Ralston Valley flag football has the inside track to win tight race for 5A Jeffco title

ARVADA — Ralston Valley senior Ashlyn Callahan had the trifecta of touchdowns Wednesday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

Callahan scored a rushing, interception return and punt return for scores in the Mustangs’ 18-6 victory over Columbine.

“I think this is the first game she (Callahan) hasn’t had a receiving touchdown. What a crazy game,” Ralston Valley coach Greg Johnson said. “She is a dynamic player.”

The senior two-way player came in with 20 receiving touchdowns, putting her in the top-5 scoring leaders in the state. Her defensive, special teams and rushing touchdown pushed her overall touchdown total to 26 on the season.

“It was fun. Usually I put up the receiving yards,” said Callahan, who has over 1,200 yards receiving on the season. “It was nice to have the team running behind me and then celebrating together.”

The senior had a 75-yard rushing touchdown to open the scoring. She then intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it 85 yards for another score to give Ralston Valley a 12-0 lead with 2:27 left before halftime.

Callahan said her favorite of the three scores was the interception she returned from five yards deep in the end zone to put Ralston Valley up by two scores.

She capped off her touchdown barrage with a 70-yard punt return in the third quarter to extend Ralston Valley’s lead to 18-6.

Columbine (7-8, 1-7 in league) put up a good fight in its regular-season finale. The Rebels’ lone score as an interception returned for a touchdown by sophomore Annalee Rippe on the final play of the first half.

The Mustangs put it on the Rebels the first time around 48-6.

“You are going to run across some tough games,” Johnson said of the tight game against Columbine. “What I’m most proud of is even in a tough game the girls rallied and kept each other up. I think adversity before the playoffs isn’t the worst thing for you.”

The win over Columbine put Ralston Valley (12-2, 6-1) one victory away winning the flag football 5A Jeffco League title for the first time.

If Ralston Valley defeats Valor in its regular-season and league finale at 10 am Saturday, Oct. 11, at Trailblazer Stadium the Mustangs will win the conference title.

“I’m really excited just to have the opportunity for it,” Johnson said of the Mustangs playing to win the conference title Saturday. “We are still a young program. A lot of these girls are still learning how stuff works. We just have to handle our business and hopefully we take care of things.”

Area rivals Ralston Valley and Arvada West (12-2, 7-1) would finished tied atop the 5A Jeffco standings, but the Mustangs would win the tie-breaker.

Ralston Valley and A-West split their two conference match-ups, the next tie-breaker is ‘fewest points allowed between tied teams’. Ralston Valley took a 20-18 win over A-West on Aug. 27. A-West took a 13-12 victory Sept. 17.

With Ralston Valley allowing 21 points and A-West giving up 22 points in the head-to-head games, the Mustangs won the tie-breaker by a single point.

“It would mean a lot to celebrate winning a league title in only our third year as a program,” Callahan said. “It would be amazing.”

The Mustangs edged Valor 13-12 back on Sept. 23, so it isn’t given that Ralston Valley will get that last conference victory to force the league title to be decided by the tie-breaker.

In the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index, Jeffco had three teams A-West (No. 3), Ralston Valley (No. 4) and Valor (No. 7) all in the top-10 before action Wednesday night.

The 20-team 5A state tournament bracket will be released by CHSAA on Sunday, Oct. 12. The top 12 seeds will earn first-round byes and begin play at Jeffco Stadium and Trailblazer Stadium with second-round and quarterfinals scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18.