AURORA — Grandview girls basketball team’s theme for this season is “feed the wolf.”
“There’s a Cherokee narrative between a grandfather and grandson,” Wolves head coach Josh Ulitzsky said. “The grandfather talks about a wolf that’s full of gratitude, and a wolf that’s selfish, and we want to feed the right wolf.”
The 5A preseason No. 1-ranked Wolves already started executing the motto in the first game of the season with a 62-52 win over No. 2-ranked Ralston Valley on Friday night at Grandview.
UCLA pledge Michaela Onyenwere scored a game-high 23 points and helped trigger the Wolves’ offensive momentum from the very beginning of the game.
Onyenwere made an early three-point play that was part of the Wolves’ 11-0 run, and was very effective getting to the basket on the left side and laying it in all game. She was also crucial in grabbing her own rebounds and finishing strong for the score.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game, and we knew this was a good team coming off last year’s final four,” Onyenwere said. “So, some of the things we focused on were playing smart on the defensive end and executing on offense.”
The Wolves started a full court press from the beginning and were relentless throughout the first half on defense. Grandview shut down the lane and either forced Ralston Valley to take tough shots or turn the ball over.
It wasn’t until there were just over four minutes remaining in the first quarter the Mustangs were able to put some points on the board, after senior Ashley Van Sickle sunk a pair of free throws then knocked down a three-pointer on the following possession.
Van Sickle kept the Mustangs in the game on offense, making up 14 of Ralston Valley’s 24 first half points.
At halftime, Grandview led 30-24. The Wolves never lost the lead, but Ralston Valley fought out of some tough deficits in the second half, and were at one point down by 20.
“We ended up defending really well. The second quarter gave us a bit of momentum and we went on a good run in the third, so I’m disappointed in some of our execution that allowed Ralston Valley to get back in,” Ulitzsy said. “I give them credit for hitting tough shots, so I don’t want to take credit away from them, because they’re a very, very, very good team.”
On defense, the Mustangs had help from rim protector Sammy Van Sickle, who blocked three shots. Sophomore Shelby Nichols and senior Sarah Bevington were also crucial at grabbing rebounds and helping on the defensive end for the Mustangs.
On the offensive end, Ashley Van Sickle led her team in scoring with 21 points and was explosive in making plays and forcing Grandview turnovers. Sammy Van Sickle was great defensively in the lane, but also stretched the floor and knocked down two three-pointers for the Mustangs. Senior Chloe Gillach had a late offensive burst in the second half that helped cut into the Wolves’ lead.
“That was a great test for us out of the gate,” Ulitzsky said. “We certainly have things to pick up on and work on. But overall, a good win over a great team to start the season.”
Grandview senior Alisha Davis served as a great rim protector for the Wolves and also helped out scoring. Junior Leilah Vigil was also a touch matchup on the defensive side of the play and was physical driving to the basket and grabbing rebounds.
“I think the thing that’s been stretched the most at practice at this point is teamwork and keeping our heads up,” Onyenwere said. “We’re great friends on and off the court, and I think that translates onto the court. Keeping our unity and composure is our biggest goal.”
Both Grandview and Ralston Valley fell in the 5A Final Four in last year’s state tournament, and both teams returned a lot of top players.
“We have some returning kids and we’re still trying to work. They’re great together and we’re still trying to figure it out a little bit, so that’s probably the biggest thing to work on,” Ulitzky said. I’m hopeful we’ll continue to get better. They overcame a big challenge tonight.”
Grandview’s next game is against Fossil Ridge, and Ralston Valley will take on Thornton.
DENVER —5A boys basketball’s preseason No. 5-ranked Regis Jesuit handed rival Mullen an 82-43 victory on Friday night at Mullen. Raiders junior Sam Bannec scored 20 points and sophomore Payton Egloff sunk four three-pointers.
DENVER — Moments after his teammates hoisted him on their shoulders as he held the Class 4A state championship trophy up high, David Moore III took the opportunity to survey at the field at Mile High Stadium and try to soak in what had just taken place.
“We’re state champions!” the Pine Creek freshman said with a giant smile. “I couldn’t ask for much more than that.”
Playing on the sport’s biggest stage, Moore and his teammates were never overwhelmed. Moore rushed for 201 yards and a touchdown and Pine Creek broke open a close game with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Eagles claimed a 36-14 victory over Broomfield on Saturday in the 4A state title game.
It was the program’s third state championship in four years, and helped erase the sting of last year’s semifinal loss to Loveland.
“It’s not just for this team. It’s for those guys from last year and that tradition,” Eagles senior Pete Isais said. “We play for our brothers.”
