Arvada – Cameron Brown was looking for a hug Saturday. That’s it.
So the 210-pound senior lineman worked his way through the crowd around the North Area Athletic Complex, peering into the stands until he found his mom and got his embrace.
The Wheat Ridge Farmers are going to Invesco Field at Mile High, Mom.
The fourth-seeded Farmers dominated No. 9 Ralston Valley in the trenches all afternoon, battering their way to a 28-7 victory to earn a trip to the Class 4A state championship game downtown this Saturday against No. 15 Loveland.
For the 11th time this season, the Farmers (12-1) didn’t let the opposition score more than a single touchdown as they advanced to their sixth football title game in school history and first since 1996.
“We’ve always called ourselves the black hole, and you can see that’s how it was out there,” Brown said.
Quarterback Dylan Orms was the primary benefactor of Wheat Ridge’s physical play and also a fitting symbol of a senior-dominated squad that began the season unranked, unknown and coming off a 5-5 season.
Orms threw the ball just seven times but sneaked and streaked his way to three touchdowns while racking up 146 yards rushing against a hard-hitting Mustangs defense.
“I don’t go down easy,” Orms said.
The run-first Mustangs had a little more than 100 yards rushing by the time Orms scored the game’s final touchdown on a 5-yard run with 1:14 remaining. Ralston Valley had little success behind seven different ball carriers, scoring only on a 15-yard drive after a Wheat Ridge fumble in the third quarter.
Following Cory Roberts’ touchdown run that cut the Mustangs’ deficit to 14-7, Nate Ormsby blocked a Wheat Ridge field-goal attempt and T.J. Martinez recovered the ball on the Farmers’ 47.
But the Mustangs couldn’t get a first down and Sam Bierbrauer was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-3.
Seven plays later, Beau Stevens scored from 1 yard as Wheat Ridge sealed the game.
“Not to take anything away from them, but I felt like we beat them at their own game,” first-year Farmers coach Reid Kahl said. “We were physical up front on both sides of the ball and we just kept pounding away.”
The Mustangs (11-2), the preseason No. 2, handed Wheat Ridge its only loss of the season with an 8-7 decision in Week Nine.
“They came out and they beat us. They worked us out,” Mustangs offensive lineman Derek Rowe said. “Our offense was a little slow and we just didn’t back our defense up today.”
Wheat Ridge 7 7 0 14 – 28
Ralston Valley 0 0 7 0 – 7
WR – D. Orms 33 run (M. Wright kick). WR – D. Orms 6 run (M. Wright kick). RV – Roberts 5 run (Mihalcin kick). WR – Stevens 1 run (M. Wright kick). WR – D. Orms 5 run (M. Wright kick).
