Grand Junction – Shawn Marsh heard the talk all week.
A lot of people felt his Grand Junction High School team hadn’t really been tested in winning the Southwestern Conference title and building a 12-0 record to reach Saturday’s semifinal game against Ralston Valley. That’s what happens when most of your wins are of the blowout variety.
Ralston Valley gave the host Tigers the test they were expected to, controlling the ball and the clock in the first half Saturday at Stocker Stadium to become the first team all season to take a lead into halftime against Grand Junction.
But the Tigers made a few adjustments to stop the powerful Mustangs ground attack and did as they have all year, blowing games open in the third quarter and putting them away in the fourth. The result was a 36-16 victory that put Grand Junction in Saturday’s Class 4A state title game against ThunderRidge at Invesco Field at Mile High.
“The great thing about it is, a lot of people questioned, because we haven’t been in a battle, how we were going to compete,” Marsh said. “It was a great time for us to show how we can compete.”
Ralston Valley (9-4) took the opening kickoff and marched 64 yards on nine plays, chewing seven minutes off the clock and taking a 7-0 lead on Clayton Cammon’s 3-yard plunge.
Grand Junction went three-and-out.
The Mustangs again sustained a long drive but settled for Cammon’s 23-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead. It was the first time all season the Tigers (13-0) trailed by more than a touchdown. But Grand Junction got its quick-strike offense rolling, with Isaiah Quigley hitting Shay Starr for a 21-yard touchdown pass.
Ralston Valley totaled 17 plays on the first two drives alone and finished the first half with 126 yards rushing. Grand Junction’s defense tightened up, though, and held the Mustangs to 18 plays in the second half that netted just 63 yards. And 54 of those yards came on a Cammon scoring run.
“We came out and put it on them a little bit, but I thought their defensive linemen, their linebackers – everything they did – they just took it to another level,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd said.
Grand Junction scored on its first two drives of the second half, with Quigley running it in on an option play from 16 yards, then hitting Justin Murray for a 27-yard score to take a 21-10 lead. But on the next play, Cammon bounced a toss play outside and rambled 54 yards down the sideline. The Mustangs went for two and the pass failed, leaving it 21-16 with 4:32 left in the third quarter.
It was all Grand Junction from there.
Ralston Valley 7 3 6 0 – 16
Grand Junction 0 7 14 15 – 36
RV – Cammon 3 run (Cammon kick). RV – FG Cammon 23. GJ – Starr 21 pass from Quigley (Sweeney kick). GJ – Quigley 16 run (Sweeney kick). GJ – Murray 27 pass from Quigley (Sweeney kick). RV – Cammon 54 run (pass failed). GJ – Simonton 4 fumble return (Murray pass from Quigley). GJ – Means 13 run (Sweeney kick).