After some early red-zone struggles, Pine Creek (12-2) turned it around in the fourth quarter. A field goal in the third quarter gave the team a 17-14 lead, and the Eagles pulled away with a pair of touchdowns in less than three minutes early in the fourth.
Isais got the ball rolling with a 17-yard touchdown pass from senior Brock Domann, who finished 10-of-12 passing for 106 yards and two touchdowns.
“He kind of sat the guys down as an offense during halftime and said ‘listen, we’re in this game. We’ve just got to start executing and doing the little things right,’” Isais said of Domann. “He turned it on and we got the dub.”
Broomfield (11-3) had an answer for each of Pine Creek’s first-half scores, but that didn’t prove to be the case in the second half. A key third-down sack on the Eagles’ first possession in the fourth quarter forced the team to punt, and Thomas Dantzler increased Pine Creek’s lead to 29-14 with a 38-yard touchdown run.
Bo Epperson intercepted Broomfield sophomore Steven Croell on the next possession, and Domann finished things off with a 60-yard touchdown run.
“The sack there, that’s to their credit. They were able to get off the edge there,” Broomfield coach Blair Hubbard said. “It swung all the momentum back their way.”
Pine Creek rushed for 341 yards on the afternoon, with Domann contributing 76 yards.
“It is so hard to stop our offense because we have so many different options,” Domann said. “The run game sets up the pass, so I’m very thankful for the run game.”
It was a much different story in the first half. After missing a 41-yard field goal, Broomfield’s defense rose to the occasion. A 21-play drive by Pine Creek ended with no damage done after the Eagles were stopped four times near the goalline.
“I think it was my fault,” Moore said. “I think the hole was outside and I kept pushing it inside where they were all blitzing.”
Pine Creek took advantage of its chances on the next drive, with Domann hooking up with Wyatt Weiland on a 20-yard corner route down the left sideline. Broomfield responded with a 7-yard touchdown run from Jalon Torres, who had 97 yards rushing on 22 carries.
The teams traded scores in the final minutes of the half. Moore burned the Eagles for a 73-yard touchdown run, but Croell found an open Mason Keeler down the right sideline just before halftime for a 29-yard score.
Croell threw for 143 yards, connecting with six different receivers. But a Pine Creek defense that didn’t allow more than 14 points in a game after its season opener held Broomfield’s offense in check over the final 24 minutes of play.
“All year long we’ve had close games at halftime and we’ve been able to come out of the locker room and play well,” Hubbard said. “We felt like we had a little momentum there, but there were just a few things we didn’t convert on in the second half.
“A solid team across the board in Pine Creek, if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities when you have them, those things come back to bite you.”
It was Broomfield’s first championship game appearance since 2001. The fifth-seeded Eagles won 11 of 12 games after dropping its opener to Legacy.
Hubbard credited the team’s seniors for getting the Eagles to the title game.
“My Eagles are a gritty group of guys,” Hubbard said. “They battled their way to get here. They’ve come a long way from where we were at the beginning of the year.”
Pine Creek will lose 22 seniors to graduation, but a good nucleus returns next year. That obviously includes Moore, who rushed for nearly 1,600 yards this season.
“Great team player,” Domann said. “I’m so thankful I got to play with him for a year. He did what we needed to do to get a state championship. We all did – I’m just so thankful for my offensive line and my defense. It was just an awesome team effort.
“People have got three more years of David Moore, so good luck.”
More photos (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — Three times, Pueblo East had gone through Discovery Canyon in the Class 3A football playoffs.
Twice, those victories were en route to a 3A football championship.
And the streak lives on.
The Eagles scored 28 points in the second half and won a convincing third-straight championship, beating the Thunder 35-6 at District 20 Stadium on Saturday.
“At the end of the day, we just came out and executed our game plan,” East coach Andy Watts said. “Hats off to our defense for holding them to six points.”
The Thunder (12-1 overall) jumped out to a 6-0 lead thanks to a 24-yard run from Josh Tomjack. Early on it looked like it had the makings of a game similar to the 41-26 win that Discovery Canyon had over the Eagles in Week 3.
But the Eagles (12-1) responded with an 80-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a three-yard touchdown run from Bryson Torres, one of two he had on the day.
On the first drive of the second half, the Eagles defense would spark and it started by matching Discovery Canyon’s scoring output on the day.
A Kain Medrano fumble recovery was good for Pueblo East’s second touchdown from the game and the Eagles never looked back.
(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
“We had all the excitement in the world,” Medrano said. “I just saw the ball on the ground and saw an opportunity to scoop and score and I went to the house.”
