Don’t fret about how Air Academy starts a game. The Kadets know how to finish.

The Kadets demonstrated as much this season and the Kadets proved that to Cheyenne Mountain in a showdown between two of 4A’s top squads.

Air Academy beat Cheyenne Mountain 37-28 on the road Friday and scored 24 points in the second half to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2021.

“We put our faith in our coaches and they give us a great game plan to go out there and execute week in and week out,” Air Academy’s Gavin Mather said. “It’s a brotherhood and we believe in everybody.”

In its first two games, Air Academy, ranked ninth in 4A, scored 89 points, but only 35 came in the first half. The Kadets continued that trend at Cheyenne Mountain and took a 13-6 lead into the break.

But the Kadets trickery on their first score of the second half surprised Cheyenne Mountain (2-1), the No. 1-ranked team in 4A, and its defense. Wide receiver Eli Malnar took a snap as a running back and faked a run. The Red-Tailed Hawks’ defense bit on the illusion and Malnar tossed it to Christopher Salazar-O’Keefe, who sneaked behind the defense to haul in the pass.

Salazar-O’Keefe then took it 33 yards for the score to make it 20-6 with seven minutes left in the third. The Red-Tailed Hawks responded 56 seconds later with a touchdown and two-point conversion to cut the lead to 20-14 with 6:02 left.

Kadets kicker Joshua Mason followed with a 31-yard field goal to give Air Academy a 23-14 lead with 1:54 remaining in the period. Then, Air Academy’s defense put its stamp on the game.

Two plays after the Red-Tailed Hawks received the kickoff, they fumbled and Ryan Meekins retrieved the ball and carried it 33 yards to pay dirt for the score to build a 29-14 lead with 1:18 left.

“I feel like that brought up the confidence for the offense and defense,” Meekins said. “It bounced right into my arms and I’m like, ‘holy crap! I have to take this to the house.’ I took it, ran as fast as I could and didn’t worry about anything behind me.”

The 16-point quarter marks the third time this season the Kadets have scored 14 or more in the third or fourth period. Meekins said the Kadets know they have sluggish starts. But they know when to go for the jugular.

“In our games this year, we’ve started off slow on the front end,” Meekins said. “But as the game goes on, we realize they’re not as good as they say or as they claim to be. We realize that and score touchdown after touchdown and that brings up the mood of the team.”

As the Kadets illustrated in the fourth quarter. Cheyenne Mountain’s Colt Kugler scored on a 15-yard run to cut the lead to 29-20 with 7:01 left and, albeit small, the Red-Tailed Hawks still had a chance.

On the ensuing drive, the Red-Tailed Hawks forced a long Air Academy third down and forced the Kadets to use a timeout. Out of the break, the Kadets ran a hook-and-ladder where Cade Ballard fired a pass to Madden Pohl who immediately pitched it to Mather, who took it 23 yards to the end zone with 3:35 left in the game.

“Once I saw that linebacker trigger on Madden’s hook, (Madden) tossed it to me and I was home free from there,” Mather said.

Brentyn Meeks added a score late in the contest to give the Red-Tailed Hawks their final touchdown of the night, but the Kadets kneeled out the clock and ventured to their fan section to celebrate the win.

“This is a big rivalry, but we have a lot of respect for Cheyenne Mountain,” Mather said. “We knew we had to have a big play for them to get us going.”