COLORADO SPRINGS – When a couple of teams are determined to win the game on the ground, there is going to be an old school feel to that game. It was no different Thursday night at District 20 Stadium as Mesa Ridge and Rampart both knew that getting a win was going to happen by controlling the ball and doing it with the running game.
Rampart drew first blood but Mesa Ridge countered twice in the second half to get a 14-6.
“From my guys, that’s what I wanted them to do,” Mesa Ridge coach Jerimi Calip said. “Teams that are playing this late have to be able to run the football. If you can’t run the football in late October and early November, you won’t get very far.”
Sometimes getting far, even in the short-term picture, requires a little bit of patience. After a quick option toss to Rand Butler got Rampart (2-7 overall, 1-3 Class 4A Southern 2) to midfield and got the sideline fired up. But the Grizzlies (5-4, 2-2) clamped down. They forced the Rams into a 4th down situation and the Rams opted to go for it only to come up short.
The story was the same for the first Mesa Ridge drive. The Grizzlies moved the ball but found themselves in a 4th down situation that they couldn’t convert.
That’s how much of the first half went for both teams until Logan Candelaria broke for a 34-yard run touchdown to get Rampart on the board.
The extra point was blocked, but the Rams went into halftime with a 6-0 lead.
The Rams even started the second half forcing a Mesa Ridge punt but couldn’t capitalize offensively and that’s when the Mesa Ridge running game took over. Niko Allgood scored on a nine-yard run and shortly after, Isaiah Jones broke for 35 yards which setup a one-yard touchdown run from quarterback Noah Ramirez.
The key to the turnaround was keeping their focus on their game plan in having faith in their ability to move the ball down the field.
“In the past, we’ve gotten frustrated, and it has brought us down as a team,” Allgood said. “We stayed together. We’re brothers. We stayed together and we fought through it.”
The clock became the enemy for the Rams as the running game for both sides allowed the seconds to tick away. Needing one more stop, the Rams got the ball back with just over two minutes left and pressed down the field on one last drive.
Facing 4th and 5 deep in Mesa Ridge territory, quarterback Tevin Riehl couldn’t connect with a receiver and the Grizzlies left D20 Stadium with the win.
“In a game like that there are five plays that determine the outcome,” Rampart coach Troy Ward said. “The winner of the majority of those five plays will ultimately the game. You never know when those five plays are coming, it could be the first or the last play of the game. Tonight, they won the majority of the plays. I think our kids battled very hard.”
Mesa Ridge will try to end the regular season on a three-game winning streak when they travel to Fruita Monument next week. Rampart also hits the road, heading to Pueblo West.