Ralston Valley football scores victory over Fairview before heading into league play

ARVADA — Ralston Valley running back Sawyer Blomquist had a homecoming game to remember Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

The senior had four rushing touchdowns in the Mustangs’ huge 39-23 victory over Fairview in a game that ended after 11 p.m. at the NAAC.

“I believe in my (offensive) line. They take me everywhere,” Blomquist said after his touchdown runs of 2, 3, 5 and 1 yards. “I didn’t surprise me too much.”

The final score didn’t reflect how close the game was in reality.

Fairview (2-2 record) actually trailed only 24-23 with 7:18 remaining in the fourth quarter after a 19-yard touchdown catch by senior Tommy Bauer from quarterback Ki Ellison. The Knights decided to attempt a 2-point conversion to take the lead, but senior defensive end Cole Trebilcock would have not of it.

“That was amazing,” Trebilcock said of sacking Ellison on the 2-point attempt. “I just shed (the blocker) and tracked his (Ellison’s) near hip to make sure he didn’t cutback. I grabbed him by the jersey and everyone just rallied to the football with me.”

Ralston Valley (3-1) answered offensively with a scoring drive that was capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Logan Gabler, who actually left the game for a bit after taking a hard hit in the third quarter. The Mustangs grabbed a 30-23 lead, but instead of kicking the extra-point with 4:02 to play, Ralston Valley coach Jared Yannacito went for the dagger.

“I knew a play I liked. I knew a match-up I liked,” Yannacito said of going for the 2-point conversion with just over 4 minutes to play to make it a 2-score game. “I just trusted my guys. I said, ‘Guys. We’ve worked this all week. Let’s hit it.’ I didn’t even think twice.”

Gabler threw a quick out to junior receiver Phoenix Tomsick that extended the lead to 32-23. Blomquist sealed the win scoring on his fourth touchdown with 30 seconds to play to make the final score 39-23.

The late-night victory allowed the large Ralston Valley homecoming crowd to leave NAAC with smiles on their faces.

“I’m really proud of the kids and their attitude to keep fighting,” Yannacito said. “We know Fairview and historically they love to be the underdog. Having them on our homecoming we knew they were going to embrace that. We knew it was going to be a dogfight game.”

Fairview jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Senior Luke Barone kicked a 28-yard field goal to cap off the opening drive of the game.

The Knights went to the run game and a double-tight formation on their second drive. Junior Steven Brown broke loose for a 90-yard touchdown run with 5:50 left in the first quarter to give Fairview a 10-0 lead.

“Arapahoe was up on us this year. Last year we had a ton of games where teams were ahead of us,” Blomquist said of the Mustangs experienced on fighting from being behind. “We are used to it.”

Ralston Valley will begin play in the newly formed Class 5A Southwest Metro League next week. The Mustangs are on the road against Rock Canyon (0-4, 0-1). The Jaguars suffered a 51-9 loss to Columbine on Thursday night to open up conference play.

“We’ll see some teams we saw last year,” Blomquist said of league play starting next week. “It’s important to us.”

Arvada West (0-4, 0-1), Chatfield (1-3, 1-0), Columbine (3-1, 1-0) and Ralston Valley (3-1) are the four Jeffco Public Schools in the 5A Southwest Metro League. Mountain Vista, ThunderRidge and Rock Canyon are all Douglas County schools that complete the new league.

“This is a ton of momentum,” Trebilock said of back-to-back wins over Arapahoe and Fairview heading into league play. “Bouncing back from the Week 2 loss to Cherry Creek. We are just getting the wheels moving.”