Ralston Valley football with statement win in regular-season finale versus A-West

ARVADA — Ralston Valley junior Levi Rillos knows how important the Arvada West/Ralston Valley cross-town rivalry is to the city of Arvada.

“You know you are going to get (A-West’s) best and we are going to give our best,” said Rillos, who is the second youngest of five Rillos siblings. “We knew we had to come out hot and come out swinging.”

Rillos did a good portion of the swinging early in Friday’s rivalry showdown was arguably the biggest regular-season game in the 26-year history of the North Area Athletic Complex. The junior scored three touchdowns and recovered a fumble as Ralston Valley dominated A-West to the tune of 49-20.

“Our motto all year is, ‘When it’s good keep punching. When it’s bad keep punching.’ The kids believe in it. That is why the outcome ended the way it did,” Ralston Valley coach Jared Yannacito said after the Mustangs finished with an undefeated regular-season record and handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season.

Ralston Valley — No. 3 in the ColoradoPreps.com Class 5A football rankings — turned the game into a shocking blowout over No. 4 A-West in the game that decided the 5A Metro League champion.

Ralston Valley (10-0, 5-0 in league) pushed the game to a running clock on the final play of the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Logan Gabler to senior Colby Kurtz. The third touchdown pass by Gabler gave the Mustangs a 49-7 lead going to the fourth quarter and induced a running clock with a 40-plus margin.

Gabler was making his second career varsity start at quarterback for the injured senior starting quarterback Zeke Andrews. Gabler was 20-of-26 passing for 238 yards and five touchdowns in his first start a week ago in a 48-7 victory over Denver East.

“He did what he needed to do,” Yannacito said of Gabler. “Right now he is just stuck behind, in my opinion, the best quarterback in the state. He (Gabler) would be starting for pretty much any other team in the state. He is a really good player and has a bright future.”

Gabler will likely be back on the bench when Ralston Valley takes the field next in the second round of the 5A state tournament. Andrews is expected to be back and ready to go after the Mustangs’ first-round playoff bye.

“I’ve been waiting for my opportunity. I didn’t know it was coming, it sucks for Zeke, but I’ve been waiting and I was ready,” Gabler said of his first two varsity starts.

Andrews did take part in pre-game warm-ups before the game. Yannacito said the senior quarterback would be good to go in a couple of weeks after the injury suffered a few weeks ago against Columbine.

“To be honest, I wasn’t nervous at all,” Rillos said of Gabler getting the start at quarterback during the final two weeks of the regular season. “I’ve grown up with that kid since kindergarten. He has been my best friend. We have been in so many tough situations together. He performs under pressure so well.”

In the undefeated showdown, Rillos had was the star with three first-half touchdowns as the Mustangs grabbed a 35-7 lead at halftime.

“For us this was a playoff game. We were going to do whatever we needed to win,” Yannacito said of featuring Rillos early. “Wherever the ball dictated to go that is what we do. We had a special package tonight that we unleashed and we did really well with that.”

The junior two-way player had a 60-yard touchdown reception from Gabler to open the scoring. A-West fumbled on its first play from scrimmage that Rillos recovered to give the back right back to Ralston Valley.

Rillos found the end zone again on a 5-yard run on a direct snap to give the Mustangs a 13-0 lead with 9:38 left in the first quarter.

“The coaches made an insane game plan,” Rillos said of the eventual 36 unanswered points for Ralston Valley from midway through the second quarter through Kurtz’s touchdown catch that created the running clock. “We executed. Like my touchdown run on the ‘wildcat’, I didn’t do anything I was just running. The o-line did the work.”

A-West (9-1, 4-1) battled back with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Logan Duhachek early in the second quarter to cut the lead to 13-7. The Wildcats were actually in position to take the lead with a first-and-goal from the 8-yard line, but an intentional ground call eventually set up a fourth-and-goal from the 32-yard line and forced A-West to punt.

Ralston Valley responded with a 92-yard scoring drive that was highlighted by a 67-yard touchdown run by Rillos to push the lead to 21-7. The Mustangs pilled on two more touchdowns before halftime with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Gabler to senior Ethan Shirazi with 2:06 left before halftime.

“We told the kids all week that we had three keys to winning this game — play confident, be calculated in our Xs and Os and be relentless,” Yannacito said.

The first half was capped off the half with a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ralston Valley linebacker Hunter Essenpreis with 30.9 seconds left before halftime to give Ralston Valley a commanding 35-7 lead at the break.

The Mustangs kept it going with senior Nico Benallo recovering a fumble and returning it 52 yards for a touchdown during the opening minutes of the third quarter to make it a 42-7 advantage for Ralston Valley.

“We just wanted to keep our foot on the gas and keep going,” Gabler said of the Mustangs getting it to a running clock in the third quarter. “We knew they are a team that can comeback. We wanted to just keep on doing what we had been doing to get the win.”

Duhachek tossed a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter after Ralston Valley had inserted its back-ups.

CHSAA will release the 24-team 5A state tournament bracket on Sunday. After Friday’s games, Ralston Valley was No. 2 in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index. Despite the loss, A-West only dropped down to No. 6. The Wildcats should also get a first-round bye like the Mustangs.