No. 3 Ralston Valley football survives scare from Columbine at NAAC

ARVADA — For the second week in a row, Columbine football came into the North Area Athletic Complex and gave one of the top teams in Class 5A a fright.

“You never ever count an Andy Lowry, Columbine team out ever,” Ralston Valley coach Jared Yannacito said facing the 6-time state champion Rebels. “They are one of the best programs to ever do it. We knew it was going to be a battle. We prepared our kids for a four-quarter battle. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

Ralston Valley remained undefeated on the season taking a 35-21 victory, but the score wasn’t an indication of how Columbine nearly pulled off an upset for the second straight week. 

Arvada West (7-0, 2-0 in 5A Metro League) needed a late touchdown to take a 20-17 victory from the Rebels (3-5, 1-2) a week ago at NAAC.

“We never take Columbine lightly. They are such a good team and have been a well-coached team for decades,” said Ralston Valley senior Ethan Shirazi, who had a pair of touchdown catches for the Mustangs (8-0, 3-0) in the victory. 

The Rebels led 14-13 at halftime. Columbine juniors Ajay Gonzales and Lijah Vialpando had touchdown runs to cap off scoring drives.

Columbine’s defense created a pair of turnovers in the first half that allowed the Rebels to stick with the No. 3 team in the Class 5A football rankings on ColoradoPreps.com. 

“When you play Columbine you can’t turn the ball over,” Yannacito said. “Our defense showed up in that second half. They got three-and-outs and a couple of turnovers back to neutralize those from the first half.”

The Rebels got the ball to start the second half with a chance to extend their lead. However, Ralston Valley senior defensive lineman Cole Moir was able to recover a fumbled center-quarterback exchange on Columbine’s 38-yard line.

“We knew we had to come out and make a statement. The energy was kind of dead,” Moir said of the Mustangs coming out trailing after halftime. “The ball bobbled around a little. I saw it on the ground and dove on it. I think that got the team fired up.”

Two plays later, Ralston Valley quarterback Zeke Andrews scored on a 16-yard touchdown run and then converted a 2-point conversion pass to senior Nico Benallo to give the Mustangs a 21-14 lead with 9:56 left in the third quarter.

Columbine and Ralston Valley both turned the ball over on downs on the next two possessions, but the Rebels showed they weren’t done being a pain in the side of the Mustangs. 

Senior Mark Snyder scored on an 60-yard touchdown run for Columbine with 11:05 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 21-21.

“Columbine answered and we had to answer again,” Moir said of Snyder’s 60-yard touchdown run. “We knew we had to get the job done.”

The Andrews-to-Shirazi connection was what Ralston Valley needed to end the upset bid. On third-down and 8 from the Mustangs’ own 12-yard line, Andrews hit Shirazi on a crossing route over the middle. The leading receiver for Ralston Valley made a leaping catch in traffic, broke a tackle and scored on an 88-yard touchdown catch and run.

“I saw an open hole on the certain coverage they had. I knew it was going to be open,” Shirazi said of his ninth touchdown of the season. “I didn’t overthink it. I just wanted to make a play.”

Shirazi had seven catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns on the night.

“He (Shirazi) is a playmaker and playmakers make plays,” Yannacito said of Shirazi’s 88-yard touchdown catch and run. “It was a good throw. A great catch. He broke and tackle and was gone. It was awesome.”

Ralston Valley sealed the victory with a 20-yard touchdown run by junior Sawyer Bolmquist with 4:37 left in the game to extend the lead to 35-21.

One of the biggest Week 10 match-ups in decades looks to be happening at NAAC in a few weeks. There is a strong possibility that rivals Ralston Valley and A-West will both put their undefeated records on the line on Halloween night.

“We are focusing on getting better,” Yannacito said. “We aren’t looking at that (A-West) game at all right now.”

Ralston Valley is on the road against Denver East (1-6, 0-2) next week on Thursday, Oct. 23, at All-City Stadium before the big showdown with the Wildcats.

“We are just focused on getting us better,” Shirazi said heading into facing Denver East next week.