There were a few brief minutes where Chatfield seized the lead against Mullen for the first time on Friday night. In those minutes, it seemed Chatfield would escape with a win.
Not so.
Mullen pulled off the upset against the No. 7 Chargers, 40-34, to pick up its second win this season. Chatfield fell to 6-2.
Mullen led for nearly the entire game — including gaps of 24-9 and 31-16 — but Chatfield tied things at 31 early in the fourth, then took a 34-31 lead on a field goal with 5:46 remaining. The Mustangs answered right back with a touchdown to regain a lead at 37-34.
Penalties set the ensuing kickoff up from Chatfield’s 30, and Mullen caught the Chargers off-guard with an onside kick. The Mustangs recovered at the 11-yard-line. They added a 23-yard field goal with 1:40 to play.
Chatfield marched down the field and attempted a Hail Mary from midfield as time expired, but the pass was intercepted.
The biggest upset of the night, though, came in 3A. That’s where unranked Delta knocked off No. 1 Palisade, 31-21. Palisade rallied from a 21-7 hole at halftime to tie things at 21 after three quarters. But Delta prevailed.
“We had a good lead at half, and we threw a pick-6 in the third and we caused ourselves some problems and turned it into a football game,” Delta coach Ben Johnson told ColoradoPreps.com’s Built Ford Tough Scoreboard Show on Friday night.
“Our kids played a wonderful game, and it was a big game,” he said. “Our kids played real well. We’ve got another one next week. Hopefully we can — our goal is to win this league.”
Palisade plays No. 10 Rifle next week. Rifle beat Steamboat Springs 50-10 on Friday.
3A saw two other big upsets on Friday night: Glenwood Springs beat No. 6 Evergreen 35-7, and Roosevelt took down No. 3 Silver Creek 23-20.
“It was a very exciting game. I think everyone got their money’s worth tonight,” Roosevelt’s Nolan Eastin told the Scoreboard Show. “Silver Creek’s such a good team. They’re so talented. We had to grind one out: we had some early turnovers, we got behind. It shows a lot about our character.
“The game of football is a funny game, it goes high and low,” he continued. “We had a lot of lows in the first quarter, but our guys just hung in there and kept fighting and scrapping and grinding away. We made some plays, and here come the Roughriders in the second half. We were able to hold them on ‘D’ and come away with a big win.”
Roosevelt was able to secure the win by owning possession.
“They can’t hurt you much when they’re not on ‘O’ — and they have a great ‘O,’” Eastin said. “They’re explosive on offense, and we knew that. So we wanted to try and chew up some clock and grind the ball away and kind of ground and pound it.”
Elsewhere in 3A, No. 2 Coronado improved to a state-best 9-0 following a 27-9 win over Woodland Park.
In 4A, eighth-ranked Broomfield picked up an impressive 21-13 win over Montbello.
“They came over here and gave us everything we wanted,” Broomfield coach Gary Davies told the Scoreboard Show. “There was a penalty on the last play of the half, and we had to run one more play, and we scored from 85 yards out on a run, and that put us up 21-7. Basically, in the second half we just kind of hung on. But, you know, it was a win, and I’m very happy we were on that side of the score.”
In recent weeks, Broomfield has beaten Denver South, Standley Lake and, now, Montbello. The Eagles have won five consecutive games.
“We just seem to be able to find ways to win games,” Davies said. “I’m not sure any of our wins have been very pretty. The kids just keep hanging in there and they don’t quit. I like where we’re sitting.”
Elsewhere in 4A, No. 7 Durango rallied to beat 5A Fruita Monument 17-10.
At the 2A level, No. 9 Bennett beat No. 4 Kent Denver 14-7.
“We’ve been itching at it for quite a few years with Kent,” Bennett coach Rick Jacoby told the Scoreboard Show. “It was a big for the kids, it was the program and our school and our town.
“They were inside the 10 (yard-line) four times and our defense stepped up huge and kept them out of the end zone.”
Elsewhere, it was No. 7 Strasburg over Eaton 32-7.
“Overall, I thought we really kind of controlled the line of scrimmage, and were able to get enough points up there (in the first half) to be pretty comfortable in the second half,” Strasburg coach Jeff Giger told the Scoreboard Show.
In 1A, Resurrection Christian upset No. 8 Wray 35-13.
“We were able to get a few of our kids that had been hurt back, and I think that was a key tonight,” Resurrection Christian coach Mark Roggy told the Scoreboard Show. “I thought out defense played very well. We were able to control the tempo of the game against a very good, potent Wray ballclub, and we were able to balance our offense. That’s big for the way we think about football here.”
Elsewhere, No.7 Paonia topped No. 3 Hotchkiss 21-0.
“The kids played hard; it was a fun battle,” Paonia coach Brent McRae told the Scoreboard Show. “Our defense played well. They were so prepared and so disciplined and we put a lot of respect on our defensive side of the ball.”
It was a big night for 8-man football with three games between ranked opponents. Included was No. 2 Dayspring Christian’s 38-15 win over No. 3 Caliche, as well as No. 4 Simla’s 40-8 win over No. 6 Kiowa.
“It was an ugly game for both teams, a defensive battle even though there was 30 points on the board, but our kids played their tails off and Kiowa has a good football team,” Simla coach Shane Zimmerman told the Scoreboard Show of his team’s win.
Also, fifth-ranked Norwood beat No. 8 Dove Creek 56-28.
“Dove Creek out and (drove on) us right off the bat, but we had the depth to keep putting kids in and wore ’em down and started putting points on the board in the second half,” Norwood coach Brandon Alexander told the Scoreboard Show.