The Golden Demons knew that bringing a hard-hitting, run-stopping defense to the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada would be key Thursday, Sept. 21.
Seven turnovers and two defensive touchdowns later, Golden (3-1, 1-0 in the Class 4A Mountain Plains League) celebrated a 45-0 blowout win in its conference opener. Arvada (3-1, 0-1) suffered its first loss of the season, being held to less than 200 offensive yards on the night.
“Our defense was just taking them out tonight. We got big up the line and they weren’t coming very hard off the ball,” Golden senior linebacker Kenneth Scally said. “We have a lot of faith on our defensive line. Our backers are hard hitters. We’re putting Golden back in the books for hitting hard and not giving up.”
The defensive dominance started after the Golden offense had stalled and missed a field goal early in the first quarter.
Sophomore cornerback Nick Estrada intercepted a pass thrown by Arvada quarterback Mike Vaughn on the second series of the game and returned it to the Arvada 26-yard line.
From there, it only took three plays for tailback Kameron Gates and Golden to go up 7-0. Gates pushed his way into the end zone from five yards out for the first score.
The Demon defense struck again when Scally recovered a Vaughn fumble.
Golden fullback Colin Leffert then slashed his way for a 10-yard gain to give the Demons a first and goal from the Arvada 5. Gates then plunged through the Reds’ defense for his second touchdown of the night and a 14-0 Demon lead.
The Demons visited the end zone again just a minute and a half later after Arvada’s Byers lost the ball again on a kick return fumble. Leffert ran the ball in for a 3-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
“Our defense did a great job,” Golden coach Tom Ward said. “We put them in a bind in the second quarter, and they kept them (Arvada) out of the end zone. What else can you say? They had a great plan for them. The defensive coordinator did a great job with the game plan.”
The Demons’ offense struck again early in the second half for a 28-0 lead. Leffert found space and rambled for a 34-yard gain on the drive to finish with 193 rushing yards, while Gates rumbled for his third touchdown of the day on his way to 115 yards.
“It was nice. I’m very blessed with my offensive line,” Gates said. “They’re amazing. There’s no question that that’s the best line in the state. They make it easy for me.”
The defense shut the door on Arvada in the fourth quarter after a Golden field goal.
Defensive line Addison Hanf stripped the ball from Vaughn. Golden’s Mohamad Hasoon recovered the fumble and got a touchdown for a 38-0 Demons lead.
Less than a minute later, Estrada intercepted his second pass of the day and took it back 37 yards for the final Golden touchdown.
“Our defense was awesome tonight,” Leffert said. “They were one of the main reasons we won by so much. They played an excellent game.”
Ward said his players have adapted swiftly after Golden lost starting quarterback Nathan Goergen to injury two weeks ago.
“It was very important for us to play well early,” he said. “We made some mistakes, but we corrected them. We’re a running team now after we lost our quarterback the second week of the season. We have had to make some changes. Our kids are doing a great job of adjusting.”
Arvada head coach John Hilton said the Reds had difficulty stopping Golden’s defensive attack.
“I’ll tell you, they were physical, they were big, they were strong, and it was kind of a wake-up call for us,” Hilton said. “We start three sophomores on the offensive line. Golden came at us and pushed us around a little bit. I think they grew up a little bit in the second half, our offensive line. When you turn the ball over seven times against a team that’s big and physical like this, it’s going to be ugly.”
WHAT’S NEXT
Golden (3-1, 1-0) moves on to play conference foe Dakota Ridge (2-2, 0-1) at noon Saturday, Sept. 30, at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.