No. 1 ranked Cherry Creek, the four-time defending state champions, came face-to-face with an exponential gut-check Friday night.
They survived — and then some.
The Bruins rallied from a 14-7 halftime deficit to beat No. 3 Arapahoe, 24-14, at an electrified Stutler Bowl. Don’t be surprised if these two rivals meet up in the state title game.
“Arapahoe is a very, very good team,” Cherry Creek coach Dave Logan said. “I told our team going in that this was going to be the best team we have faced this year. We challenged our guys and told them that not everything was going to be as smooth in this game.
“(Arapahoe) has weapons, for sure, and they are going to go deep into the playoffs.”
In a game full of big plays and thunderous hits, the biggest moment belonged to Bruins senior running back Jordan Herron, who rushed for 192 yards on 28 carries.
Midway through the fourth quarter, he danced to the outside and raced 55 yards to the Arapahoe 8-yard line. On third-and-goal from the 1-yard line, sophomore quarterback Brady Vodicka pushed his way over the goal line to give Creek the lead.
“I just got outside and turned it on,” Herron said. “I was looking for the end zone.”
Herron then used his arm to set up the game-clinching score. Herron took a wide toss from Vodicka and delivered a long pass to Maxwell Lovett, setting up his own 1-yard run.
“That’s a great team over there and they gave us everything we could handle,” Herron said. “We needed this. We needed to be pushed. It was a great game, and we were home, so our crowd was so great. They were into it.”
Cherry Creek (9-0) took a quick 7-0 lead with an early, punch-in-the-mouth drive. After the Bruins’ defense smothered Arapahoe’s first drive, the Bruins’ offense ground out a 12-play, 6-minute, 7-second drive. A perfect 18-yard pass from Vodicka found sophomore tight end Ty Goettsche in the corner of the end zone.
Herron, darting into holes behind Creek’s highly touted offensive line, rushed for 43 yards on the drive.
Creek entered the game with four shutouts this season, including three straight. But if the Bruins expected the Warriors to fold, they were mistaken.
Making big plays on both sides of the ball, Arapahoe (7-2) scored 14 unanswered points to take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
Senior quarterback Mikey Moynihan was magnificent. He threw a 52-yard strike to junior wide receiver Andrew Smart to get the Warriors deep into Creek territory. Then, on the first play of the second quarter, he went back to Smart for a 24-yard TD pass, tying the game, 7-7.
After Creek’s offense fizzled with some misfires and dropped passes, the Warriors struck quickly, thanks to some sleight of hand by Moynihan. He sucked in the Bruins’ defense with a pump fake and delivered a 56-yard touchdown to pass to senior Charlie Eckhardt, who was all alone behind the Creek secondary.
Arapahoe looked like it might take control of the away with its first drive of the third quarter. Pinned down at the 1-yard line after a 74-yard Bruins punt, the Warriors — mixing and matching the run and pass and keeping the Bruins on their heels — moved all the way to the Creek 25. But a fourth-and-three pass over the middle was batted down and Creek took over.
Creek’s subsequent 68-yard drive stalled at the Arapahoe 7, and Jolan Quintana’s 24-yard field goal cut Arapahoe’s lead to 14-10 late in the third quarter. The drive was highlighted by Jeremiah “Bam” Iman’s 30-yard halfback pass to Tyson Mauck. Mauck nearly scored a touchdown but stumbled and was dragged down.
Regarding Creek’s two big gadget plays, Logan said: “We had worked on those plays, but I think that in a close game, when you have two really good teams that are evenly matched, you’ve got to keep two or three things in your back pocket.”
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.