HIGHLANDS RANCH — He remained on the bench once the game was over, and with good reason.
But as the opposing teams walked the line and shook hands Friday night, more than a few Fairview Knights purposely made it over to congratulate Mountain Vista’s Christian Thomas, who had his right leg elevated and ankle wrapped in ice.
He wasn’t moving without help, in stark contrast to his game performance.
“Good game, way to run the ball,” more than one Knight said after the Golden Eagles earned a hard-fought 24-20 victory in Class 5A nonleague at Shea Stadium.
What’s wrong with respecting a three-touchdown game that also included 165 yards rushing and 95 more receiving?
“I love it when I get the ball that much,” said Thomas, a 6-foot, 195-pound senior. “It’s fun.”
Thomas and coach Ric Cash suspect he has a high-ankle sprain, but there was no speculation about the caliber of victory for the Golden Eagles (2-1), who recovered from losing the previous week against Pomona and outlasted the Knights (2-1), who entered the weekend ranked No. 10 in The Denver Post 5A media poll.
“We wanted to come out and play a clean game and see what we possibly could do,” Cash said.
His team, which won a laugher in the opening week against Smoky Hill, needed to respond and it did — Mountain Vista successfully traded punches with the Knights and turned in big plays when it was required.
Thomas had several, notably a 29-yard reception in the second quarter on fourth-and-13; a 15-yard scoring burst early in the third quarter; and his 5-yard inside run with 6:16 to play proved to be the winning touchdown.
In between, he either bounced off Fairview tacklers as if he were a rubber ball, ran away from the Knights or powered his way inside.
It wasn’t as if it was a secret that he was going to touch the ball.
“Oh, yeah, he’s a horse,” Cash said.
Thomas indicated he would be OK if he got the ball less and the Golden Eagles still won.
“As long as it helps the team,” he said.
Mountain Vista fared well up front on both sides for most of the game and quarterback Ryan Rubley generally was efficient in the air, save for a late interception.
For Fairview, Ben Meyer rolled to 131 yards rushing, Max Newey made three sacks and had a nice grab out of the air for a 12-yard touchdown reception, and the Knights could never quite take the lead down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Mountain Vista thinks it took a big step.
“We learned something about ourselves tonight,” Cash said.
Fairview 7 0 7 6 — 20
Mountain Vista 3 7 7 7 — 24
MV — FG Klein 29. F — Meyer 45 run (Rios kick). MV — Thomas 29 pass from Rubley (Klein kick). MV — Thomas 15 run (Klein kick). F — Newey 12 pass from McVenes (Rios kick). F — Frazier 23 pass from McVenes (kick failed). MV — Thomas 5 run (Klein kick).
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
