Anyone who was counting out Ralston Valley’s football team after a 0-2 start better take a second look at the Mustangs.
Ralston Valley (5-3, 4-2 in Class 4A Mountain Plains League) has won five of its last six games and sits alone in second place in the conference standings. Lakewood (4-4, 3-3) was the Mustangs’ latest victim. Ralston Valley held a 32-0 lead at halftime on its way to a 38-7 victory.
“We came out flat and Ralston Valley came out ready to play,” Lakewood senior quarterback Thomas Platten said. “They just beat us down all game.”
The Tigers were riding a four-game winning streak after starting the season 0-3. Lakewood’s lone points against Ralston Valley game on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Platten to junior Erik Ferrel on the Tigers’ first drive of the second half.
Ralston Valley responded with a 29-yard touchdown run by senior Clayton Cammon as the third quarter wrapped up. The touchdown would be the last score of the game.
Lakewood had a solid, 89-yard drive in the fourth quarter, but was stuffed by Ralston Valley’s defense three times on the Mustangs’ 1-yard line.
“Our defense is just coming together,” Ralston Valley senior Jason Long said. “We are becoming the defense we are supposed to be. I’m really proud of my guys.”
The Tigers must upset defending state champions ThunderRidge (8-0, 6-0) and Green Mountain (4-4, 3-3) to have any hope of making the postseason.
While Lakewood’s playoff hopes are fading, Ralston Valley’s are getting brighter. The Mustangs hold the 13th spot in Colorado High School Activities Association’s unofficial wild-card point standings. Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd isn’t about to break out a calculator in an attempt to figure out how many victories the Mustangs need to make the playoffs for the sixth straight season.
“All we can control is what we do week-to-week,” Loyd said. “If things work out, great. But we can’t think about that because we can’t control that.”
For the second straight season Ralston Valley lost its opening two games. The Mustangs hope those losses to Monarch and Dakota Ridge don’t come back to haunt them or worse, cost them a playoff spot.
“That is a worry always in the back of our minds,” Ralston Valley senior Brandon Klipka said. “We just have to keep focusing and take it game-by-game.”