Lakewood – All Payton McLachlan needed to complete his look was a leather helmet.
Covered in cold mud and grinning without the help of one front tooth, the Ralston Valley senior running back was the face of the battle that had just transpired Thursday at Jefferson County Stadium.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 6 in The Denver Post/9News Class 4A poll, had come up empty for nearly 48 bruising minutes against No. 4 Wheat Ridge.
That’s OK, the Mustangs only needed the final six seconds to stun the Farmers with a dramatic 8-7 old-school victory in The Post’s game of the week.
As the play clock went to zero, Mustangs quarterback Cameron Wright connected on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Ribble in the corner of the end zone. Ralston Valley put the victory in McLachlan’s hands and he powered his way over the right side for the two points.
“I just wanted to get in that end zone,” McLachlan said before shaking his head and smiling. “I had so much fun in this game.”
McLachlan was the seventh of nine ball carriers the Mustangs used. Wright was 0-for-7 passing before he completed four of his last five passes for 57 yards to engineer the game-winning drive that went 73 yards in less than three minutes.
Wright’s strike to Ribble dropped in over two defenders and gave the junior wide receiver just enough room to get one foot down before sliding into a nearby snowbank.
“You know what? We’ve been working on that pass all year and we haven’t completed it once in a game,” Wright said.
Both teams took turns punishing each other with slow, methodical drives and hard-nosed defense. The Mustangs (8-1, 5-1 Mountain Plains League) fumbled on the Farmers’ 7 in the first quarter and again on the 13 with 7:31 left in the fourth.
Wheat Ridge (8-1, 5-1 in league), which fumbled on the Mustangs’ 1 in the second quarter, went ahead midway through the third quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run by quarterback Dylan Orms.
The Farmers were poised to run more time off the clock in the fourth quarter but Orms was sacked by Joe Conway for a 6-yard loss on third-and-3 at their own 42.
Wright completed a 17-yard pass to Tyler Gauthier on fourth-and-9 to keep the final drive alive.
“You got to learn to lose, to win,” Farmers lineman Dave Thies said. “They’re a very good team, and everybody here played their heart out.”
The Mustangs also created a potential three-way logjam atop the league if they can win out along with Wheat Ridge and ThunderRidge. The Farmers would gain the top seed in that scenario by virtue of a better margin of victory in the head-to-head.
Ralston Valley 0 0 0 8 – 8
Wheat Ridge 0 0 7 0 – 7
WR – Orms 7 run (M. Wright kick). RV – Ribble 11 pass from Wright (McLachlan run).
