No doubt, it was quarterback Dylan Nelson who took care of the grunt work Friday night for the Lakewood rushing attack against Denver East.
Yet when Zeke Dalton finally had his number called for the first, and only, time in the game, the junior fullback responded with the game-clinching play.
Dalton delivered a 53-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, taking a handoff from Nelson on a read option and bursting through the middle to seal the Tigers’ 33-21 victory at All-City Stadium. The win puts Lakewood in control of its destiny atop the Class 5A Denver Prep League, as the Tigers (6-1, 4-1) seek their first conference crown in 18 years.
“It’s not won. It’s definitely not won,” Lakewood coach Mark Robinson said. “We still need to take care of business. But if it came down to the tiebreaker, it’s based on a points system, so we had to win the game by 11 points.”
The game was tied at 14 at halftime, but Lakewood appeared to take control by scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions of the second half, getting a 6-yard run from Keenan Collins and a 1-yard sneak by Nelson.
The Tigers, though, missed the extra-point after Nelson’s plunge, and when East’s Shahid Hoover returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown, the Angels were within 27-21 with more than 15 minutes remaining.
After a Nelson fumble, Lakewood got the ball back following a missed East field-goal attempt, and seven plays later Dalton took off on his game-breaking 53-yard romp.
“I wanted that so badly,” Dalton said. “That is the fastest I think I’ve ever ran. Nothing was going to stop me from getting in there. That it helped seal the game and possibly the league championship made everything better.”
Nelson directed the Tigers’ option attack to more than 400 rushing yards, leading the way with 230 yards and two touchdowns. Lakewood’s defense also put the clamps on East running backs Hoover and Isaiah Hendrix. The duo combined for 141 yards in the first half but were held to five yards over the final two quarters.
“The line, they’re so powerful,” Nelson said. “They just push. They’re earth-moving. Without them, we’d be nothing on the ground.”
Lakewood 0 14 13 6 — 33
Denver East 7 7 7 0 — 21
DE — I. Hendrix 16 run (Mackenzie kick); L: Scadden 1 run (Shaw kick). L — Nelson 34 run (Shaw kick). DE — Holden 28 pass from K. Hendrix (Mackenzie kick). L — Collins 6 run (Shaw kick). L — Nelson 1 run (kick failed). DE — Hoover 78 kickoff return (Mackenzie kick). L — Dalton 53 run (run failed).
