Football Preview: Highlands Ranch Falcons vs. Golden Demons
Two dominant signal callers in Crew Gerig and Thatcher Matthews are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Highlands Ranch Falcons are taking a road trip to square off against the Golden Demons at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Highlands Ranch is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 39.7 points per game this season.
It was a Battle of the Birds when Highlands Ranch took on Heritage on Thursday. Highlands Ranch fell 67-54 to Heritage. The Falcons just can't catch a break and have now endured three defeats in a row.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Gerig, who threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. He 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 back 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.
Meanwhile, a win for Golden just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They 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).
Golden might have lost, but man, Matthews was a machine: he rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Those 146 rushing yards gave Matthews a new career-high. Colin Meier was another key player, gaining 88 total yards and a touchdown.
Highlands Ranch's loss dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Golden, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-5 record this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
