Ralston Valley has gone 9-1 against Arvada West recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Ralston Valley Mustangs will take on the Arvada West Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. Ralston Valley is coming into the match hot, having won their last four games.
Last Friday, everything went Ralston Valley's way against Denver East as Ralston Valley made off with a 44-18 victory. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 24-0.
Ethan Shirazi and Zeke Andrews were among the main playmakers for Ralston Valley as the former rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.8 yards per carry and the latter rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown. Those 141 rushing yards gave Shirazi a new career-high. Hunter Essenpreis made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Ralston Valley didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Ethan Twedell and Essenpreis.
Meanwhile, Arvada West faced Chatfield in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. Arvada West was just a hair shy of victory and fell 22-21 to Chatfield. The Wildcats have struggled against the Chargers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Arvada West wouldn't let Chatfield keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force four fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Jaxon Pyatt, Jordan Brock, Alex Rowland, and Vincent Vigil picked up one apiece. Pyatt has been hot for a while, having also posted six or more total tackles the last 17 times he's played.
Ralston Valley pushed their record up to 8-1 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for Arvada West, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-3.
Thursday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Ralston Valley has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 170.7 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Arvada West struggles in that department as they've been averaging 172. It's looking like Thursday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Ralston Valley was able to grind out a solid victory over Arvada West in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, winning 27-14. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Arvada West's Logan Duhachek, who threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns while completing 76.9% of his passes. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Ralston Valley still be able to contain Duhachek? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
