For awhile on Oct. 20, Arapahoe had Cherry Creek on the ropes in a football game that will likely determine the Centennial League title.
The Warriors led 14-7 at halftime. Going into the fourth quarter, the Cherry Creek cut the Warriors’ lead to 14-10.
Cherry Creek, the four-time defending state champion, put together two scores in the final quarter to go up 24-14 victory at the Stutler Bowl.
Cherry Creek pulled two halfback passes out of its playbook to go along with a 55-yard run by senior Jordan Herron to pull out the comeback win.
“We had worked on those plays,” said Creek coach Dave Logan. “In a close game when you have two really good teams, you’ve got to keep two or three things in your back pocket.
“I thought we were resilitant. We missed on a few big plays and also hit a few. Arapahoe is a really good football team. They are a very physical team that has talent. They’ve got weapons, they have skilled kids and they will be a tough matchup for whomever they play in the playoffs.”
Creek cut Arapahoe’s halftime lead to 14-10 in the third quarter on a 24-yard field goal by Jolan Quintana. The field goal was set up by Jeremiah Iman’s 30-yard halfback back to Tyson Mauck.
The Bruins went ahead 17-14 midway through the final period and it was a 55-yard run by Herron that set up the game-winning touchdown which was scored by sophomore quarterback BradyVodicka on a quarterback sneak.
Herron, who rushed for 192 yards on 28 carries, scored on a 2-yard run and the touchdown helped push Creek ahead 24-14 with only minutes left.
And it was a halfback from Herron to Maxwell Lovett, which put the Bruins in scoring position.
“We knew at half we had to be strong and keep fighting,” said Herron. “Cherry Creek football fights to the end. Great players make great plays and I feel like I’m a great player. I want to do it for all my guys. I want to contribute and make good plays.”
Arapahoe quarterback Mikey Moynihan threw two touchdown passes, one to Andrew Smart and the other to Charlie Eckhardt.
“Our kids played hard,” said Arapahoe head coach Tyler Brayton. “We have a ton of respect for Cherry Creek, coach Logan and what they do. We knew we had to play well. We made some plays but in the end they made more plays than we did. Those double passes, they burned us on that twice. We’ll have to take a look on film and learn from that.”
Cherry Creek, ranked first in the Colorado Preps Class 5A state rankings, improved to 4-0 in league play, and 9-0 on the saeson.
Cherry Creek has one more league game against Grandview.
Arapahoe, ranked third, lost its first league game and dropped to 3-1, and 7-2 overall.