The best way to stop a dynamic mobile quarterback is to hit him every time.

Well, No. 3 Pine Creek decided to take it a step further and punish No. 14 Pueblo West quarterback Zac Drury for four quarters on Friday night en route to a 35-18 victory at District 20 Stadium in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.

Josh Klyn, Josh Odom and JoJo Domann led a ferocious Pine Creek (9-2) defense that harassed Drury (33 yards on 19 carries), holding the Cyclones 1,300-hundred yard rusher to under 100 yards rushing for the first time this season.

“Their quarterback is a great player,” Domann said after finishing the game with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. “Hitting him hard is just Pine Creek’s motto and that is a given. We are going to hit everybody we play against.”

The Pine Creek defense was rewarded for their efforts by their own quarterback, as Tommy Lazzaro used pin-point passing to score 28 consecutive points in the first half following Drury’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Dean Thompson on the opening drive for Pueblo West (7-4).

Lazzaro (7-for-17, 99 yards) finished with three touchdown passes, including a 17-yard bullet across the middle to Austin Meachum on third and goal for the duo’s second touchdown of the game to give Pine Creek a 28-6 lead with 5:22 remaining in the first half.

The play was set up after Drury was drilled at the Pueblo West 15 yard line, fumbling the ball to Klyn.

“Our defense played a hell of a game and I am proud of them,” Lazzaro said. “We wouldn’t have won this game without them.”

Klyn was the anchor of a defensive line that penetrated the Pueblo West backfield consistently.

“We pride ourselves on playing our hardest on every play and doing our best out there to hold them to as few points as possible and get as many turnovers to give our offense as many chances to score,” Klyn said.

Domann picked off Drury on fourth and goal from the Pine Creek 15 to start the fourth quarter.

Drury was hit repeatedly and struggled to find any momentum. Really the only explosive success the quarterback had was when he connected on his second passing touchdown of the game, a 58-yard bomb to Travis Myers down the right sideline with 4:08 remaining – 40 seconds after Austin Schultz scored his second rushing touchdown of the game.

“I have seen him play for three years and I don’t know if you rattle the kid,” Pine Creek coach Todd Miller said. “But we definitely got to him. We got a couple good hits on him.”

Drury certainly felt it, and he was clearly rattled.

“You feel it (the hits) but you have to just keep going,” Drury said. “That’s the best defense we played all year. They’re fast, they’re big and they’re a tough team.”

It’s the kind of defense the Eagles have played all year, and it’s one Pine Creek’s junior quarterback is proud to have behind him, especially heading into the second round of the state tournament.

“They are the rock of our team,” Lazzaro said. “They keep us alive in every game.”

Hayleigh Washington (left) celebrates along with teammate Kelsie Snyder after winning 3-2 in 5A competition on the first day of the state volleyball tournament at The Coliseum in Denver on Friday, November 8, 2013. (The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett)

JERILEE BENNETT