The lead got pushed to 21-6 when sophomore quarterback Luc Andrada hit Tory Koshak on a 28-yard touchdown pass.
By that time, the Eagles were rolling and they weren’t going to be stopped.
“We knew they were going to play hard and it was going to be a stalemate at first,” Torres said. “We just broke through and things were going to go our way.”
Torres finished with 124 yards on 31 carries for Pueblo East, but it was the defense that was able to limit the Thunder’s triple-option attack.
“Whatever they were doing to us defensively, we just didn’t have an answer for it,” Thunder coach Shawn Mitchell said. “In the second quarter and through all the second half, we thought we could loosen them up by throwing the ball a little bit, we thought we could adjust our blocking scheme but we just didn’t have an answer today.”
Andrada added a rushing touchdown to push the final to 35-6, a welcome sight to the masses of Pueblo East fans that had spilled into overflow seating.
Not only is it the third championship in as many years for the Eagles, but they have done so with three different coaches.
Watts took the reins this year after Lee Meisner won with the Eagles in 2015 as an interim coach. He knew that with three coaches and after losing a talented senior class that eyeballs would be squarely on him to make sure the Eagles remained contenders.
And he never dodged that challenge.
“We knew there would be pressure on us as a whole,” he said. “One of our coaches always says pressure can either burst pipes or it can make diamonds. Fortunately for us, we were able to make some diamonds today.”
And of course, seize some gold in the process. For the seniors on this team, it completes an incredible run and cements a dynasty for the school.
“It’s great,” Torres said. “Especially for this senior class. It’s just a reflection of how great this class is.”
DENVER — It was a familiar sight at Mile High Stadium at the conclusion of the Class 5A football game.
Valor Christian walked off the field with another state championship trophy in hand. The Eagles defeated Pomona 30-14 in a rematch of last year’s 5A championship game.
“This is as good as I can remember,” Valor coach Rod Sherman said after yet another season ending with the Eagles on top. “To come back here and win is quite an accomplishment. I’m really, really proud of this team.”
Valor claimed its seventh state football title since winning the school’s first championship in 3A in 2009. The Eagles hold a 36-1 postseason record on the road to their four 5A, two 4A and one 3A champion titles over the past eight years.
“There is no better way to go out, especially with the brothers on this team,” said Valor senior Dylan McCaffrey, who quarterbacked the Eagles in three straight title games.
McCaffrey finished his final prep football game 8-for-19 passing for 154 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a team-high 72 yards on 16 carries and a score. McCaffrey’s 8-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter extended Valor’s lead to 30-7 and pretty much put the game out of reach.
On top of everything, McCaffrey had his future college coach — University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh — in attendance Saturday.
“(Dylan) plays well in big games,” Sherman said. “The way he ran the ball tonight was super tough and super physical. He might some great throws on some plays.”
After falling behind early 7-0, Valor put up 23 unanswered points from the tail end of the first quarter until halftime. The Eagles grabbed a 23-7 lead at the break. Valor put up points on fourth straight possessions to close the first half.
“We felt the first time we played them we were a little conservative,” Sherman said. “We knew we were going to have to take the top off their coverage and we did that a couple of times.”
Pomona had the lead and the ball inside Valor territory looking to grab a two-score lead. However, Valor senior Jack Walley intercepted Pomona junior quarterback Ryan Marquez to give the Eagles the ball on Valor’s 35-yard line.
Two plays later McCaffrey connected with senior Christian Elliss for a 61-yard touchdown, cuttingly the lead to 7-6 after a missed PAT. Elliss came up big moments later picking off Marquez and running the interception back to Pomona’s 5-yard line.
“That moment was amazing,” Elliss said of his long touchdown catch.
Freshman Brian Brogan pushed Valor’s lead to 16-7 midway through the second quarter with a 32-yard field goal. Sophomore Joshia Davis gave Valor a commanding 23-7 lead at halftime on a 5-yard touchdown run with 10 second before the half.
Pomona’s offensive failed to get much going in the third quarter. Marquez finished 20-for-30 passing for 180 yards, but threw three interceptions. Junior running back Kenny Maes was the Panthers’ leading rusher with 11 carries for 49 yards and a touchdown.
“What I’m most proud of is I thought our guys were tough today. That isn’t always a adjective use for a Valor football team,” Sherman said. “We take a lot of pride in our toughness and I think we should that on the field today.”
The Panthers’ most successful drive in the second half was aided by trio of personal fouls on Valor. Marquez scored on a 3-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to end a stretch of 30 unanswered points by Valor.
