No. 4 Columbine scary good in shutout of rival Chatfield

LAKEWOOD — Columbine made a very large statement in its regular-season finale Friday night at Jeffco Stadium.

The Rebels — No. 4 in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A football rankings — crushed rival Chatfield 56-0 in the final game before the postseason.

“We just wanted a statement win. That’s all we wanted,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said in the first game against Chatfield since 2017.

Columbine defense made the first statement with junior James Cillessen intercepting Chatfield junior quarterback Jake Jones on the first play from scrimmage. Cillessen returned the interception to Chatfield’s 5-yard line.

“I read zone left and just waited for the quarterback to pull it,” Cillessen said of the interception. “He pulled it, but decided to throw it. I was just waiting there. My teammates had the run covered and I just did my part. The ball just came to me.”

Senior running back Marquane Taylor took it over from there with a 5-yard touchdown to give the Rebels the lead 7-0 20 seconds into the game. On the ensuing drive, Chatfield looked like it would answer with its best drive of the game, but the Rebels’ defense had a goal-line stand keep the Chargers off the scoreboard.

“Our kids made some great plays. Our defense played great,” said Lowry after the Rebels’ first shutout victory of the season. “Our guys played hard.”

After the second big play by Columbine’s defense, Taylor was the headliner for the rest of the half. He had four touchdowns in the first half to open up a commanding 35-0 halftime lead. The senior running back had scores of 5, 1, 73 and 1 yard. Taylor has 24 rushing touchdowns on the season.

“I don’t know. It just came quick,” Taylor said of his 73-yard touchdown run with 4:43 left in the second quarter. “I just felt it and just ran. I just did me.”

Senior quarterback Brayden Harvey had the fifth touchdown run as Columbine’s battering rushing attack shredded the Chargers’ defense.

The Rebels (9-1, 4-1 in 5A Jeffco) continued to chew up yards and find the end zone in the second half. Columbine went 80 yards on nine plays on the opening drive of the second half. Junior Josh Snyder scored on a 4-yard touchdown to put the Rebels up 42-0 and induce a running clock for the remainder of the game.

Junior Mason Moreno scored the Rebels’ seventh rushing touchdown of the game with a 15-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 49-0. Sophomore James Basinger closed out the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run in the final quarter.

“We like where we are at right now,” Lowry said of his offense that has scored 60, 56 and 56 points in the Rebels’ last three games since a 16-13 loss to Ralston Valley.

Columbine scored rushing touchdowns on all eight offensive possessions.

“We couldn’t ask for a better night,” Cillessen said.

The Rebels and Chargers now wait to see how the 24-team 5A state bracket shakes out. CHSAA should release the brackets for 5A and 4A state tournaments by noon Sunday, Oct. 30.

Coming into Friday’s action Columbine was No. 9 in the RPI rankings. The top 8 seeds receive a first-round bye next week.

“We are worried about it at all,” Cillessen said of the seeding. “We just want to go out there and play our ball.”

With top-ranked Cherry Creek losing to Grandview on Friday night, there is definitely a feeling that the 5A state tournament might be a little more wide-open that expected.

“I feel like this is our year,” Taylor said. “I feel like after that Ralston Valley loss we got hungry and hungry to go get state.”

Chatfield (4-6, 3-2) was No. 20 in RPI. The Chargers started the season 0-4, but rebounded with a 4-game winning streak before losing to 5A Jeffco League champion Ralston Valley last week 27-20. Despite the tough loss against Columbine, last year’s 4A state champions will be a tough first-round opponent next week.