Lakewood – The subplots changed almost as fast as the score Thursday night, until Arvada West finally settled on a winner.
The Wildcats’ defense stuffed Columbine on fourth down with less than a minute remaining and forced a fumble in overtime to set up running back L.D. Briscoe for an easy end to an epic showdown.
Briscoe burst in from 10 yards out as the Wildcats, ranked No. 5 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, knocked off the top-ranked Rebels 39-33 in The Post’s game of the week at Jefferson County Stadium.
“We had our ups and downs through the game, but we stayed and fought for the whole time,” said Briscoe, who rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
A-West improved to 5-1, 1-0 in the Jefferson County League and beat the Rebels (5-1, 1-1) for the first time in eight seasons.
A-West quarterback Sean McDougal threw four touchdown passes and completed 31 passes for 306 yards, but was especially productive scrambling into the numerous empty spaces his four-receiver set left him.
“If nobody’s open, I’m not afraid to take off,” said McDougal. “I’ll get as much yards as I can get, and I’ll go out of bounds or get hit hard. That’s what I do.”
McDougal also kicks extra points, a job about which he joked he needs to “go back to the drawing board” after he hooked one with 3:11 remaining in regulation that would have given the Wildcats the lead.
“We didn’t do a very good job of keeping him contained,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said of McDougal. “We didn’t play real well tonight.”
Receiver Ryan Hill led A-West with 13 catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-tying score late in the fourth quarter.
Rebels running back Jordan Baum ran for 131 yards and two second-half touchdowns and fullback Jeff Cicchinelli had 128 yards and two scores. Fellow fullback Robert Hoffschneider added 66 yards but was stripped in overtime at the 3-yard line, with Joe Zendejas recovering for the Wildcats.
Arvada West 6 14 0 13 6 – 39
Columbine 7 6 14 6 0 – 33
AW – Zott 7 pass from McDougal (kick failed). C – Cicchinelli 55 run (Gillman kick). C – Cicchinelli 1 run (kick failed). AW – Hill 21 pass from McDougal (McDougal kick). AW – Hill 3 pass from McDougal (McDougal kick). C – Cicchinelli 15 run (Gillman kick). C – Baum 9 run (Gillman kick). AW – Briscoe 4 run (McDougal kick). C – Baum 76 run (kick failed). AW – Hill 13 pass from McDougal (kick failed). AW – Briscoe 10 run (kick failed).
