Arvada – How do you eat a horse?
One bite at a time, of course.
“Our motto for the week was ‘munch,”‘ Dakota Ridge running back Cody Lunsford said. “We wanted to munch the ball, chunks at a time. It’s kind of funny, but …”
It was also highly effective Thursday night as the Eagles, ranked No. 6 in The Denver Post/9News Class 4A poll, chewed up the fifth-ranked Ralston Valley Mustangs 26-8 in The Denver Post game of the week at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Lunsford, a shifty senior with jackrabbit speed, ran for 187 yards and scored touchdowns on runs of 1, 11 and 39 yards to lead the Eagles in the Mountain Plains League opener for both teams.
Dakota Ridge (2-0, 1-0 league), a state finalist a year ago, was beaten back on Ralston Valley’s opening drive but responded with 26 unanswered points, 17 off turnovers.
Ralston Valley (0-2, 0-1) was both sloppy and unlucky, turning the ball over five times while showing no signs of stopping the Eagles’ running game.
“I expect my line to do good always, but I was truly, truly impressed with them tonight,” Lunsford said. “They got it done. I didn’t get touched until 3 yards down the field almost every carry.”
Also crucial for the Eagles was the play of all-state defensive back Matt McDonnell, who had a goal-line interception just before halftime and stripped the ball from Ralston Valley’s Trevor Edwards to prevent a touchdown in the third quarter.
Sophomore quarterback Eric Cain was mistake-free for the Eagles and kicker Zak Bigelow hit field goals of 37 and 47 yards and just missed another from 57.
“Tonight was a must-win, and we didn’t,” said Ralston Valley’s Clayton Cammon, who rushed for 111 yards a touchdown.
The Mustangs looked unstoppable on their first drive, marching 57 yards on seven running plays before Cammon scored on a 15-yard reverse from running back Derek Gonzalez.
“We were lined up wrong,” Eagles coach Ron Woitalewicz said. “They came out in a double tight (end) and we hadn’t really worked on it all week. … Once we got that fixed, everything pretty much shut down.”
After a deflected interception killed its first drive, Dakota Ridge came back to score on its next three possessions to go up 17-8 at halftime.
Dakota Ridge 7 10 3 6 – 26
Ralston Valley 8 0 0 0 – 8
RV – Cammon 15 run (Gonzalez run). DR – Lunsford 1 run (Bigelow kick). DR – FG 37 Bigelow. DR – Lunsford 11 run (Bigelow kick). DR – 47 FG Bigelow. DR – Lunsford 39 run (pass failed).
