Ralston Valley football wins top-5 battle with Valor Christian at NAAC

ARVADA — Ralston Valley won the battle of the unbeaten football teams Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

The Mustangs — No. 5 in this week’s ColoradoPreps.com Class 5A football rankings — made a big statement taking down No. 2 Valor Christian in the marquee game of the week. Ralston Valley won going away 38-14.

“All week we were talking about being disciplined and do your job,” Ralston Valley senior Nico Benallo said of facing Valor. “Every guy did their work and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Benallo accounted for a rushing and receiving touchdown in one of the biggest regular-season victories since Jared Yannacito took over Ralston Valley’s football program a handful of years ago.

The senior two-way player literally flipped his way across the goal-line with 2 minutes remaining before halftime to extend the Mustangs’ lead to 21-7.

“That was the best,” Benallo said of his rushing touchdowns. “Giving everything you’ve got for the team and showing you care about all the guys.”

Benallo sealed the victory with a 29-yard touchdown catch and run with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter that pushed the lead to 38-14. It looked like Benallo would be tackled near the Mustangs’ sideline, but he was able to absorb a hit and keep his balance without a knee touching the ground.

“I was about ready to yell at the ref because I knew he didn’t go down,” Yannacito said of Benallo’s touchdown catch. “He made a good call not the blow the whistle.”

Valor (4-1 record) did show late in the first half that it wanted to keep first-year head coach Mike Sanford’s record unblemished. 

Sophomore Titus Huard took over at quarterback on the final drive of the half for Valor. Huard engineered a perfect 2-minute drive that covered 80 yards. Huard finished off the drive with a 23 yard touchdown pass to senior Cash Spence with 26.8 seconds left before halftime to make it a 1-score lead for Ralston Valley (5-0).

“It was a 0-0 ballgame to us at halftime,” Benallo said.

Ralston Valley scored on its first three offensive possessions in the first half. The only time the Mustangs didn’t score was when they took a knee after Valor cut Ralston Valley’s lead to 21-14 just before halftime.

“We were locked in all week. The big emphasis this week is going 1-0 every week,” said Ralston Valley senior quarterback Zeke Andrews, who rushed for two touchdowns and threw for a pair of scores. “I think we really took that mindset to heart tonight and allowed us to execute the way we did.”

Andrews connected with senior Brady Warren for a 13-yard touchdown to begin the scoring. The Mustangs’ signal-caller fought his way into the end zone on a 7-yard run early in the second quarter.

It was another quick start for Ralston Valley to start the second half. It took the Mustangs three plays to go 80 yards. Andrews scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 28-14.

“Honestly, in a game like this I’m just thinking one play at a time. I’m not thinking momentum shifts,” Yannacito said when asked about Ralston Valley getting the momentum back to start the second half.

Ralston Valley’s defense forced Valor to turn the ball over on downs on the Eagles’ first possession of the second half. The Mustangs’ went on a 6-minute drive that ended with a 47-yard field goal by junior Landon Plichta late in the third quarter.

The Mustangs’ defense forced another turnover on downs that eventually led to Benallo’s final score of the game as Ralston Valley’s defense pitched a shutout in the second half.

“To hold a team scoreless in the second half that has that many weapons and that good of an offensive line, hats off to how our defense played and our coaches coached,” Yannacito said. “It was pretty special.”

Friday’s night match-up was the final tune-up before Valor and Ralston Valley dive in their conference schedule. 

“We aren’t going to execute like this every single week, but we are going to play hard like we did tonight every single week,” Andrews said. “We expect that hard effort every week.”

The Mustangs will celebrate homecoming next Friday night at NAAC. Ralston Valley faces Chatfield (2-3) to begin 5A Metro League play. 

“Obviously we are 5-0 and I like where we are sitting,” Yannacito said. “But like every year since I’ve been here, it’s one game at a time. We aren’t going to overlook anybody. We’ll have a great game plan for Chatfield. We’ll celebrate this for a couple of days and then hit the reset button.”

The Eagles will get another top-5 challenge facing No. 3 Mountain Vista (5-0) next Friday night at Valor Stadium in Highlands Ranch. It will be the 5A South Metro opener for both teams.