HIGHLANDS RANCH — Ralston Valley’s plan to control the clock and slow the game down against Valor Christian looked like a great idea for about a quarter and a half.

Then Chase Hanosh broke into the open field from the shadow of his own goalposts for what should stand as one of the greatest plays in the Centennial State this prep football season. Hanosh went 97 yards, the longest of several explosive plays for the Eagles in a 34-17 victory Friday night at Valor Stadium.

“The blockers went in their holes and it just opened wide up,” Hanosh said. “I got a little tired, but was able to run it all the way. … The past two years against them has been really close, and it feels good to finally shut them down.”

Valor flipped the script in a span of four offensive plays in the second quarter. After a second-long, clock-churning march from No. 6 Ralston Valley, the fourth-ranked Eagles took control with a pair of two-play drives.

Dawson Olk hit a couple of big passes earlier in the game that helped set up field goals, but the Valor quarterback went back-to-back for the Eagles for a two-play, 80-yard drive. Olk connected on a screen pass that Wilson Ptacek turned into a 37-yard gain. Then Olk found Jackson Coleman open down the left sideline for a 43-yard touchdown and a 13-10 lead.

The Eagles got a stop on the next drive, but Ralston Valley’s punt was downed at the 1-yard line. No problem for Valor’s quick-strike offense.

Wideout Cash Spence moved to quarterback and kept the ball himself for two yards. That set up Hanosh’s brilliant run. He went 97 yards, but not before slowing down to shake two defenders near midfield who might have had an angle.

“”It’s something that I saw on film last year where they gave us a similar look. I liked it, but I don’t if I “97 yards” liked it,” Valor Christian coach Bret McGatlin said. “They blocked it well, and that got us out of there, and then that move downfield … I looked away because I thought the play was done. It was just a great play.”

Midway through the second quarter, the Mustangs had a 10-6 lead and were moving the ball well. With 3:25 left in the quarter, Valor had a 20-10 lead.

Before the big plays, Ralston Valley’s ball-control approach was working. The Mustangs scored the first touchdown of the game on the first play of the second quarter.

Nico Benallo, who had a huge game catching the ball, went around left end for a 1-yard run at the end of an 18-play drive that went 58 yards and chewed up 8 minutes, 1 second, of clock. The Mustangs were marching again on their next two drives, but pressure on quarterback Zeke Andrews derailed both of them, including a missed 40-yard field goal just before the half.

Ralston Valley ran 40 plays in the first half, twice as many as Valor.

The Mustangs had two more promising drives stall out to start the second half. Their inability to match Valor’s explosive plays or slow down the pass rush proved to be their undoing.