ARVADA — Every prep football game in mid-October is important for teams with postseason aspirations.
The importance of Ralston Valley’s road trip to Legacy Stadium in Aurora for a 7 p.m. kickoff against undefeated and No. 2 Eaglecrest next week could very well completely wash away the Mustangs’ 0-3 start to the season.
“We have the momentum now,” Ralston Valley junior Brad Roberts said after his 10 carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns performance in a 42-6 victory over Rangeview on Thursday at the North Area Athletic Complex. “It will be a tough game. Hopefully we can get that win.”
Ralston Valley is on a 5-game winning streak after a 42-6 victory over Rangeview. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Ralston Valley (5-3, 3-0 in Mt. Wilson League) and Eaglecrest (7-0, 2-0) will likely be playing for the conference title in the Mt. Wilson League, along with the all-important automatic bid to the 16-team 5A state tournament.
“I try to get our guys each week better regardless of opponent,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd said about heading about next week’s game against the Raptors. “We’ve got to focus on getting better and not who we are playing.”
A 5-game winning streak for Ralston Valley has put the Mustangs in position to completely forget early losses to No. 5 Columbine, Fountain-Fort Carson and No. 3 Pomona. Ralston Valley can focus going up against a talented Eaglecrest team that returns a lot of players from its state quarterfinal team from last season.
“I think we played really tough opponents at the very beginning. Each week we’ve just got better and better,” Roberts said. “We need to contain (Eaglecrest’s) athletes and make sure everyone does their job.”
The Mustangs lost to the Raptors 38-21 last season. That allowed Eaglecrest to take the conference title.
Ralston Valley got off to a slow start in the 4 p.m. kickoff Thursday against Rangeview (1-7, 0-3). A 45-yard touchdown run by sophomore Chase Wilson late in the first quarter got the scoring going.
Three Ralston Valley touchdowns in the final 4 minutes of the first half opened up a 28-0 lead. Senior Kohlton Pribble had a pair of short touchdown runs and junior quarterback AJ Jergensen scrambled in for a 41-yard touchdown.
Chase Wilson, right, and Jake Nishida celebrate a Mustang touchdown against Rangeview. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Roberts got it to a running clock with his pair of touchdowns in the second half. The junior, who was slowed by an ankle injury early this season, had touchdown runs of 3 and 24 yards.
“I’ve been getting better each week. I’m feeling stronger and better. I need to get my conditioning up and my endurance back,” Roberts said after his largest output of the season. “I think we are doing well as a team. We’re rolling.”
Rangeview prevented the shutout with a 29-yard touchdown run by senior Joshua Hollins in the final minute.
“It was a good game for us, but I think we can improve on a lot of stuff,” Ralston Valley senior linebacker Brayden Hartley said. “There was a lot of fundamentals that we did wrong. We’ll get better every week.”
Loyd emphasized that his teams need to get better as the regular season comes to a close.
“We’ve got to get better on some fundamental things,” Loyd said. “Obviously, scoring points is nice and holding them almost to a shutout is nice, but you have to be fundamentally sound.”
Ralston Valley sophomore Chase Wilson brakes off a 45-yard touchdown run Thursday at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)