It took a while, but once the Red-Tailed Hawks’ football team found momentum, it refused to relinquish it.

The Red-Tailed Hawks scored 17 of their 34 points in the second quarter and dominated both sides of the ball in a 34-0 rout of Widefield.

The win Friday night at Cheyenne Mountain High School gave the Red-Tailed Hawks their first victory of the season.

“It felt great to come out here and get that first win,” Red-Tailed Hawks’ Samuel Hawker said. “Football is a game of bouncing back. You’re going to take a couple of hits and it’s about how you respond to that. We kept our cool and stayed true to our offense.”

Widefield (0-1) and Cheyenne Mountain (1-1) combined for five fumbles in the first quarter, but the Red-Tailed Hawks gained their poise in the second.

Hawker nailed a 35-yard field goal to build a 3-0 lead late in the first. Then, the Red-Tailed Hawks scored on a 35-yard run from George Knoll, forced an intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety, and Hawker connected with Tyler Kriss on a 39-yard touchdown reception.

After struggling to score in the opening 12 minutes, the Red-Tailed Hawks needed just nine minutes to get 17 points.

“It was fun,” Kriss said. “The defense was awesome. Blockers set us up for scores and they helped us get in the right field position to score. This was a great team effort.”

Last week in the season opener against Air Academy, the Red-Tailed Hawks’ offense mustered just 21 points.

Kriss said he and his teammates aren’t concerned about the output from the first game of the year.

“We needed to get in the groove of things,” Kriss said. “That’s something to be expected at the start. Not everything is going to run smoothly but we ironed that out in the second half and everything ran smoothly and we were able to execute.”

The Red-Tailed Hawks kept the Gladiators’ defense at bay in the second half and rarely allowed Widefield on their side of the field.

Widefield had an explosive run late in the contest that put the Gladiators in the red zone, but the Hawks forced a turnover on downs.

“We talked about being a family and playing for your brother who is right next to you,” Hawker said. “You have to give it 100 percent. That’s huge here at Cheyenne. You have to make that block to protect your brother or open up a lane for them to score.”

As it happened for Kriss’ final score of the evening, which also served as the game’s last touchdown.

On 4th and 2 from the Gladiators 26, Kriss bolted through a huge hole the offensive line created and managed to dodge a tackle en route to the end zone with five minutes on the clock for his second touchdown of the game.

“My blockers came out and gave me an open field,” Kriss said. “That was a team effort and it was beautiful and a well-executed play.”

The Hawks’ shut-out victory is their first since Sept. 14, 2023, when Cheyenne Mountain beat Pueblo Centennial 62-0.

Cheyenne Mountain heads to Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo on Friday where it will face the Bulldogs and hope to build a win streak.

“We have to stay true to our offense,” Hawker said. “We have to settle down and make fewer mistakes next week to get the win.”