Arvada West flag football rallies from halftime deficit against rival Ralston Valley

ARVADA — The quest for a conference three-peat couldn’t have got off to a better start for Arvada West.

The Wildcats defeated cross-town rival Ralston Valley 25-6 on Monday night under the lights at the North Area Athletic Complex to remain alone atop the Class 5A Jeffco League standings.

“I know we can do it,” A-West junior Grace Schillie said of the Wildcats (4-1, 2-0 in league) going after the three-peat. “Our program has been an elite program since (flag football) started.”

A-West posted a 29-6 record of the first two seasons since flag football became a CHSAA-sanctioned sport. The Wildcats won the state title when it was a pilot sport in 2024.

“Winning league is our first goal,” A-West coach Deven DelReal said. “Moving past that is a higher goal, that we’ll try to reach. It is still one play at a time. One game at a time.”

Ralston Valley (2-5, 1-2) gave everything the Wildcats could handle Monday night. The Mustangs jumped out to an early lead after a long touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Eva Connelly to junior Shelby Colosimo midway through the second quarter.

“After a play like that, we just have to kind of learn from our mistakes,” Schillie said of Colosimo’s long touchdown catch that gave the Mustangs a 6-0 lead at halftime. “After that play you just have to move on. I felt like we mentally reset and went from there.”

A-West battled through a 6-0 halftime deficit, lightning delay and periodic rain in the second half to take the key league victory.

“After that lightning delay we kind of got it together,” Schillie said.

Just before the delay, A-West converted on an interception by senior Macie Ferguson that set up the Wildcats deep in Ralston Valley territory. Junior quarterback Emerson Drake scored on a short touchdown run to tie things up 6-6.

Then it turned into the Schillie Show. The junior two-way player scored three touchdowns over the span of 8 minutes in the fourth quarter.

“We had a conversation when we were walking back onto the field after the delay and I told her (Schillie) to so close out the game,” DelReal said. “She is very talented and works hard. She is a leader on this team. A captain on this team. She is a two-way play that rarely comes out. She is a gamer.”

Schillie finished the pair of scoring drives in the fourth quarter on short touchdowns passes from Drake. A-West went to the short passing game after Ralston Valley’s defense intercepted Drake three times.

“A lot of teams play real deep,” DelReal said of A-West adjusting its offense to take the short underneath passes in the second half. “The short game is open. It’s simple football. It might be boring, but ultimately we are here to win football games.”

Schillie finished the game in style returning an interception for a touchdown with 1:40 left to play to make the final score 25-6.

“It felt great to kind of secure the win,” Schillie said of her pick-6. “It was just a great team win and a great team effort.”

A-West continues league play on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at Trailblazer Stadium. The Wildcats will face Columbine (3-3, 0-1) at 5 p.m. in Lakewood. Ralston Valley plays Chatfield (3-2, 1-1) in the second game of the doubleheader at Wednesday night at Trailblazer Stadium.

“Honestly, we like games like this,” DelReal said of the tight game against the Wildcats’ chief rival. “It shows you what kind of character and what kind of athletes you have. It makes the girls dig deep and want it more.”