LAKEWOOD — Green Mountain football got a pair of touchdowns and two 2-point conversions in the final 8 minutes Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium to stun cross-town rival Lakewood.
“It’s huge. Last year we either won by a lot or lost by a lot,” Green Mountain sophomore quarterback Hudson Allison said after the Rams’ 22-21 come-from-behind victory. “It shows the fight and heart in our guys.”
Allison scored on a 9-yard touchdown run on a ‘student-body right’ where all three receivers were lined up to the right and Green Mountain’s sophomore quarterback followed his mass of teammates into the end zone.
“Coach (Anthony) Rankin just drew it up. It was an awesome play-call,” Allison said of his touchdown that got the Rams within a point with under a minute to play. “I trusted myself and trusted my boys. It was great blocking. I could have walked it in. It was perfect.”
Rankin didn’t hesitate to go for the win with just 57 second remaining in regulation.
“We thought the moment was in our favor, so why not go for two,” Rankin said about going for the lead instead of kicking the extra point. “We liked the match-up on that side.”
Allison hit fellow sophomore Jack Donati, who was lined up in the slot, on a quick outside slant for the go-ahead score.
Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
“That is one of our signature plays,” Donati said of his catch on the second successful 2-point conversion for the Rams in the fourth quarter. “We work on that a lot.”
Allison finished the night with a pair of touchdown runs, along with converting both 2-point conversions on passes in the fourth quarter.
“I knew I was going there the whole play,” Allison said of the 2-point conversion that gave the Rams the lead for good.
Lakewood (2-1 record) led for the major of the game with a pair of touchdown runs of 67 and 2 yards by junior Shukrani Bumba Masela, along with a 19-yard touchdown run by freshman Jeremiah Sisneros. The Tigers were up 21-6 when Masela scored his second touchdown with 46 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
“At halftime we just felt like the kids needed a spark,” Rankin said. “For whatever reason, maybe we underestimated Lakewood. They are doing a great job over there. I think it caught our guys off guard. The second half we challenged them.”
Green Mountain (1-1) hung around and then struck in the fourth quarter. Allison engineered a 79-yard scoring drive that was capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior OJ Jones with 7:52 left in the fourth quarter. A successful 2-point conversion cut the lead to 21-14.
The Rams got the ball right back when junior Jose Velasco recovered his second fumble by the Tigers, giving Green Mountain the ball on Lakewood’s 32-yard line. However, Green Mountain’s potential game-tying or game-winning drive stalled and the Rams turned the ball over on downs at the 11-yard line.
Green Mountain’s defense was able to get a 3-and-out to give the Rams the ball back at midfield with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter. The biggest play before Allison’s touchdown run was a 29-yard pass to senior Danny Hiatt that got the Rams down to the 9-yard line.
“That was fun. It was a great game,” Donati said. “There is more to come. The best is yet to come for this year.”
Lakewood finishes out its non-league schedule with a road game against Mountain Range (0-1) on Friday, Sept. 11, at North Stadium.
Green Mountain faces another cross-town rival in Bear Creek next week. The Rams and Bears play next Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium.
“We’ve just got to come out and execute,” Allison said of facing Bear Creek. “Every game is the same no matter who we are playing. We just next to execute.”
Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
