Arvada West girls flag football wins inaugural Jeffco Tournament

LAKEWOOD — Arvada West girls flag football team added some more hardware to the trophy case Wednesday night.

The Wildcats won the inaugural Jeffco Tournament with a dominating 39-6 victory over Valor Christian at Trailblazer Stadium. 

“It was nice to see some different faces,” A-West coach Lacey Abell said of the Jeffco Tournament that included 5A and 4A Jeffco teams. “It is interesting to have a little in-season tournament, kind of like the NBA. It was cool.”

A-West (11-2 record) grabbed wins over area-rival Ralston Valley in the tournament opener Oct. 5. The Wildcats shut out Pomona 42-0 in the semifinals Oct. 7 to advance to Wednesday’s championship game.

Valor (11-2) was the top-seed in the tournament, but No. 2-seed A-West grabbed a second win over the Eagles this season. A-West defeated Valor 27-12 in 5A Jeffco League play in a game that ended up allowing the Wildcats to win the conference title.

The championship game was only a 1-score game late in the first half. A-West held a 12-0 lead with touchdown passes from quarterback Saylor Swanson to junior Santana Pena and senior Sara Walker, but Valor respond with a touchdown with 1:51 left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 12-6.

However, Swanson’s Hail Mary was answered just before halftime. Senior Molly Schellpeper was able to run under a deep ball in the final seconds to push the lead to 19-6 at halftime. 

“I thought I might as well throw it up on the last play of the half,” Swanson said of the score that came with 4.9 seconds remaining before halftime. “I know Molly would be there. I just threw it up and she caught it. It was amazing.”

Schellpeper just crossed the goal-line before a Valor defender pulled her flag.

“I actually had a short route, but once you run your route you have to look at your quarterback and find that open space,” Schellpeper said of her first of two touchdown catches on the night. “I just kept running, got behind the defense and attacked the ball.”

A-West road the momentum into the second half with an effective scoring drive to open the second half that ended with Swanson finding the end zone on a trick play — hook-and-ladder — to give the Wildcats a 26-6 advantage.

Valor had some defensive success sacking Swanson several times in the first half, but A-West outscored the Eagles 20-0 in the second half.

“After those sacks we had to change up our strategy a little bit,” Schellpeper said of the defensive pressure they put on Swanson early in the first half. “We adjusted well.”

Pena caught her second touchdown pass of the game early in the fourth quarter. Schellpeper ran a perfect route on her second touchdown catch late in the final minutes.

“It is nice for everyone to have some success. Everyone out there I trust,” Abell said. “Every week I feel like we are getting a little big stronger. We are figuring out different combinations and what works. It has come together really well here toward the end of the season. That is what you want.”

Swanson isn’t surprised about her remarkable passing numbers she has put up in 13 games this season. The quarterback has well over 3,000 yards passing and 57 passing touchdowns, to go along with her over 600 yards rushing and seven rushing touchdowns. 

“I have all the same girls I had last year,” Swanson said of the A-West team that won the state title in 2023 in the second year of the pilot program before girls flag football got officially sanctioned by CHSAA for the Fall 2024 season. “I have great playmakers and my blockers are great. They give me time. We have so many threats on offense.”

Walker and Schellpeper are both over 1,000 yards receiving on the season. Both of Swanson’s favorite targets have 21 receiving touchdowns on the season. Pena’s two scores Wednesday night put her at nine touchdowns on the season. 

A-West has non-league games against Green Mountain (Oct. 15) and Mullen (Oct. 16) next week back to Trailblazer Stadium before the 5A state tournament begins the following week.