Football Preview: Golden Demons vs. Highlands Ranch Falcons
Two dominant signal callers in Thatcher Matthews and Crew Gerig are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Golden Demons will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Highlands Ranch Falcons at 4:00 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this game.
Golden is headed into the matchup out to prove that what happened against Dakota Ridge on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Golden lost 47-21 to Dakota Ridge. While losing is never fun, the Demons can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado football rankings (they are ranked 78th, while the Eagles are ranked tenth).
Despite the loss, Golden saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Matthews rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave Matthews a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Colin Meier, who gained 88 total yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Highlands Ranch scored the most points they've had all season on Thursday, but it wasn't enough. They fell 67-54 to Heritage. The Falcons just can't catch a break and have now endured three defeats in a row.
Despite their loss, Highlands Ranch saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Gerig, who threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground, was perhaps the best of all. Gerig has become a key player for Highlands Ranch: the team is 4-1 when he posts at least 250 passing yards, but 1-3 otherwise. Another rusher making a difference was Luke Bakken, who gained 280 total yards and two touchdowns.
Highlands Ranch wouldn't let Heritage keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Highlands Ranch can thank Vini Taylor and Bakken for forcing both of them.
Golden now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Highlands Ranch, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-4.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
