Green Mountain shuts out Golden in season opener

LAKEWOOD — Football is an easy game … you run for touchdowns, you catch touchdowns passes and you throw touchdown passes.

That is precisely what Green Mountain senior Blake Weslin did Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium, and all in the first half to help the Rams to a dominating 36-0 victory over rival Golden.

“We love playing Golden. We always love playing Golden,” said Weslin, who also had an interception in the first half. “We had a lot of energy coming into the game and it just carried over.”

Weslin, who also plays basketball and lacrosse, had a 4-yard touchdown run with 4:21 left in the first quarter to open up the scoring. Green Mountain took a 12-0 lead early in the second quarter when Weslin caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from senior Max Choboian.

“He is a special kid,” Green Mountain coach Jesse German said of the Rams’ starting quarterback. “He does it in multiple sports and just enjoys doing it. We are looking forward to a big year from Blake.”

Weslin got the trifecta with a touchdown pass to senior Dalton Poulignot midway through the second quarter. He finished off the remarkable first half with a 15-yard touchdown pass to senior George Soppe with under a minute to play before halftime to put the Rams up 26-0.

Green Mountain added a last-second field goal to put a 29-0 lead at halftime. 

Weslin scored the lone touchdown in the second half with a 4-yard touchdown run that capped off an 85-yard scoring drive in the third quarter.

“Feels like it has been a longtime coming,” German said after the opening win. “The way the season ended last year, these guys have been super hungry. They put in a lot of work this summer. I’m super proud of that. They executed really well tonight.”

Senior Austin Beeson was instrumental to get the Rams going. He had an interception in the first quarter and then had a big fourth-down catch to keep Green Mountain’s first scoring drive alive.

“It gave us momentum,” Green Mountain senior Austin Contreras said of the interceptions by Beeson and Weslin in the first half that helped set up touchdowns. “Those picks really set us up for this big win.”

Contreras helped seal the shutout victory. Golden had its best drive on the game in the fourth quarter, but Contreras was unblocked and sacked Golden back-up quarterback Max Trujillo on a fourth-down play from the Rams’ 4-yard line in the final minutes. 

“The shutout was very important,” Contreras said. “We want to keep our reputation from last year with how good our defense was last year.”

Green Mountain had six shutout wins last season on the way to advancing to the Class 3A state semifinals.

“The score is great, but we all know there is room for improvement,” German said. “We are all chasing that.”

Golden and Green Mountain are both coming off very successful seasons a year ago.

Green Mountain dominated the majority of its opponents last season. The Rams were 12-0 heading into their 3A state semifinal game against Roosevelt. The Roughriders cruised to a 30-3 win over the Rams. Roosevelt eventually went on to win the 3A state title.

The Demons won the 4A Jeffco League title and made the postseason in the first year under head coach Matt McDougal. Golden suffered a tough state quarterfinal playoff loss on the road against Montrose to end the Demons’ season.

The Demons and Rams are both on the road next week. Golden faces Silver Creek on Thursday, Aug. 31. Green Mountain heads to Severance on Friday, Sept. 1.