“We knew it was going to be tough sledding running the ball and they are athletic on the back end when you throw the ball,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said. “Defensively, we had to choose our poison and it was hard all night.”
Cherry Creek is the only team to hand Valor a playoff loss during the Eagles’ run on state titles. The Bruins edge Valor 25-24 in the 2014 5A championship at Mile High.
“I’ll always be a little sour about that,” Dylan McCaffrey said of the loss to Cherry Creek.
Valor went through Cherry Creek, Mullen and Fountain-Fort Carson on the way to yet another state title.
“I think we love it,” Elliss said having pressure to win a state title every year. “Everyone is gunning for us. Every team says they want to beat us. It’s amazing when we come out and do things like this.”
It wasn’t a cakewalk through the season for Valor. The Eagles started the season 1-3 with losses to Saguaro (big-school state champion from Arizona), Mullen and Pomona. The Eagles (11-3 overall) finished with 10-game winning streak.
Pomona concluded a remarkable season and improbable return to the state title game where the Panthers lost three returning all-state players Jake Moretti, Max Borghi and Cameron Gonzales before the title game.
“I’m always going to have a chip on my shoulder to beat (Valor) every time we see them,” said Pomona sophomore Billy Pospisil, who led the Panthers with eight catches for 65 yard receiving. “There is a lot of motivation to get back here next year.”
Moretti, one of the top offensive linemen in the state, didn’t play at all this season after a knee injury over the summer. Borghi (824 yards rushing, 495 yards receiving and 21 touchdowns) suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Pomona’s quarterfinal victory over Columbine. Gonzales (890 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns) broke his lower leg and dislocated an ankle a week ago in the Panthers’ semifinal win over Regis Jesuit.
Maes was thrust into the role of primary running back and starting safety with the loss of Borghi and Gonzales.
Pomona’s last football state championship came in 1988 when the Panthers edged Montebello 24-21. Pomona now has a 1-6 record in football title games.
It was Pomona’s third appearance and loss in the 5A title game since 2009. The Panthers suffered a pair of heartbreaking 3-point losses to Mullen (2009) and Valor (2015).
“You just feel for the kids. They fought so hard to get here,” Madden said. “A lot of teams would love to end their season here at Mile High. We aren’t going to sit and complain, but it’s tough.”
That’s a question that maybe doesn’t have to be answered today, but it will certainly be debated upon the completion of the 2016 football season on Saturday.
After this weekend, one of the best Colorado high school football players in recent history will be moving on to the next phase in his life.
Dylan McCaffrey has been a standout player for Valor Christian High School since his sophomore year. There is no doubt that the state will be losing a great quarterback once the Class 5A championship trophy has been presented.
The bigger question is if its losing the best quarterback the state has ever seen.
Considering that society is currently dominated by social media and the ability to shout an opinion from the highest rooftops, it’s not unreasonable to hear hyperbole of this magnitude.
Why place the burden of calling a kid who has yet to experience his senior prom as the best at playing the most high-profile sports position that the preps division has ever seen?
Perhaps he’s earned it.
Even if McCaffrey himself will never come close to admitting or acknowledging it.
“I don’t really think about (being the greatest) that much when I play, it’s kind of just wanting to win this game,” McCaffrey said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s chess or football. I want to dominate when I play. It’s kind of been my mindset throughout high school, just win the game I’m playing. If all that comes along with it, that’s pretty great too.”
Well, at least from an outside perspective, it’s starting to all come along with it.
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The numbers game
(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
The most tangible way to determine one’s place amongst the best is by sheer numbers. If McCaffrey decided that football wasn’t for him after high school (it is as evidenced by his commitment to Michigan), that wouldn’t take anything away from what he accomplished.
Going into the state championship game, McCaffrey has already broken into the top-10 of four of the five major passing categories in CHSAA history.
897 passing attempts (ranks sixth). McCaffrey will likely move into fifth on Saturday, passing Elway Tubbs at 900.
575 completions (fourth). If McCaffrey completes 33 passes on Saturday he will pass Justin Holland (607) for third.
64.1 completion percentage (10th). A poor game through the air could knock him out the top 10 here.
7,869 passing yards (seventh). He probably stays put, needing 438 yards to move into sixth.
78 passing touchdowns (not in the top 10). Three passing touchdowns will put McCaffrey in a tie at No. 10 with D’Evelyn’s Caleb Fleck.
The only quarterback that holds top-10 spots in every passing category is Bear Creek’s Zach Thenell, who played there from 2006-09.
But McCaffrey is not all about the arm. As his game and his skills have developed, he’s become a threat in so many ways.
