Standley Lake senior Kevin Starnes (46) is upended by Golden’s Jack Walters (8) and Dylan Maddox in the first half Friday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — The fourth quarter belonged to Standley Lake senior Alex France late Friday afternoon at the North Area Athletic Complex.
The Gators’ starting quarterback and cornerback had a huge pass breakup in the end zone on defense to prevent Golden from taking a two-score lead early in the fourth quarter. France followed that up guiding Standley Lake on an 89-yard touchdown drive that he capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run.
“It was a wild fourth quarter. That’s the type of stuff we live for playing high school football,” France said after Standley Lake huge on for a 27-21 victory. “We fought hard and got this victory today.”
Standley Lake junior Jaren Cosby makes a juggling catch on the way to a 43-yard touchdown catch Friday at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
France helped seal the victory late intercepting a pass by Golden quarterback David O’Connell intended for senior Jack Walters in the end zone with 3:24 left in the fourth quarter.
“Alex is a great player. He is a tremendous athlete,” Standley Lake coach Don Morse said. “He has gone both ways for two years. He makes it clicks and he is why we changed to this offense.”
France also had a 43-yard touchdown pass to junior Jaren Cosby with less than 30 second to go before halftime to cut Golden’s lead to 14-13 at the break.
Golden took a 21-13 lead scoring on its first drive of the second half. Junior Braden Edwards scored on a 43-yard touchdown run, but it would be the final score for the Demons.
“Golden put up a good fight, but we put up a better fight and got the win,” France said.
Standley Lake pulled within 21-19 after a 6-yard touchdown run by senior Brady Kizer late in the third quarter before the wild fourth quarter where France came up big on both sides of the ball.
Golden junior Braden Edwards (22) breaks free of a tackle by Standley Lake senior Blake Bucca. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“No. 2 (France) made plays all night,” Golden coach Jared Yannacito said.
It was the first loss of the season for the Demons (2-1 record) after close victories against Skyview and Mountain View.
“Golden is a great team. Jared is a great coach and doing a great job,” Morse said of the Demons’ second-year head coach. “He one of the great up-and-coming coaches in our state.”
The Demons celebrate homecoming next week in a non-league game against Denver South. Golden plays at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, at Marv Kay Stadium at Campbell Field.
Golden doesn’t start conference play in the newly formed 4A Jeffco League until Oct. 5. The Demons actually travel to the Western Slope to face Grand Junction to open up conference play.
“What I told my kids is a loss is a lesson,” Yannacito said. “Every goal we wrote down is still out there. We are 2-1 right now with homecoming to get back on track and league after that. We just have to keep competing.”
Standley Lake (2-1) gets back into action next week with its homecoming game too. The Gators host Class 3A’s Green Mountain Rams at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, back at the NAAC.
“That’s a big win for us after last week,” Morse said referring to a 41-7 loss to Broomfield. “I’ve got a little three-game stretch here where it will dictate why direction our season goes.”
Golden senior quarterback David O’Connell drops back to pass Friday at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)