ARVADA — Forcing four turnovers and a highly-effective offense in the second half led Ralston Valley football to keep its winning streak going against rival Arvada West.
The Mustangs, No. 7 in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A football rankings, scored on three straight possessions after halftime on the way at a 42-13 victory over the Wildcats on Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
“It’s unbelievable to know that they haven’t beat us yet,” Ralston Valley senior Brad Roberts said of the perfect record against A-West. “It was a solid victory. We came out prepared.”
Ralston Valley senior Brad Roberts (5) breaks into the open on a key 40-yard catch before halftime Thursday at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Ralston Valley (5-1 record, 1-0 in 5A Metro West League) has a 9-0 all-time record against A-West (4-2, 0-1) on the football field since the Mustangs moved up to Class 5A in 2010.
Last year, it took a last-second touchdown dive into the end zone by AJ Jergensen to keep Ralston Valley undefeated against A-West on the football field. It appeared things would be close again as the Mustangs held a slim 7-6 lead on A-West late in the second quarter.
Roberts came up huge for the Mustangs set up a late touchdown in the first half. The Air Force Academy-commit’s 40-yard catch out of the backfield got Ralston Valley down to A-West’s 23-yard line in the final minute of the opening half.
“That was awesome,” Roberts said. “We knew their defensive line was coming hard almost every single play. We decided to do a screen. I just read my linemen upfield and made some cuts off of them.”
Junior quarterback Walker Brickle hit junior Caleb Rillos three plays later for a 13-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left to put Ralston Valley up 13-6 at halftime.
“We started about 98 yards away with only a few minutes there,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd said of the Mustangs’ scoring drive right before halftime. “That really helped us get some momentum going in at half and then getting the ball coming back out.”
Ralston Valley came out after halftime with three straight touchdowns on three straight drives to open up a commanding 35-6 lead.
A-West senior Chris McEahern (3) makes a catch over the middle Thursday night against Ralston Valley. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Brickle had a 23-yard touchdown pass to Rillos to opening up the scoring in the third quarter. After a 3-and-out by A-West, Ralston Valley junior Chase Wilson scored from a yard out. Jergensen capped off the surge with a 1-yard touchdown run after senior Ben Takata intercepted A-West senior quarterback Johnny Krutsch for the second time.
“That guy (Krutsch) can throw it,” Loyd said. “To get three picks is pretty good. They still made a couple of plays, but defensively I felt we did a really, really good job.”
Ralston Valley capped off the win with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Brickle to Jergensen in the fourth quarter.
A-West scored on a 1-yard touchdown by Cass early in the second quarter, but a missed extra point allowed Ralston Valley to remain ahead with a 7-6 lead. Krutsch threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to junior Nick Nuhfer in the fourth quarter to put an end to the 28 unanswered points for Ralston Valley.
Ralston Valley continues 5A Metro West play against Mullen. RV celebrates homecoming with a battle of Mustangs when the Mullen Mustangs head to Arvada for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday, Oct. 5, at NAAC.
“Our defense has always been solid,” Takata said. “If our offense keeps it going we should keep winning games. It’s fun.”
A-West has another tough test trying to break its two-game losing streak. The Wildcats face rival No. 6th-ranked Pomona next Thursday night at NAAC.
Ralston Valley junior Ben Takata (11) grabs one of his two interceptions Thursday night against Arvada West. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)