Arvada West football handles Denver South in 5A Metro League opener

DENVER — It wasn’t perfect by any means, but Arvada West football left All-City Stadium late Friday afternoon with its undefeated record in tack and a conference victory under its belt.

The Wildcats spoiled Denver South’s homecoming game with the Wildcats taking a 45-7 win in the Class 5A Metro League opener for both teams.

“You are coming off a bye week. You have a 4 p.m. game and you don’t take busses,” Arvada West first-year coach CJ Hanna said on the road win. “We have to be better and not let those things bother us. Championship teams don’t let those things bother them.”

A-West (6-0, 1-0 in league) looked like it would easily roll over the Ravens (2-4, 0-1). The Wildcats defense held Denver South to 11 total yards and intercepted the Ravens twice on the first six offensive drives for Denver South.

The only score for Denver South came on a 70-yard pass play from junior quarterback George O’Reilly to junior Carter Gray late in the first half that cut the Wildcats’ lead to 32-7.

“We set a goal of not allowing a score during league,” A-West senior defensive lineman Jordan Brock said. “Obviously we failed at that, but you can see what happens. We had nine or ten stops that game. We are deep and we’ll go deep into the playoffs.”

Brock actually had an interception in the second half on a weird play where the ball deflected off a number of players before Brock was able to get his mitts on the ball.

The biggest defensive play came from sophomore Tucker Rhoades. He intercepted O’Reilly midway through the second quarter and used a convoy of blockers to return it from midfield for a touchdown to extend A-West’s lead to 32-0.

Offensively, it was a mixed bag for senior quarterback Logan Duhachek. One could say Duhachek had a Nuke LaLoosh game. Duhachek tossed five touchdowns, but also was intercepted five times.

“It was very flukey and unlike him,” A-West senior receiver Noah Meurer said of the five interceptions. “I’m not really worried about it.”

Duhachek had thrown 17 touchdown and zero interceptions in A-West’s first five games this season. Meurer had touchdown catches of 8 and 34 yards in the first quarter. Senior Keegen Balistreri had a pair of 12-yard touchdown grabs thrown by Duhachek. Senior Ayden Garcia had the fifth touchdown catch thrown by Duhachek. 

“He’ll bounce back,” Hanna said of Duhachek. “He is veteran guy who has been starting since he was young. He knows the deal. These kinds of games happen.”

A-West’s running back room has been hit hard by injuries with both senior ball carries Jaiden Green and Adrian Symalla going down. However, Hanna might have found some answers to fill those shoes with senior Tyriek Cullum, who had a 33 yard touchdown run in the second half. 

Sophomore Teegan Ribble also had some nice runs in the second half.

“We still have opportunities to get better and I believe we will,” Hanna said.

A-West returns to its home turf of the North Area Athletic Complex next week to face Columbine (3-3, 1-0). The Wildcats and Rebels kickoff at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, at NAAC.

“I’m glad we got this game out of the way. No discredit to Denver South, they do a lot of things really well,” Meurer said. “We’ll move forward. Have a good practice this week and get ready for Columbine. Columbine is a team you never take lightly. I don’t care what their record is. We have to treat them like they are the state champs like they were two years ago.”

The Rebels started the season 0-3, but have won three straight. Columbine dominated Denver East 41-6 in the Rebels’ league opener Friday night at Jeffco Stadium.

“It’s going to be tough because we are playing (Columbine) on a short week. There is always some adversity doing that,” Brock said. “They are always tough. They have their system and Lowry has be going at it for over 30 years.”