Green Mountain football opens 3A playoffs with a bang

LAKEWOOD — It took all of 16 seconds for Green Mountain to get on the scoreboard Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium.

Senior Dax Gomez returned the opening kick 90 yards for a touchdown in the Class 3A first-round football playoff game against Roosevelt. The No. 5-seeded Rams never trailed in a 38-7 victory over No. 12 seed Roughriders.

“We always talk about playoffs being a new season. I started off the regular season with a kickoff return for a touchdown,” Gomez said. “I had to start the next season with one.”

Gomez had a long kickoff return for a touchdown Week 1 at Windsor. The Rams (8-3 record) went on to win 19-13. 

Jump-starting Green Mountain’s playoff run in the same fashion was ideal. 

“I’ve been nervous all week. We knew (Roosevelt) is a good opponent,” Gomez said. “But, there was no way we were going to lose this game.”

There has been a lot of recent playoff history between the Rams and Roughriders. Friday night was the third straight season Green Mountain and Roosevelt have met in the postseason. The Rams now have a 2-1 advantage against the Roughriders in playoff matchups over the past three years.

“Our coaches came up with a great game plan and we stuck to it,” said Green Mountain senior Demetreus Padilla, who had a pair of rushing touchdowns and an interception in the Rams’ sixth straight victory. “We played tough. That’s Ram football.”

Roosevelt took a 30-3 victory in a 3A semifinal game in 2022 in Johnstown. The Roughriders went on to defeat Lutheran 34-24 in the championship game to finish their state title run undefeated at 14-0. 

Green Mountain got a measure of revenge last season. The Rams handed the Roughriders a 40-21 loss in the 3A quarterfinals at Jeffco Stadium. Green Mountain advanced to the semifinals for the second straight season, but had its run stopped with a 27-21 loss to Lutheran. 

The Rams have been consistent when it comes to making the state playoffs. Green Mountain has made the state tournament six of the past seven season, only missing the playoffs in the COVID-shorted season in 2020. 

Roosevelt has made the playoff for six straight seasons. 

Despite dominating the first half Friday night, the Rams took just a 14-0 lead into the locker room. Roosevelt (6-5) responded in a big way to start the second half with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by senior Luc Vigil to cut the Rams’ lead to 14-7.

However, Green Mountain answered with its longest scoring drive of the night to push the lead back up to 14 points.

“Earlier this season we don’t do that,” Green Mountain coach Anthony Rankin said of the Rams’ 8-play, 72-yard scoring drive immediately after the Roughriders’ lone score of the game. “We folded in situations like that against Dakota Ridge and Pomona. This time we battled back and kept going.”

Junior Drew Contreras extended the lead to 28-7 early in the fourth quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run. The junior has proven to be a big offensive weapon during Green Mountain’s current winning streak.

“He (Contreras) is so big and so fast,” Rankin said. “He literally looks like he is running down hill. When we can get him to the edge it is really hard to stop him for sure.”

Senior quarterback Simon Lunsford connected with junior Corbin Wade for a 15-yard touchdown and the Rams added a late field goal to make the final score 38-7.

Roosevelt entered the postseason on a 2-game losing streak, but both losses were to 3A playoff-bound teams — No. 1 Thompson Valley and No. 11 Mountain View. 

Green Mountain now gets to host No. 13 Severance (5-6) in the quarterfinals next week. The Silver Knights went to the Western Slope on Friday night and upset No. 4 Palisade 10-3.

“It is going to be fun. Home field advantage, you can’t beat that,” Padilla said of the Rams able to host the quarterfinal game likely next Friday, Nov. 22, at Trailblazer Stadium. “We faced Severance a couple of years ago. I’m ready for the rematch.”

Green Mountain have faced Severance in non-league games in 2022 and 2023, with the Rams taking victories in both games.