Highlands Ranch – Folks, you knew this was coming.
After two seasons of dominance that ended in Class 4A state championships, ThunderRidge has been reloading this season as fast as it can.
The Grizzlies finally fired on all cylinders Saturday.
In a rematch of the 2004 state championship game, the Grizzlies ran over and stifled Mountain Plains League rival Dakota Ridge for a 42-7 victory at Shea Stadium.
ThunderRidge, ranked seventh in The Denver Post/9News poll, scored on its first five possessions, rushed for 344 yards, churned out 21 first downs by the end of the third quarter and forced three turnovers, much to the delight of the homecoming crowd.
“I thought it was our best game,” Grizzlies coach Joe Johnson said. “We need to just keep having our best games week after week. We’re starting to get to that point.”
And that could be very bad for the competition. Since losing two weeks ago to Wheat Ridge, the Grizzlies (5-1, 2-1 in league) have allowed just seven points against their first-team defense while getting production from each of their three primary ball carriers.
Fullback Ben Faddis had 131 yards and one TD, running back Chris Nwoke had 113 yards and two TDs, and quarterback Paden Faulkner rushed for one TD, threw for another and finished with 87 yards of offense.
“We needed that big game, for sure,” Faddis said.
The Eagles (3-3, 1-2) were down three starters, including top receiver Josh Kornmann (foot). While the offense had a few promising drives stall for various reasons, the defense never showed any signs of containing the hosts.
“They were clicking today,” Eagles coach Ron Woitalewicz said of the Grizzlies.
Eagles running back Jeff Freeman ran for 95 yards and quarterback Eric Cain was 9-for-21 for 98 yards, including a touchdown pass to J.C. Ochoa with 20 seconds remaining. Cain was intercepted twice and had four passes batted down.
The Grizzlies used a near-perfect first half to put the Eagles in a 28-0 hole.
ThunderRidge scored from each backfield position and capped the half with a 28-yard touchdown pass to flanker Danny Vail. The Grizzlies had 208 yards rushing, 64 yards passing and 16 first downs by the break.
The Grizzlies were nearly as dominant on defense, twice stopping the Eagles on fourth-and-short situations.
Dakota Ridge struggled with execution in the first half. The Eagles committed five penalties in the first quarter, one of which nullified a 43-yard touchdown pass from T.J. Berge to Austin Rodriguez.
Dakota Ridge 0 0 0 7 – 7
ThunderRidge 14 14 7 7 – 42
T – Faulkner 17 run (kick failed). T – Faddis 46 run (Nwoke run). T – Nwoke 11 run (Jenkins kick). T – Vail 28 pass from Faulkner (Jenkins kick). T – Nwoke 5 run (Jenkins kick). T – Barday 1 run (Jenkins kick). DR – Ochoa 5 pass from Cain (Bell kick).
