LAKEWOOD — Crazy may not be a strong enough description of Saturday’s wild comeback by Standley Lake over Wheat Ridge.
But after somehow winning a 44-41 game at a lightly attended Jefferson County Stadium, the Gators can probably call it whatever they want.
Count the ways. They gave up 32 points in the first quarter and appeared to be on their way to a mercy-rule loss. “Winning or losing, the worst quarter I’ve ever been associated with,” Gators coach Don Morse said.
During the final minute and a half of the game, Standley Lake scored two touchdowns that were negated by penalty. And the Gators needed a 40-yard field goal with 23.6 seconds remaining to win it after having a conversion kick blocked and failing twice on two-point attempts.
Connor Durant, who kicked the winning field goal and caught two scoring passes, said he “wasn’t nervous” on the decisive kick, but he “had never seen Coach Morse so mad after the first quarter.”
All told, Standley Lake improved to 3-4 overall, 1-1 in the Class 4A Mountain League, and kept its postseason hopes alive. Gators fullback John Ruiz-Perez bulled his way to three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Wheat Ridge’s collapse wasted four touchdowns by Jordan Jones. The Farmers (4-3, 1-1), who honored their 1994 state championship team at halftime, scored on the first play of the game but blew leads of 32-8 and 38-20 and scored only three points after halftime.
“We got the ball to start the second half and scored,” Morse said. “It’s such a mental game, and the coaches were telling the kids not to look at the scoreboard. … Every week is like the playoffs for us, so, hopefully, we can piece it together.”
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/neildevlin
Standley Lake 12 8 13 11 — 44
Wheat Ridge 3 26 0 3 — 41
WR — Magalei 65 pass from Padilla (Pierce run). SL — Ruiz-Perez 1 run (run failed). WR — Jones 28 run (Magalei pass from Jones). WR — Jones 41 run (Jones run). SL — Durant 41 pass from Naranjo (kick blocked). WR — Jones 44 run (Magalei pass from Padilla). WR — Jones 1 run (run failed). SL — Ruiz-Perez 11 run (Naranjo run). SL — Durant 40 pass from Naranjo (Durant kick). SL — Ruiz-Perez 1 run (pass failed). WR — FG Gieck 29. SL — Ruiz-Perez 2 run (Naranjo run). SL — FG Durant 40.
