ARVADA — It was as if Andrew “Dewey” Wingard was on skates and the rest of the kids spent the night chasing him.
And they never caught him.
In one of the wildest and highest-scoring outcomes in big-school playoff history, Wingard scored six touchdowns as Ralston Valley pummeled previously undefeated Fairview 71-29 in the Class 5A quarterfinals on a frigid, icy Friday at the NAAC.
The Mustangs, now 12-0, will have a first-ever meeting with Cherry Creek in next weekend’s semifinals. They also will host at the NAAC.
Wingard, who , was a gazelle — he scored the first time he touched it, on a 95-yard kickoff return to tie the score at 7, and he took off from there. All told, he rushed for 163 yards and another five touchdowns.
If there was another quarter, Wingard probably would have scored more. He was that good.
“It was fun, kind of playing on an ice rink,” he said. “These conditions kind of helped us. It was hard to run routes, hard to make cuts … we just kind of pounded it down their throats.”
And Ralston Valley made the Knights, the 2013 state runners-ups who ended 11-1, pay for their mistakes as the Mustangs scored after all four of their turnovers.
“That was the difference,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd said. “Any time your defense comes up with the turnovers, then you can score. … I’m just so happy for our kids. We just have a really good football team.”
Semifinalists two years ago, the Mustangs have scored 115 points over their past two outings. On Friday, they had 446 yards rushing. In addition to Wingard, Anthony Falbo, Kyle Rush and the versatile, tough Collin Root also turned in top performances with Root adding two stellar catches.
Up front, the Mustangs nailed Fairview … repeatedly. And on defense, where it generated two fumbles and intercepted touted Fairview quarterback Johnny Feauto twice, Ralston Valley pitched a shutout in the second half. Root added a safety on Feauto, who at one point had 14 yards rushing, but finished at minus-60.
“It’s a lot of fun and we want to keep going,” Wingard said.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
No. 2 Fairview (11-1): 14 15 0 0 — 29
No. 1 Ralston Valley (12-0): 21 14 15 21 — 71
F — McWilliams 33 pass from Feauto (Magno kick). V — Wingard 95 kickoff return (Root kick). F — Ryan 17 pass from Feauto (Magno kick). RV — Wingard 52 run (Root kick). RV — Pribble 17 pass from Loyd (Root kick). F — Harvey 1 run (Magno kick). RV — Root 18 pass from Heffley (Root kick). RV — Wingard 3 run (Root kick). F — May 29 pass from Feauto (Harvey pass from Feauto). RV — Wingard 3 run (run failed). RV — Wingard 1 run (Root kick). RV — Safety, Root tackled Feauto in end zone. RV — Wingard 8 run (Root kick). RV — Pribble 12 run (Root kick). RV — Jacobsen 5 run (Root kick).
