Lakewood kept hanging around Oct. 4 at Jeffco Stadium against rival Green Mountain in a Class 4A Mountain Plains League battle, but the Tigers were finally shaken loose in the final quarter.
Trailing 17-12, Lakewood recovered a third fumble by the Rams’ offense on the final play of the third quarter. The table was set for a dramatic fourth quarter, but on the second play of the quarter Green Mountain senior Garrett Goings put a hit on Lakewood junior Ryan Lutz after a 15-yard gain on a pass from quarterback Will Cantwell.
Green Mountain senior Nathon Gonzales recovered the fumble and the Rams were able to milk the clock and drive 35 yards in eight plays to seal a 24-12 victory. Senior quarterback Brian Roe scored on a 4-yard touchdown run with 7:16 left in the fourth quarter to put the Rams up by two scores.
“You have to execute,” Lakewood coach Mark Robinson said. “We had some plays there where we had chances to execute and we broke down.”
The Tigers’ final offensive drive was a series of breakdowns. After a good kickoff return from senior Pat Rampi, Lakewood was flagged for 21 yards in penalties and Green Mountain senior Justin Pauga sacked Cantwell. The Tigers were forced to punt on a fourth-and-39 play. Lakewood’s offense never saw the ball again as Green Mountain’s running attack ran out the clock.
Green Mountain improved to 4-2 overall and 4-0 in league with the victory. Lakewood slipped to 3-3, 1-3.
Rams’ senior Bryson Harrington led the ground attack for Green Mountain with 24 carries for 148 yards, but Roe found the end zone twice, and also threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to senior Brandon Spruce.
“We knew that Harrington is their No. 1 man,” Robinson said. “Not to take anything away from Harrington, but he has a heck of an offensive line in front of him. Green Mountain is strong up front. I think that Green Mountain probably won this game in the trenches.”
Lakewood’s playoff hopes are slim after a third conference loss. The Tigers will attempt to upset ThunderRidge (5-1, 4-1) at noon Saturday, Oct. 11, at Jeffco Stadium.
On the other hand, Green Mountain and Ralston Valley (6-0, 5-0) are the only two undefeated teams in league play going into their battle scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, at the North Area Athletic Complex.
The Rams have managed three straight victories after a disappointing Sept. 13 loss to Arvada. Coming up for Green Mountain is the toughest part of its schedule, with Ralston Valley, Gateway (5-1, 4-1) and ThunderRidge in three of the next four weeks.
“I think we can handle it,” Roe said of the difficult road ahead. “I think we are a good team, a solid team to play with those guys. Those are some of the biggest teams in the state and they give us no credit. We are going to go prove them wrong.”
Green Mountain coach Don McGatlin says that the Rams can’t afford any mistakes against Ralston Valley, who rolled Golden 46-0 on the day the Rams beat Lakewood.
“If anybody is going to beat Ralston Valley they have to play way over their heads,” McGatlin said. “Ralston Valley is amazing. ThunderRidge is amazing. Gateway still has great speed. We’ll show up and hopefully things go well.”