Ralston Valley makes school history with semifinal win over Mountain Vista

It was the battle of the unbeatens between two teams fighting to make school history; neither Ralston Valley nor Mountain Vista ever made it to a state title game. That battle lasted through the final seconds.

Mountain Vista got on the board early with a touchdown on the opening drive and stayed aggressive. On the next possession, they went for it on 4th and 6 and converted on a Marquise Reese pass to Sammy Brown, who made an incredible catch to keep it going. That set up a touchdown by junior running back Hudson Modrzewski, and the Golden Eagles took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Mustangs were down, but far from out. They fought their way back to tie the game up heading into halftime.

"Our motto this year is 'keep punching, whether things are good, whether things are bad,'" Mustangs head coach Jared Yannacito said. "And we knew at 14 we weren't going to quit. We're going to keep punching."

"When we were down 14, he just instilled in us confidence," Mustangs quarterback Zeke Andrews said. "We were good. He knew we would make plays and come back."

With an even score, a back-and-forth battle ensued in the second half.

"This is going to be war till the end," yelled a man on the Mustangs' sideline.

The game was tied at 21 in the fourth quarter when Levi Rillos took matters into his own hands with an impressive 65-yard touchdown.

The game was tied again at 28 with seconds left on the clock. Ralston Valley's special teams put the game away on a game-winning field goal. The Mustangs won 31-28 to remain undefeated and punch their ticket to the state championship game for the first time in school history.

"I'm so proud of these boys, this community, everything," Yannacito said. "It feels special."

Ralston Valley will play the defending state champion Cherry Creek Bruins in the 5A title game on Saturday.