LAKEWOOD — Chatfield quarterback Kyle Winkler wouldn’t allow history to repeat itself Friday night at Jeffco Stadium.
Winkler, a junior, threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back junior Michael Callahan-Harris on the final play of the game as time expired against Arapahoe. The fourth touchdown toss of the night by Winkler gave the Chargers a dramatic 48-46 victory in the Class 5A Super 6 League showdown.
“It was just a great designed play. Michael was wide open,” said Winkler of the play called ’98 ducks.’ “We put it in about two weeks ago for this kind of situation. It worked out.”
Chatfield was in the almost exact state of affairs three weeks ago against rival Columbine. The Chargers trailed by seven points, but had the ball on the Rebels 18-yard line with 1.4 seconds left. Winkler’s pass fell incomplete, allowing Columbine to win 50-43.
Winkler said he had flashbacks to the Columbine game before taking the snap with 2.6 second left from Arapahoe’s 20-yard line and trailing 46-42.
Chatfield offensive coordinator Craig Aukland called the play, but head coach Bret McGatlin put in his two cents, keeping Callahan-Harris in the backfield on the play instead of on the line. McGatlin wanted to keep this running back hidden before coming out of the backfield on a wheel route.
“Just wanted to get me open and make something happen,” said Callahan-Harris, who also had 16 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns on the ground to go along with his game-winning touchdown catch.
Winkler was able to buy some time in the pocket before hitting Callahan-Harris with the pass. The junior running back caught the ball near the 5-yard line and quickly turned up field and into the end zone.
“I thought Winkler got sacked for a second. I couldn’t see what was going on,” McGatlin said. “Then I saw the ball in the air. It’s a great finish for our regular season.”
The victory actually helped out Chatfield’s chief rival; No. 6 Columbine (8-1, 4-1 in league) win the Super 6 conference title outright. Chatfield (7-2, 3-2) prevented Arapahoe (6-3, 3-2) from taking the crown. The Warriors handed the Rebels their lone league loss.
“I’m going to send (Columbine coach Andy Lowry) a text that just says ‘Your welcome.’ Andy is one of my best friends,” said McGatlin, who was an assistant coach under Lowry at Columbine for four years before taking over Chatfield’s program. “I don’t know if I want to see (Columbine) again in the playoffs, but we wouldn’t mind it.”
Winkler called helping Columbine win a league title out “bittersweet”.
Arapahoe and Chatfield will both head into the 5A playoffs next week after combining for 1,081 yards of offense from the line of scrimmage.
Arapahoe senior quarterback Gabe Peterson had a monster night throwing for 17-of-25 for 295 yards and four touchdowns. Peterson guided the Warriors’ offense for two fourth-quarter touchdowns after Chatfield had a 42-31 lead going to the final quarter.
Seniors Kevin Dement and Ethan Brunhofer combined for 11 catches to mass 219 yards and three touchdowns for the Warriors.
Arapahoe took 46-42 lead when Peterson connected with Brunhofer on a 13-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-down play with 1 minute, 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
However, Chatfield’s hurry-up offense mounted an 80-yard drive in 12 plays to pull off the remarkable last-minute comeback.
“Our offense helps with that tempo. We are used to having to drive in a short time,” Callahan-Harris said. “It shouldn’t have come down to that, but it did and we won.”
The other offensive standouts for Chatfield included running back Jake Carstensen. The junior had 119 yards rushing and a touchdown on just five carries. Senior Brandon Zanier had five catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Sean O’Dell had just one catch, but it went for a 74-yard touchdown during the Chargers’ 21-point first quarter.
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