The matchup in this year’s Class 5A football state championship game will be a familiar one, to say the least.
In Saturday’s semifinals, No. 1 Valor Christian won 37-6 over No. 4 Grandview and No. 2 Cherry Creek won 48-14 over No. 3 Legend. The two teams will now face one another in the state championship game for the third time in the last four years at Empower Field at Mile High next weekend.
(1) Valor Christian 37, (4) Grandview 6
Like steady and pounding waves, the Valor Christian offense moved up and down the field Saturday.
The Grandview defense knew what was coming and practiced to face the Eagles uncommon and uptempo offense that leaves little time to breathe in between plays, but that made no matter as top-seeded Valor Christian marched 80 inevitable yards on the opening possession to the end zone and was off and running on the way to a 37-6 Class 5A semifinal playoff victory on their home field.
Led by the effortless running of senior Gavin Sawchuk, the unbeaten Eagles scored on four of their five first-half possessions and ended up punting just once to earn their way into the Dec. 4 state championship game at Empower Field at Mile High, where they will face off with second-seeded Cherry Creek in a highly-anticipated rematch. Sawchuk racked up well over 200 yards rushing and scored three times and senior Jordan Norwood also rushed for a pair of scores coach Donnie Yantis’ 13-0 Valor Christian team.
“We knew they were going to try to stop our run game, so we focused on that and we wanted to impose our will on them and do what we do best,” said Sawchuk, a University of Oklahoma recruit who had 165 yards and touchdown runs of 8, 10 and 2 yards in the first two quarters before he spent the second half on the sidelines.
“Our O-Line did great — shout out to them because we wouldn’t be where we are without them — and they really carried the game,” he added. “With the work we put in during the week, I have no choice but to trust them.”
Fourth-seeded Grandview won the opening toss and chose to defer to the second half, putting the Eagles on offense first.
The Wolves hoped for a tone-setting stop, but instead the Valor Christian offense washed over them for 10 plays and 80 yards (all on the ground) and a lead when Norwood crashed in from 2 yards out.
“I think when you are at home, getting the ball first and getting the crowd and our sideline into it was big,” Yantis said. “We’ve learned on our offensive line all year and we have a pretty good running back to help us out, so to get the first score was great. It’s a long game, but we move the ball consistently in the first half pretty good.”
The teams exchanged turnovers — a Luke Meyer fumble recovery on a strip sack for the Eagles and Gibson Leafgreen’s interception for Grandview in the red zone — before Valor Christian’s second scoring drive that covered 63 yards on just five plays in just over one minute with Sawchuk finding the end zone.
Grandview got back within one score when sophomore quarterback Liam Szarka scored on a 29-yard run right up the middle, but two more scoring drives — which included more passing and running from senior quarterback Colton Allen — made it a 28-6 Valor Christian lead at the break.
“No one runs offense that fast in high school, I’ve never seen it, except for the state championship game last year,” said Grandview head coach Tom Doherty, the former defensive coordinator for Cherry Creek. “We practiced it, we had a plan for it and we repped it, but you can’t prepare for it 100%. We knew what we were in for, but it was still a shock to the system for the kids when they actually see it.”
The Eagles snuffed out Grandview’s comeback hopes when Trey Stott picked off Szarka’s downfield heave on the first play of the second half and the Eagles boosted the lead to 31-6 on Jeremy Claycamp’s 34-yard field goal. Norwood scored again on a 3-yard run in the third quarter that capped the scoring.
Grandview finished the season 10-3 with two of the three losses coming to the two teams that will play for the state championship. The Wolves dropped to 1-7 in the semifinal round all-time, with the lone win coming in 2007 when the program won its only state championship.
Valor Christian, meanwhile, is in the state final for the eighth time in the past 10 seasons.
The Eagles can turn their attention towards facing a Cherry Creek team that dealt it a 21-0 defeat in the 5A final in a game played at Colorado State-Pueblo due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The rematch — set up after the second-seeded Bruins defeated No. 3 Legend 48-14 at Stutler Bowl — is set for 2:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos.
“Our goal was to get back to the championship game against Cherry Creek, it’s what our guys have been looking forward to since January,” Yantis said. “They have a great program and we’re excited to play them. Coach Logan is one of, if not, the best coach in Colorado history. We’ll prepare for them and let the chips fall where they may.”
Sawchuk is eager to get back to Empower Field, where he played in the Eagles’ championship victory over Cherry Creek in 2018.
“It was fun to play there my freshman year, so it will be great to do it again; I can’t wait,” Sawchuk said. “We have to clean up a few things for next week because Cherry Creek is a good team and they will exploit our mistakes. We have to be ready to play a perfect game against them.
(2) Cherry Creek 48, (3) Legend 14
The defending Class 5A state champions will officially be defending their title – again – in 2021.
On Saturday, the No. 2 Cherry Creek football team won 48-14 over an emergent No. 3 Legend team that was back in the semifinals for the second year in a row. Now set for a matchup with No. 1 Valor Christian, which has been the finale pairing in three of the last four seasons, the Bruins wasted no time in asserting their dominance against a Titans team that knocked out the only in-state team (Arapahoe) to beat them this season.
The Bruins led 28-0 at halftime. Senior receiver Ky Oday scored a pair of long touchdowns in the first half, and George Fitzpatrick and Carlson Tann accounted for the team’s other two scores. Kicker Boden Page kicked a third-quarter field goal and Tann broke loose for a 77-yard scoring run and the Bruins led 38-0 to start the fourth.
Legend got on the board when Zach Runyon threw a five-yard touchdown Brecken Reiser, which Oday answered by returning the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. Another passing touchdown from Runyon and a second field goal from Page and the Bruins were back in their fourth straight 5A championship game.
Cherry Creek has won three of the last four 5A titles and will be going for a fourth straight next Saturday.