Ralston Valley juniors Cameron Wright and Sam Bierbrauer were two of the final players off the football field Saturday, Nov. 25.
The quarterback and running back tandem were likely itching to break into wind sprints at the North Area Athletic Complex to get ready for next season.
“We’ve got some good tools coming back. We are going to put it all together next year,” Wright said. “We are going to start working right away and get ready for next year. We don’t want this to happen again.”
For the second straight year Ralston Valley’s season ended with a loss in the Class 4A state semifinals. While the returning underclassmen want to start preparing for the 2007 campaign, Mustangs’ coach Matt Loyd knows a little time away from football is probably the best medicine for his squad.
“The coaching staff and kids put so much time and effort into a season,” Loyd said. “It’s tough when it finally just ends the way you don’t want it to end.”
While the 28-7 loss to Wheat Ridge turned out the lights on Ralston Valley’s seventh season under Loyd — he started the football program at the new school in 2000 — the Mustangs have become a threat to challenge for the state title over the last two years.
The Mustangs didn’t have much success in the postseason before the 2005 season when they advanced to the semifinal in the first time in the program’s history. Getting back to the semifinal again wasn’t the top priority for Loyd.
“The tradition I’m most pleased of is the kids are doing what we ask, acting right, and being a class program,” Loyd said. “If we win some games along the way that’s great.”
Ralston Valley racked up a 21-5 record over the past two seasons playing in the highly competitive 4A Mountain Plains League. Despite numerous injuries, forcing Loyd to go to a running back by committee, the Mustangs stayed on track.
The toughest injury was starting senior fullback Blake Rice missing the majority of the season with a knee injury. Rice was the lone returning starter in the offensive backfield for the Mustangs.
“I would have really liked to have seen Blake play for his sake,” Loyd said. “What a great attitude he had. He was always at practice, supporting his team and being a team leader.”
Ralston Valley had its largest senior class ever. It was hard for Loyd to go through his traditional senior line in the end zone after the Mustangs’ final game saying goodbye to all of his seniors.
“It was tough knowing this would be the last time we’d see them play,” Loyd said. “My hats off to my seniors and what they did for us.”