The Summit High School football team has been clawing for a win for the last month. 

After attaining a dash in the win column against Aspen on Sept. 19, Summit has dropped its last five games, including a heartbreaking loss to Skyview High School on Halloween night, Oct. 31. 

Wanting to close out the regular season with a hard-fought and triumphant win at home, the Summit Tigers charged onto Climax Molybdenum Field to take on Wheat Ridge High School on Friday, Nov. 7.

Both sporting the same record of 1-8, Summit knew a win was attainable if it put together a complete game. 

The Tigers began the four-quarter affair by receiving the opening kickoff from the Wheat Ridge Farmers. Sophomore Jagger Roberts got the team going early, returning the ball over 50 yards to set up the Summit offense on Wheat Ridge’s 30-yard line.

Junior Typer Susic and the Summit offense took advantage of the ideal field position, charging the ball into the red zone with a series of run and pass plays. Facing third down and two from the two-yard-line, senior Henry Eslich barreled into the end zone, giving Summit an early 7-0 lead.

Wanting to keep the momentum in its favor, the Summit defense put up a strong defensive front for Wheat Ridge’s first possession. Eslich and junior Wyatt Lyman both converged to make big tackles, stalling Wheat Ridge’s offense. 

Eventually though, junior Chase Jenkins broke into the end zone for the rushing touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 with a little under four minutes remaining in the first frame.

Summit continued to roll on offense following the Wheat Ridge touchdown. Wanting to regain a lead, Susic connected with junior David Ortega for a lengthy pass.

Now on Wheat Ridge’s side of the 50-yard line, Summit kept the ball in the hands of Susic and Eslich. 

After Susic juked his way up the field for a few yards, Eslich powered his way to his second rushing touchdown of the game.

Summit’s special teams unit faltered after the touchdown. What should have been a routine kickoff developed into a lengthy return, giving Wheat Ridge the ball on Summit’s 21-yard-line. 

It was not long before Wheat Ridge scored its second touchdown of the game. This time, it was the quarterback — senior Jyles Ballenger — who dashed into the end zone.

An unsuccessful point-after attempt gave Summit the slight, 14-13 lead with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the half.

The Summit offense was subsequently forced to punt after being held from gaining a first down. Eslich booted a strong punt down the field, forcing the Wheat Ridge returner to second guess his approach.The slight hesitation resulted in the punt being muffed and Summit falling on top of the loose ball for the turnover.

Summit tried to get things moving on offense, but a bobbled snap marred the drive, bringing the punt unit back onto the field.

With the energy starting to favor the Wheat Ridge sidelines, the Farmers strung together a lengthy drive. Summit attempted to slow down its 3A West Metro opponent, but Jenkins rushed into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. 

The Wheat Ridge offense soon returned to the field after Susic threw a costly interception. On Summit’s side of the 50-yard line, Wheat Ridge cruised down the field for its fourth touchdown.

Summit tried to cut into the deficit before the end of the half, but the team coughed the ball up to Wheat Ridge on a fumble.

The Farmers once again capitalized on the great field position, scoring a fifth touchdown before the end of the second quarter.Summit trailed 35-14 at halftime.

With just 24 minutes remaining in both team’s seasons, Wheat Ridge and Summit returned to the gridiron and continued to battle. The Farmers were the first team to put points on the scoreboard in the fresh half. 

On one of the team’s first plays from the line of scrimmage, senior Isaiah Osei found himself with room to run. Osei sprinted past several Summit defenders and into the end zone for the touchdown. 

Trailing 41-14, Summit worked hard to harness the offense it produced in the first quarter. Susic, Eslich and Roberts continued to be mainstays for the team, fighting for yards and gaining first downs. Back in the red zone, Susic found Jagger Roberts for a passing touchdown. 

The Summit touchdown gave way to outstanding defense. Although Wheat Ridge was able to gain a few first downs, Summit forced a turnover on downs around midfield to give its offense the ball back.

With the game still within reach, the Tigers ate up yardage with a mix of short pass and run plays. As the fourth quarter began, Summit brought the ball over the 20-yard line for another trip to the red zone.

Roberts then caught a pass from Susic to bring the team within the 10-yard line. The completion allowed Susic to find sophomore Tyson Wyatt for the passing touchdown.

With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Summit trailed 41-27.

Up by two touchdowns, Wheat Ridge was smart with the ball, relying on its run game to drain time from the clock. Summit did its best to drag Wheat Ridge’s rollicking running game to a halt, but the team continued to drive down the field.

Wheat Ridge scored a rushing touchdown to take a 47-27 lead.

Like the team has done all season long, Summit did not give up until the final whistle. The Tigers tried to keep the game alive with another touchdown-scoring drive, but a tipped ball led to an interception.

The turnover allowed Wheat Ridge to drain the clock completely, defeating Summit, 47-27. 

Summit concludes its fall season with a record of 1-9 overall and 0-5 in league play. Summit will graduate seven seniors from its fall roster including Eslich, Johan Gomez, Benayah Majka, Raul Rios, Felipe Valencia, Jonathon Santiago Lopez and Clayton Mckie. 

“Keep your head high,” head coach Paul Lopez said to his team after the game. “It will be my pleasure all my life to coach this group. You guys showed up every single day and decided to be different from everybody else. I can’t tell you how proud I am of all the seniors. They could have done something else, but they decided to be here and lead you.”