LAFAYETTE — Somehow, after all those carries, Jared Meschke was still ticking.
In fact, with the Mountain Plains League title and a lofty Class 4A playoff seed in the balance Friday night, the Monarch senior running back was at his best.
Despite a heavy workload that delved into the mid-30-carry range, Meschke keyed and capped the No. 2 Coyotes’ 21-14 win against No. 7 Wheat Ridge in a true smashmouth affair.
“I was running off adrenaline at that time,” said Meschke, who scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:21 left after setting it up with a 42-yard run. “I was just so amped because I knew we had to get a big drive in at the end.”
Meschke finished with 162 yards on 35 carries and produced 92 yards on Monarch’s final two drives, when the Coyotes overcame a 14-7 deficit. It marked the second consecutive season that Monarch (10-0, 7-0) defeated Wheat Ridge (7-3, 6-1) late in the schedule for the league title.
“When you beat a Wheat Ridge team, you’ve done something special,” Monarch coach Phil Bravo said.
This was big-boy football, as Wheat Ridge gave Monarch a dose of its own medicine by putting together scoring drives of nine and 16 plays.
With the game tied 7-all at halftime, each team converted a fourth- and-goal with a 1-yard TD run by its quarterback (Tommy Bradley of Wheat Ridge in the third, then Monarch’s Joey Bata in the fourth). After Meschke’s go-ahead TD, Monarch linebacker Devon Underhill made his second interception of the night near midfield to seal it.
“This is going to sting tonight, but tomorrow it’s a new day,” said Wheat Ridge multiposition captain Nick Swanson. “We’ve still got playoffs. This is going to affect our seeding, but if you’re trying to win it all like we are, you have to beat everybody anyway.”
While the skill sets appeared equal as can be, Monarch’s depth might have been a factor late.
“There’s a lot of people going both ways on their team, which is a benefit for us,” Meschke said. “Our thing is to wear down the defense, so if half of them are playing offense as well, that’s to our advantage.”
Wheat Ridge 7 0 7 7 — 14
Monarch 0 7 0 14 — 21
WR — Brake 17 pass from Swanson (Strickler kick). M — Meschke 10 run (Falloon kick). WR — Bradley 1 run (Strickler kick). M — Bata 1 run (Falloon kick). M — Meschke 1 run (Falloon kick).
