LAKEWOOD — It was about as wild as they come.
Wheat Ridge was left for defeat multiple times by Denver South, yet somehow pulled one out.
In a very late game of the week by The Denver Post on Friday night, the Farmers slipped past Denver South 35-34 in overtime at Jefferson County Stadium to win the Class 4A Mountain League.
Ultimately, Nicco Young’s grab of a 22-yard pass on third down by Gino Tate and ensuing conversion kick by Matt Seal sealed it.
The Farmers, who will enter the 4A state playoffs at 8-2 (they finished 5-0 in league) also ended some Rebels streaks. Wheat Ridge, which finished No. 9 in the final Associated Press 4A poll, kept No. 10 Denver South (7-3, 4-1) from its fourth consecutive league title and 21st league victory in succession. The Rebels hadn’t dropped a league game since Oct. 6, 2011, when they were whipped 42-0 by eventual 5A state runner-up Lakewood.
The 16-team playoff bracket will be released Sunday.
Tate, who also ran for two touchdowns, connected with Young on a 44-yard touchdown pass inside 2 minutes to play in regulation to extend the game.
Tate somehow avoided a heavy Rebels pass rush and Young got behind the Denver South secondary.
The Farmers also had issues — twice they had to overcome bad snaps while in shotgun formation and they also lost two fumbles deep inside Rebels territory.
However, they were helped a bit by Denver South miscues, such as failing to make it on fourth down inside its own 25 — Wheat Ridge went on to score — and the Rebels passed on a kick conversion attempt in favor of a rush in OT and didn’t convert.
Payton Dietrich added a 55-yard burst for a score for the Farmers.
For the Rebels, Derius Pinkett had two touchdowns, an 86-yarder in the fourth quarter and a 10-yarder in OT. Aaron Knox, Marcus Lindsay and Amon Wright also added touchdowns in regulation.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or @neildevlin
