Dakota Ridge celebrates homecoming with victory over Pomona on the gridiron

LAKEWOOD — Dakota Ridge’s offense was flying high early and often as the undefeated Eagles celebrated homecoming Friday night at Jeffco Stadium.

“Homecoming week if full of fun and distractions,” Dakota Ridge coach Jeremiah Behrendsen said. “The cool thing is I could tell this week that our group approached it where they did have fun, but had a business approach to it. They came out on fire.”

Dakota Ridge seniors Nathan Rodriguez and Landon Kalsbeck both had a pair of touchdowns as the Eagles (4-0 record) cruised to a 45-14 victory over Pomona.

“It was absolutely huge,” Rodriguez said of his pair of first-half touchdowns. “We knew coming out that Pomona was 3-0 and undefeated, but we also knew if we came out and smacked them in the mouth we would be the better team.”

Senior quarterback Kellen Behrendsen — son of the head coach — threw four touchdowns, but got the scoring started with a 6-yard touchdown run following a botched punt by Pomona on the Panthers’ opening possession.

“I defintely wanted to show them on that first drive that we are competitors,” Kellen Behrendsen said. “We were going to come out with a punch and come out strong.”

Behrendsen hooked up with Rodriguez twice with long touchdowns in the first half. Rodriguez hauled in a 48-yard touchdown catch to extend the Eagles’ lead to 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

Rodriguez did most of the work on a 76-yard catch and run with 1:59 left in the first half to push the lead to 28-7.

“It was a scary (catch) coming across the middle. I saw the safety out of the corner of my eye,” Rodriguez said. “I thought I was just going to have to secure the ball for a solid 10 yards, but I bounced off and was able to make it into a bigger play.”

It was the first multi-touchdown game for Rodriguez.

“He (Rodriguez) is one of the fastest people in Colorado,” Kellen Behrendsen said. “He didn’t play last year because of injuries. I really think he is someone people really need to look for. He just makes plays for me and this offense.”

Pomona (3-1) did stay within striking distance with a 2-yard touchdown catch by senior Ethan Vu in the final seconds of the first half to make it a 28-14 Eagles’ lead at the break.

Junior quarterback Tucker Ingersoll worked his magic with his legs and arm to keep Dakota Ridge from making it a complete blowout. Ingersoll had a 13-yard touchdown run on a fourth-down play to finally get Pomona on the scoreboard with 3:01 left in the second quarter.

Kalsbeck — Washington State University-commit — made sure Pomona wasn’t able to cut it to a 1-score game to start the second half. Kalsbeck had a leaping 25-yard touchdown catch on the opening drive of the second half to extend the lead to 35-14.

Kalsbeck also had a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter when Dakota Ridge opened the game with a 21-0 lead scoring on the Eagles’ first three possessions.

Dakota Ridge’s defense held Ingersoll and the Panthers’ offense in check after halftime.

“The defense totally responded,” Coach Behrendsen said. “Tucker does a really good job extending plays. Our guys struggled with that, but made some adjustments.”

Dakota Ridge has one final non-league game before jumping into Class 4A South Metro League play. The Eagles are on the road against 5A’s Cherokee Trail next Friday night at Legacy Stadium in Aurora.

“To be 4-0 is huge, but we can’t let it get to our heads,” Rodriguez said. “Every team we go up against we have to have the mindset that we aren’t going to underestimate them. We have to come out and fight.”

Pomona has a bye next week before being its 3A North 1 League play against Wheat Ridge on Oct. 3 at Trailblazer Stadium.