“I think he has the ability to do a little bit of everything,” Valor coach Rod Sherman said. “He has the ability to pick up a couple of first downs for you with his feet as he did in the semis against Cherry Creek. He can throw the ball vertical but he has great touch underneath.”
McCaffrey added 1,663 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns to his passing totals. He even has six career receptions for 123 yards and four touchdowns.
And there is that small factor of starting in three state title games and potentially coming away with two titles.
His numbers could easily have been better, but according to Sherman he sat the equivalent of six full games over the course of his career as backup players were put in to get reps.
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Stay humble
(Renee Bourcier/CHSAANow.com)
There is no denying that McCaffrey is good at football. The numbers say so. The state championship (or possibly two) would say so.
But how often does he say so?
Practically never. What makes him such a unique player is that he has never once let his talent go to his head.
Even if he hears from those around him that he is truly something special, he is very easily grounded by either his coaches or his family.
“Coach Sherman tells me (how good I am) quite a bit, but he’ll also humble me a lot of times too,” McCaffrey said. “That’s been good. I know my parents make sure I have a very humble head. As much as I hear it, I’m in a house with Christian, so you don’t necessarily feel it sometimes. But I think it’s been thrown around a bit.”
He’s not flashy and he is never going to think he is the smartest guy in the room. What often make the all-time greats so great is their ability to understand that along with talent, they have to be the hardest workers in the room.
And the most willing to learn and improve.
“I’ve tried this year just to appreciate the greatness that he’s given to us,” Sherman said. “And it’s easy when it’s a kid who doesn’t appreciate his own greatness. If he got caught up in his own greatness, it’d be harder for me to appreciate it.
“I’ve had players where they’ve gotten toward the end of their senior year and it’s hard to coach them on the little things. They get to be 18 and they think they know all the little things,” he continued. “Never with Dylan. Never in a game, never in film. He’s a sponge.”
But that’s what it takes. And it’s one thing that McCaffrey is fully aware of.
“I think that’s a message that a lot of people need to hear, that’s it not about them as long as you’re constantly improving,” McCaffrey said. “There are a lot of things you can’t control, but you can control your own improvement. I think that’s a big thing and I hope that people start to get that.”
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From the other side
(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
There are not a lot of coaches who probably envy Pomona’s Jay Madden right now. Oh sure, they’d love to be playing for a state championship, but part of that includes having to figure out how to shut down McCaffrey on a stage that he seems to thrive on.
“I tell you what, I’ve been doing this a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid make plays at the right time more than he has,” Madden said. “That’s something that a quarterback has to do. Third downs, fourth downs. When the team needs him, he’s always there.
“You can be 6-foot-5, you can be able to throw the ball 50, 80 yards, whatever But can you make the plays when you’re supposed to?” Madden added. “And he does. That’s the intangible that he has that will allow him to go down as one of the best ever.”
This will be the second time in as many years that Madden will have to overcome arguably the best quarterback in state history in order to win a state title.
Last year, the Panthers had a late lead, but a costly turnover put the ball back in McCaffrey’s hands.
The Eagles won 29-26 and claimed their sixth state tile in seven years.
So what has to happen for Pomona defensively in order to make sure McCaffrey play like a champion once again?
“You have to be sound and not let him get out in the open, because if you do he’s hard to get down,” Madden said. “If you give him too much time to throw, he’s going to pick you apart. That’s the one thing I’ve noticed this year more than anything is that he’s throwing the deep ball a lot. As good as he’s ever thrown it.”
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Measuring greatness
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
While watching over his team interact with each other and media members on Tuesday, Sherman very calmly said of McCaffrey that “sometimes you can’t appreciate something until you don’t have it anymore.”
It doesn’t sound like that’s the case, though.
Strictly from an eye-test standpoint, McCaffrey has always been able to put those watching him in awe. There aren’t many players that anyone can think of that have had that affect on spectators.
“I’ve only been in this state for 10 years and there is no quarterback in this state that comes close to Dylan,” Sherman said.
He may only have one game left in his high school career, but maybe it’s unfair to thrust this burden onto McCaffrey this soon.
But he’s shown on the field that he is able to handle any pressure that comes his way. He’s more concerned with playing the best he can on Saturday and winning another state championship.
If he does just that, goes his legacy get a boost?
“Ultimately, I’m not going to be the one deciding that,” McCaffrey said. “I think it will be the people who decide it, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt.”
And that’s the fun part about sports.
Those who have had the pleasure of watching him for the last three years get to debate about his place in Colorado sports history.
There’s no need to wait until 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. That game can start right now.
