Arvada West girls flag football completes sweep to win 5A Jeffco title

LAKEWOOD — Arvada West girls flag football is in a class by itself when it comes to the Class 5A Jeffco League.

The Wildcats (8-2 record, 5-0 in 5A Jeffco) completed their undefeated conference run Wednesday night at Lakewood Memorial Field with a pair of dominating victories to claim the 5A Jeffco League title.

“Not nervous, more excited,” A-West coach Lacey Abell said of the final night of league play. “I wasn’t worried about the game these girls were going to bring. When I put these girls on the field I trust what they can bring to the table. I wasn’t worried about us getting the wins.”

A-West defeated Lakewood 55-0 and then handled Columbine 39-6 in the nightcap. The Wildcats are on a 4-game winning streak after a 27-18 non-league loss to Cherry Creek back on Sept. 14.

Last season — second year of the pilot season for girls flag football in Colorado before it became a CHSAA sanctioned sport this season — A-West was a perfect 25-0 record last season on the way to a state title.

“I think we are extra motivated,” A-West senior quarterback Saylor Swanson said with having lost to Mountain Vista and Cherry Creek this season. “We aren’t complacent at all. We know there are good teams out there. We have to be better. We can’t just hang our hats on last year. We’ve got to win and do everything we can during practice to get better.”

A-West was much better than Columbine (4-6, 2-3) on Wednesday night. The Wildcats jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead, including Swanson throwing a pair of touchdowns to senior Molly Schellpeper.

“It was all about the team. They supported me through all of it,” Schellpeper said of her eventual 3-touchdown night thanks to a pick-6 defensively in the third quarter. “Saylor made the perfect throws. The other receivers ran the right routes to set me up.”

Swanson finished the night with four touchdown passes, hitting senior Sara Walker in the first half and adding a fourth touchdown pass to junior Alyssa Alberts early in the third quarter to push the score to 26-0.

“We have so many playmakers on our team. I love watching them play together,” Abell said of four different A-West players finding the end zone against Columbine. “They play for each other and they play so hard.”

Schellpeper’s interception returned for a touchdown induced a running clock with the 30-point mercy rule midway through the third quarter. Junior Santana Pena added a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter to make the score 39-0.

Columbine scored on a touchdown run by junior quarterback Jordyn Washington in the final minute to prevent the shutout.

“This was the first step on the ladder,” Abell said of winning the league title. “We have more goals, but this was the first goal of the season. We’ve got some higher goals with some more things coming. These girls are hungry for it.”

A-West will likely grab the top-seed for the 8-team Jeffco Tournament scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5, and Wednesday, Oct. 9, at Jeffco and Trailblazer stadiums. The mixed classification tournament will have 4A Jeffco League champion Green Mountain (9-1, 6-0), along with Valor (9-1, 4-1) that finished second to A-West in the league standings.

“I was super excited,” Swanson said of finish off a perfect league record. “Honestly, I wasn’t too nervous at all because I’m so confident in our team and what we are capable of.”