ARVADA — Arvada West junior Adrian Symalla put the icing on the cake in the Wildcats’ football opener Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
The junior running back sprinted past the entire A-West sideline for a 90-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats a 51-7 lead over Fountain-Fort Carson with 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. It was the second rushing touchdown for Symalla and the fifth touchdown on the ground on the night for A-West in an eventual 51-14 victory.
“I knew I was going to have that cutback lane, that is what we planned for,” Symalla said of his long touchdown run. “I saw green and had to go.”
Symalla also had a 50-yard touchdown run on the first offensive play in the second half for A-West.
“I’ve seen this group grow,” A-West coach Brad Pyatt said. “A lot of this group played last year. At the end of last season we were making great strides. There was a big culture switch with this group. A lot of love on this team.”
A-West is coming off a 5-6 record last season where league rivals Columbine, Chatfield and Ralston Valley all advanced to the 5A state semifinals. The Wildcats hit the road next week to face Mountain Range on Friday, Aug. 30.
“We are just getting started,” Symalla said. “We have a few more years to go. We are still a young team. I’m excited.”
Symalla and fellow junior running back Jaiden Green combined for more than 2,000 yards on the ground last year as sophomores. Green also had a huge game against the Trojans with a trio of touchdown runs of 4, 15 and 3 yards.
A-West returning starting quarterback — junior Logan Duhachek — also threw a pair of touchdowns to junior Noah Meurer as the Wildcats put up seven touchdowns against Fountain-Fort Carson.
“Logan (Duhachek) is playing way better than he ever has,” Symalla said. “The line is blocking and then the running backs can do their jobs.”
FFC finished with an 8-4 record last year, losing to eventual state champion Columbine in the second round of the 5A state tournament.
The Trojans got on the scoreboard late in the first quarter with a 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Colton Camba to Tyshawn Miller to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 10-7.
A-West responded with a solid 9-play, 96-yard touchdown drive capped off by Green’s second touchdown of the first half.
“Our offense has grown so much from last year,” A-West senior captain and defensive lineman Vince Vigil said. “Going into this game I knew we had a really good group. We are ready for next week and ready for things to come.”
The Wildcats’ defense also returns a lot of talent in Vigil, junior linebacker Jaxon Pyatt and Kevin Sanchez leading the way. Senior defensive linemen Daniel D’Amico and Christian Knightwalker both harassed Camba all night long.
“This is a huge win for us,” Vigil said. “I’m so proud of this team. We had a lot of dudes step up today. Everyone was a part of this win.”
A-West forced three turnovers and gave up just one offensive touchdown that the Trojans scored off a Wildcat turnover that gave FFC the ball on A-West’s 10-yard line. The only other score for FFC was a 97-yard kickoff return by junior Justyn Jordan during the running clock in the fourth quarter.
“That is going to be our identity this year,” Vigil said of the Wildcats’ physical nature on defense. “We are boogiemen and that is what we are going to do.”
Photo by Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
