ARVADA — Wheat Ridge quarterback Nick Ossello knew his team needed to be extracted from the doldrums Friday, and he credited fiery halftime speeches from coaches and teammates for doing so.
But there was someone else who spoke his mind before No. 2 Wheat Ridge transformed a halftime tie with Golden into a 36-6 rout in a Class 4A Mountain Plains League game. It was Ossello.
His words certainly weren’t hollow, as his second half at the North Area Athletic Complex included three rushing touchdowns and another through the air to Josh Brake. Ossello finished with 174 yards on 26 carries for the unbeaten Farmers (6-0, 3-0).
“He definitely talks the talk and walks the walk,” Wheat Ridge running back Nick Swanson said. “It’s a great thing to have a leader who can fire us up in the locker room and come out and lead us on the field too.”
The Farmers were entrenched in a 6-6 tie at intermission, thanks to a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Golden’s Gavin Brady late in the second quarter, moments after Swanson had given Wheat Ridge the lead with a 5-yard TD run. Suffice it to say, the Farmers weren’t pleased with the upset bid.
“We came out to a pretty slow start and couldn’t match their intensity in the first half,” Ossello said. “When we went in the locker room, coach (Reid) Kahl and coach (Tommy) Dowd gave great speeches, then we had the seniors step up and give some great speeches. Then we came out and handled our business.”
Golden (3-3, 2-1) was thinking upset until the Farmers scored on their first five possessions of the second half.
“I honestly really don’t know what happened,” Brady said. “We had great intensity and we really honestly thought we were going to win this game. We just broke down.”
Wheat Ridge racked up 371 yards on the ground and outgained Golden 482-103 overall, helping the Farmers recover from the nondescript first half.
“You can’t come out flat in a game like this,” Ossello said. “Good thing we sucked it up and did what we did, but we can’t do this again.”
Wheat Ridge 0 6 16 14 – 36
Golden 0 6 0 0 – 6
WR – Swanson 5 run (run failed). G – Brady 90 kickoff return (kick failed). WR – FG Strickler 31. WR – Brake 21 pass from Ossello (run failed). WR – Ossello 1 run (Strickler kick). WR – Ossello 1 run (Strickler kick). WR – Ossello 5 run (Strickler kick).
