Dakota Ridge football captures 4A South Metro League title

LAKEWOOD – Dakota Ridge football hasn’t caught a break under first-year head coach Jeremiah Behrendsen.

The Eagles – No. 3 in this week’s Class 4A Colorado Preps Football rankings – extended their winning streak to eight with a 47-21 win over Golden on Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. More importantly, with the win, Dakota Ridge officially secured the 4A South Metro League title.

“Maybe some of the pressure has gone off,” said coach Behrendsen as he clinched the championship title with just a week left in the regular season. “In fact, we will still attack in the same way in our preparation next week.”

Dakota Ridge concludes its regular season against Bear Creek on Thursday, October 31 at 7 p.m. at Jeffco Stadium. The Bears got off to a good 4-1 start with the return of head coach Tom Thenell, but Bear Creek (4-5, 0-4 league) has lost four straight since conference play began.

“We have to go back to work next week and beat Bear Creek,” said Dakota Ridge junior Landon Kalsbeck, who scored rushing touchdowns of 17, 18 and 70 yards against the Demons. “It feels really great to win the league. I think it’s a tough league.”

Since Dakota Ridge’s Week 1 loss to South Jeffco rival Chatfield, the Eagles (8-1, 4-0) have matched their current eight-game winning streak over the past two months.

“The first game was tough, but we knew we could bounce back,” Kalsbeck said of the Week 1 loss to 5A’s Chatfield. “We hope they (Chargers) continue to win because it makes us look better.”

Chatfield has a 7-2 record and defeated Arvada West 22-21 in a thriller Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium.

For the Eagles it is the second conference title in a row. Dakota Ridge won the 4A Mountain West title last year in the final season for longtime head coach Ron Woitalewicz, who retired after last season.

“We know the expectations,” said Behrendsen. “We have had success as a program and want to continue it. We have a lot of good kids who are really good soccer players. As coaches, we felt that if we didn’t achieve goals like that, we would be letting the kids down.”

Dakota Ridge has won six league titles in the last seven seasons.

The Eagles secured a commanding 28-7 lead over the Demons at halftime. The juniors – quarterback Kellen Behrendsen (coach’s son) and Kalsbeck – each had two rushing touchdowns in the first half.

Golden’s only score was a 43-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Thatcher Matthew midway through the second quarter that ended 21 unanswered points by Dakota Ridge to start the game.

Junior Jack Offerdahl and senior Sam Callas both had rushing touchdowns in the second half. Kalsbeck managed the longest play of the night with a 70-yard touchdown run.

“We try to be varied in what we do,” Coach Behrendsen said of the Eagles’ four different players with rushing touchdowns that night. “We have three or four players on the field that we can pass the ball to in different ways.”

Matthews threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter as the Demons struggled to stay within striking distance. Sophomore Colin Meier had a 32-yard touchdown catch and senior Cooper Needham had a 20-yard scoring grab to cut the Eagles’ lead to 35-21 late in the third quarter.

The Demons were actually the last team to stop Dakota Ridge from winning the championship. Golden won the conference title in 2022.

“It’s great,” said Behrendsen, who is in his first year with the team as the Eagles’ starting quarterback. His father was an assistant coach for many years before taking over as head coach this season. “I’ve been watching all this since I was about 2 years old. It’s an incredible feeling.”

Golden (4-5, 1-3) concludes its regular season against Highlands Ranch (5-4, 3-1) on Friday, November 1, at 4 p.m. at the North Area Athletic Complex. A win will be crucial for the Demons to have a chance of reaching the 24-team 4A state tournament. Golden was ranked No. 23 in the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index before the loss to Dakota Ridge.