DRHS honors teammate with victory

DAKOTA RIDGE 24, HERITAGE 14

lakewood» Dakota Ridge was playing for a lot Thursday night in its Plains League showdown against Heritage: a chance to separate at the top of the conference standings from Chatfield; a chance to stretch the team’s winning streak to four games; and, most important, the opportunity, in their orange socks, to honor teammate Christian Lyons, a sophomore, in his fight against leukemia.

And make no mistake, the home Eagles (5-3, 3-0) came out playing like they were well aware of everything at stake against the visiting Eagles (5-3, 2-1), as Dakota Ridge jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back en route to a 24-14 victory over No. 6 Heritage.

“I told the kids before the game that when they’re out there and they think they’re tired, they think they’re sore and they’re looking for motivation, Christian is it,” Dakota Ridge coach Ron Woitalewicz said. “He’s basically in the hospital fighting for his life, and he’s doing good, but we knew we couldn’t feel tired or sore tonight because we were thinking about Christian. That definitely helped motivate us, because physically we came out and played as tough as we’ve played all year.”

Junior Bryan Barger rumbled for a 3-yard score on the first drive of the game to give Dakota Ridge the early 7-0 lead, and on the team’s next drive, junior quarterback Drew Dominic hucked a 78-yard touchdown pass to junior Kyle Scofield.

It was exactly the sort of focused start Woitalewicz was looking for, especially considering Dakota Ridge could have very well looked past Heritage in anticipation of its battle against No. 2 Chatfield next week.

“Our start definitely got us in the flow of the game,” Woitalewicz said. “Our opening drive, we moved the ball down the field, set the tempo we wanted to set and took control of the game early.”

The two teams then traded scores in the second quarter, with Heritage junior Tyler Zoesch’s 23-yard touchdown catch and Dakota Ridge senior Harper Sillman’s subsequent 25-yard field goal making it a 17-7 ballgame.

But with under a minute to play in the second quarter, Dakota Ridge senior Keenan Brown — a highly touted transfer from Denver South who came into the game leading the team in receiving — took a 51-yard pass to the house, making several Heritage players miss and permanently regaining the momentum for Dakota Ridge along the way.