Arvada West has been away from home for three games now, but on Thursday they'll finally make their return. They will host the Ralston Valley Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Arvada West is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 35.1 points per game this season.
Arvada West is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Colorado's top teams: Chatfield, who was ranked 16th in their home state at the time (Arvada West was ranked 21st). Arvada West was just a hair shy of victory on Thursday and fell 22-21 to Chatfield. The Wildcats have struggled against the Chargers recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Although Arvada West took the loss, they still got scores from Jaiden Nichols, Adrian Symalla, and Noah Meurer. Logan Duhachek was another key player, throwing for 188 yards and a touchdown.
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.
Meanwhile, Ralston Valley had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 14.7 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They blew past the Angels 44-18. Considering the Mustangs have won four matchups by more than 25 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
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 85 rushing yards gave Andrews a new career-high.
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 Hunter Essenpreis.
Arvada West's loss dropped their record down to 6-3. As for Ralston Valley, they pushed their record up to 8-1 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.
Thursday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Arvada West has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 172 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Ralston Valley struggles in that department as they've been averaging 170.7. It's looking like Thursday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Arvada West came up short against Ralston Valley when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 27-14. Thankfully for Arvada West, Jackson Hansen (who picked up 117 receiving yards and two touchdowns) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
