Playoff position on line in big matchup

Highlands Ranch is coming off a 48-7 loss to No. 1 Valor Christian last week, but don’t expect the sixth-ranked Falcons to come out sluggish Friday against the Legend Titans in a Class 5A Mount Lincoln game.

If anything, the defeat at the hands of the two-time defending champions will further mold a team that has drawn swagger from adversity, whether it be the resignation of its head coach the day before the season began or a weightlifting accident that injured the hand of freshman phenom quarterback Jake Rubley, whose return this season is uncertain.

“These kids are so motivated — they’ve got their goals, and they’ve got high expectations for themselves,” interim coach David May said. “That’s what has contributed to them being able to take everything in stride, and keep going, because they won’t settle for not meeting those expectations.”

One of the Falcons’ goals, a league championship and automatic playoff bid, probably went up in smoke in the rout at Shea Stadium last Friday.

But the bigger goal of a deep playoff run is still intact, as the Falcons are ranked fourth in the latest RPI and are set up nicely to host a first-round playoff game.

“As long as we take care of business these next two weeks, we’ll still have the opportunity to play in the playoffs,” May said. “So we’ll take that (Valor Christian) game as a learning experience, because it showed the work we still need to put in to get to where we want to be.”

Meanwhile Legend is riding a wave of momentum, considering last week’s 10-7 defeat of then-No. 10 Fountain-Fort Carson, a victory which snapped a six-game losing streak to the Trojans.

“We’ve been in a couple of nailbiters each of the past two weeks, and we were fortunate to come through last weekend,” second-year coach Monte Thelen said. “Hopefully those experiences give us confidence going into a game against a really tough team like Highlands Ranch.”

Buoying Legend’s chance of an upset are a trio of Division I athletes.

One of those, 6-foot-6, 250-pound Tate Wildeman, a defensive end/tight end who has committed to play at Nebraska, hasn’t played since getting injured in the Titans’ loss to Valor Christian on Oct. 6 but will be back this week to solidify Legend’s line against the Falcons’ rushing attack and give senior quarterback Micah Butte another big blocker up front.

“Our offensive line has been getting better and better, and we’re hoping to continue to improve along our offensive front,” Thelen said. “Those guys are working really hard, and they’ll be key in us getting something going against Highlands Ranch.”