Seriously, it was one of the better turnarounds I’ve seen. Standley Lake somehow rallied to beat Wheat Ridge 44-41 on Saturday afternoon in the Class 4A Mountain League at Jefferson County Stadium, yet Gators coach Don Morse was as calm as if his team had ho-hummed its way past the Farmers.
Coach, weren’t you excited?
“I think the first quarter kind of took everything out of me,” Morse said.
The man had a point – earlier, he witnessed his Gators get thumped by 32-8 over the game’s first 12 minutes. The coach called it the worst quarter he had ever been associated with.
And in truth, I tweeted out a few times that Standley Lake was ripe to be under the mercy rule … by halftime.
“I don’t blame you,” Morse said.
Even Connor Durant, a tight end who was seemingly all over the field for the Gators and kicked a 40-yard field goal with less than 24 seconds to play to seal it, smiled when I told him.
“I know,” he said with a laugh. “You were probably thinking you could leave at halftime, right?”
After a quarter, Wheat Ridge led 32-8. The it was 38-20 at halftime. However, the Gators scored on their opening possession of the second half and took off. Durant had two touchdown receptions among his eight receptions for 153 yards. John Ruiz-Perez rushed for four TDs and the Gators compiled 494 yards of offense, 309 rushing.
Most important was the Standley Lake defensive effort after halftime. It allowed only three points and generated stops. The Gators have been surrendering about 40 points per outing, but their mistakes, Morse said, “can be fixed.”
And before Durant kicked his field goal, the gators had not one, but two TDs called back because of penalty.
When I approached the Standley Lake locker room for postgame interviews, blaring from speakers was one of my all-time Motown favorites – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” performed by two greats, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
It seems the Gators know that if they lose one more game, they’re probably out of the postseason. “We’re right on that bubble,” Morse said.
Durant and his teammates know it.
“It was crazy just fighting for our lives out there,” Durant said. “We still fought to live another day.”
