock in the first quarter.

The Thunderbolts attempted a successful onside kick and got the ball back. A few plays later, Hurne ran it in again from about 10 yards out to go up 14-0 with about five minutes left in the first quarter.

Late in the quarter, Hurne intercepted Ellicott when the team was driving down to score and a few plays later ran it in from the 50-yard line to give the home team a 21-0 lead. Ellicott saved face a bit by finally getting on the board late in the quarter but missed the extra point attempt; the score was 21-6 heading into the second quarter.

Seconds into the second quarter, Hurne again rushed the ball and took it in from about 60 yards out to extend the lead to 28-6. With about two minutes left on the clock in the first half, Ellicott scored their second touchdown and brought the game to a respectable 28-14 score.

They were hoping to go into halftime with this score; however, Hurne had other plans. He scored his fifth touchdown of the game with only two seconds left on the clock to give the Thunderbolts a 35-14 lead going into the half.

The home team received the opening kickoff of the third quarter and Bak got in on the scoring action now and took it in from about a half-yard out to give the Thunderbolts a 42-14 lead.

After another successful onside kick, quarterback Nolan Schauer connected with his wide receiver Gray for a 45-yard touchdown to put the score at 49-14.

Hurne decided that he was done sharing the spotlight and scored his sixth and final touchdown of the game to put the game into a running clock at 56-14.

A few garbage-time touchdowns from Ellicott brought the final score to 56-28.

Rye’s head coach Connor Pigg was pleased with his team’s performance after a big win for the program on homecoming night.

“I’m pretty happy, it always feels good to win at home on homecoming,” Pigg said. “That being said, giving up 28 points on the board doesn't make you feel great defensively, but they're well coached. They're an incredibly improved team. So credit to Ellicott, but we have some things to work on, but I feel good.”

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Pigg is also very happy to have Hurne in his backfield, not only for his play on the field but for what he brings to the team from a leadership standpoint as well.

“Oh, he's a monster. He plays like a man possessed and he's been talented since he came in as a freshman,” Pigg said. “He's just grown tremendously into the role, not only as a No. 1 running back but as a leader. Thirty carries a game, averaging above 200 yards and just doing an incredible job. A lot of credit to him.”

With the team at 4-1 on the season and only four games left, the path to the playoffs looks promising, but coach Pigg knows that there are some tough teams ahead of them on the schedule.

“We've got some big games coming up,” Pigg said. “(Colorado Springs Christian) looks just as good as they ever are, and Banning Lewis looks tough as well. I think both of those teams really create a three-way race for the top of the league.”

Rye will head on the road next week to face off against CSC, then the team will be home for two more games before finishing the season on the road once again.

The sky's the limit

Running back Dylan Hurne is having a special season as a senior. He currently leads the entire state of Colorado in rushing prior to Friday night's game against Ellicott. He is also second in the state in total touchdowns as well.

Hurne credits his successful senior season to his teammates and most importantly his offensive line.

“To be honest, our team just works hard every week,” Hurne said. “We have our mindsets right, and I wouldn't be able to do it without my line. They worked their asses off and we just put it to work.”

Hurne knows that the team is working hard to achieve a similar goal, reach the playoffs. With another win under their belt after beating Ellicott, Hurne believes the team is finally starting to hit their stride at the right time.

“I hope this win helps us mentally for sure,” Hurne said. “We came into Trinidad and we came into Salida and Center slow. Our minds weren’t right. We were kind of dim and we weren't working as hard. But today we made sure that we came out hot and we definitely worked our butts off.”

With another big performance in the game against Ellicott, Hurne now sets himself up for a possibility of rushing for over 2000 yards on the season — something that he hopes to achieve before hanging up the cleats in his high school career.

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“I'm going for 2000,” Hurne said. “If not, I'm shooting for 2500. I'll shoot for the stars. I'm going for anything I can get. The sky is the limit. I feel like if you work hard enough, anything is attainable.”

Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @chowebacca. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Rye defeats Ellicott behind Hurne's 6 rushing touchdowns