AURORA | The Anvil is beginning to wear a nice groove in the trophy case outside the gymnasium at Rangeview High School.
The 300-pound traveling trophy — the prize for the winner of the annual meeting between the Raiders and rival Gateway — spent the past seven seasons under glass in that trophy case and will return again for another year after Rangeview’s rousing 52-7 victory Friday night at packed Aurora Public Schools Stadium.
A week after coach Justin Hoffman’s Raiders rushed for nearly 400 yards in a victory against Overland, they went to the air early and often as junior quarterback Jaelin Odegard hooked up with junior Josh Hollins for four touchdowns in the opening half as Rangeview scored the final 31 points of the half after ceding the first score of the game to Gateway.
Coming off a 332-yard performance, senior A.J. Thomas rang up 131 yards rushing and two scores in the second half and Odegard invoked the running clock mercy rule midway through the fourth quarter with his fifth TD pass of the game, a strike to senior Aaron Reed.
In a rare lopsided contest between the two teams in recent years — four of the last five meetings were decided by three points or less, including last season’s 30-27 decision on a blocked field goal on the final play of regulation — Rangeview won its second straight game after an 0-3 start. The Raiders open Mount Wilson League play with a noon contest on Oct. 8 against Arvada West at the NAAC.
Gateway — which got on the scoreboard first on Kevin Traylor’s 16-yard touchdown run — turned the ball over five times in the game and left without custody of the Anvil for the eighth straight time since winning possession of it in its debut season of 2008.
Coach Shane Ward’s Olys (1-4) open Plains League play at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6 against Dakota Ridge at APS Stadium.
Despite falling behind early, Rangeview was unfazed by the deficit.
Hollins was in the crosshairs of Odegard — his good friend and longtime youth football teammate — from the start. The 6-foot-1, 164-pounder had two catches for 75 yards and a touchdown coming into the game, but matched those totals in a five-minute span between the first and second quarters when he caught scoring passes of 46 and 24 yards.
Sophomore Daniel Worst knocked home a 33-yard field goal following those scores to push the lead to 17-7.
Hollins’ catch of the night came with just 1:05 left in the opening half when he sprinted up the right sideline, used one hand to pull in a pass Odegard dropped in over his shoulder and went 74 yards for a touchdown.
A 53-yard catch on a Hail Mary with no time left in the half game Hollins four catches for 197 yards and four touchdowns and sent Rangeview into the lockeroom with a 31-7 lead.
Meanwhile, the Rangeview defense picked off Gateway starting quarterback Dachaun Davis four times — Sean Kaai came away with two of them — and Hollins caught the ball as a defensive back when he intercepted Xavier Delk in the fourth quarter, one play after a holding call negated an Olys touchdown.
Thomas added a pair of short touchdown runs and Odegard put the finish touches on a 272-yard night with a 42-yard strike to Reed.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
RANGEVIEW 52, GATEWAY 7
Score by quarters:
Gateway 7 0 0 0 — 7
Rangeview 7 24 7 14 — 52
SCORING
First quarter
Gateway — Kevin Traylor Jr. 16 yard run (Erick Torres kick), 5:27
Rangeview — Josh Hollins 46 yard pass from Jaelin Odegard (Daniel Worst kick), 3:12
Second quarter
Rangeview — Hollins 24 yard pass from Odegard (Worst kick), 10:36
Rangeview — Worst 33 yard field goal, 2:20
Rangeview — Hollins 74 yard pass from Odegard (Worst kick), 1:05
Rangeview — Hollins 53 yard pass from Odegard (Worst kick), 0:00
Third quarter
Rangeview — AJ Thomas 2 yard run (Worst kick), 11:12
Fourth quarter
Rangeview — Thomas 6 yard run (Worst kick), 9:33
Rangeview — Aaron Reed 42 yard pass from Odegard (Worst kick), 7:04
RUSHING
Gateway: Kevin Traylor Jr. 19-47, Marvin Odunoye 4-32, Xavier Delk 4-26, Dachaun Davis 5-(minus 14)
Rangeview: AJ Thomas 17-131, Jaelin Odegard 5-31, David Aggrey 3-12, Dayzawn Jackson 2-5, Jamal Walker 1-5
PASSING
Gateway: Davis 7-21, 57 yards, 4 interceptions; Delk 4-8, 37 yards, 1 interception
Rangeview: Odegard 10-18, 272 yards, 5 touchdowns
RECEIVING
Gateway: Trekess Kelley 2-42, Delk 3-29, Tyreeh Bell 1-17, Traylor 4-7, Odunoye 1-(minus 1)
Rangeview: Josh Hollins 4-197, Aaron Reed 3-44, Josiah Allen-Clark 2-32, Thomas 1-0
