Mountain Vista beats Arvada West to win first 5A football title

Can the first game of the championship be considered a classic?

Mountain Vista’s thrilling 32-21 victory over Arvada West on Saturday night in the Class 5A flag football title game is undoubtedly a contender.

The Golden Eagles finished the season with a perfect 18-0 record. A-West, which won the pilot program title last season, finished 15-3.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early lead, but A-West battled back to take a 21-20 lead in the third quarter, using the powerful combination of senior quarterback Sailor Swanson and senior wide receiver Sarah Walker.

But then Ariana Akey, a junior Energizer Bunny from Mountain Vista, took over the game.

She fought for a long touchdown to put the Golden Eagles back on top, 26-21. Akey then intercepted Swanson’s pass to end a promising A-West drive in Vista territory with 6:42 left in the game.

Akey then engineered the game’s key play, hitting senior Braelynn Looney with key passes along the way. On third-and-goal, he scrambled, stumbled and somehow found Isabelle Vaillant for a 7-yard touchdown. Vista led 32-21.

And Key isn’t done yet. She picked off Swanson again, this time in the end zone with 1:20 left to seal the win for the Golden Eagles.

Vista came out of the gate sizzling and looking like they could end the game early. Akey found Vaillant in the corner of the end zone for the score in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

Sophomore Lauren Culebro’s interception set up the Golden Eagles’ second touchdown. The speedy Akey turned the corner and scored on a 2-yard run. Vista missed the extra point but still led 13-0 with 3:16 left in the first quarter.

But Swanson’s connection with Walker could not be ended for long. Walker jumped high to catch a 10-yard pass from Swanson and then added the catch for the one-point conversion, putting A-West on the board and cutting Vista’s lead to 13-7.

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