Highlands Ranch – Everything the Mountain Range Mustangs do is on the fly.
The second-year varsity program based in Westminster didn’t know exactly how the overtime rules worked, but quickly figured it out. Class 3A’s ninth-ranked outfit blocked a Rock Canyon extra point Thursday night at Shea Stadium and remained undefeated with a 28-27 victory that spoiled the Jaguars’ homecoming.
“Right when it happened, I realized we’ve never even gone over what to do in overtime,” said Mustangs coach Joe Bravo, whose team improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the Central Metro League. “So I got them all over on a knee and explained to them what the rules were. Our captain actually thought we were kicking off.”
Mountain Range went first in the overtime session, and Thomas Garza powered in from 7 yards out to put the pressure on Rock Canyon.
“It was a new thing, we’ve never been there before, but we knew we had to score,” Mustangs quarterback Dylan Buononato said. “We couldn’t kick a field goal, we knew we needed to score.”
Rock Canyon answered. Sophomore quarterback Drew Sandlin, who replaced starter Matt Lombardi (injured finger) in the first half, hooked up with senior David Gagliano on the Jaguars’ first play to get within one point.
On the extra-point attempt, holder Brandon Lindemann, who earlier was crowned homecoming king, had trouble handling the snap and that delay forced place-kicker Cody Galbraith to hesitate and kick the ball low.
“It was a great high school game, and a great way to spend a Thursday night,” said Rock Canyon coach Tom Lynch, who knows every league win is crucial for a league that gets one automatic playoff berth. “It absolutely hurts us, but I think whoever wins this league is going to have one loss.”
Both quarterbacks had big games, but in different ways. For Mountain Range, Buononato carried the ball 25 times for 139 yards and two first-half touchdowns. Sandlin completed 19-of-34 passes for 317 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
“Last year we came out here and they put a beating on us,” said Buononato, who couldn’t quite recall the score of last year’s tilt. “It was a lot to a little. This feels really good.”
Mountain Range 7 7 0 7 7 – 28
Rock Canyon 14 0 0 7 6 – 27
RC – Wekenman 5 pass from Lombardi (Albershardt kick). MR – Buononato 1 run (Maczuga kick). RC – Micho 64 pass from Sandlin (Galbraith kick). MR – Buononato 34 run (Maczuga kick). MR – Eisenberg 25 run (Maczuga kick). RC – Micho 6 pass from Sandlin (Galbraith kick). MR – Garza 7 run (Maczuga kick). RC – Gagliano 10 pass from Sandlin (kick failed).
Staff writer Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
