5A football semifinals: No. 1 Cherry Creek and No. 2 Valor Christian to rematch in title game
By Dennis Dolan & Courtney Oakes
Photo: PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com
The Class 5A football state semifinals were all played on Saturday afternoon throughout Colorado.
When it was all said and done, the championship game teams for next week’s title game were set. No. 1 Cherry Creek will face No. 2 Valor Christian in the state championship game next Saturday at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.
(1) Cherry Creek 41, (5) Pine Creek 21
GREENWOOD VILLAGE – The Cherry Creek Bruins are heading back to the State Championship for the fifth straight year after eliminating No. 5 Pine Creek, 41-21, at the Stutler Bowl in Greenwood Village on Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins (11-2) will face No. 2 Valor Christian next Saturday for the 5A Title at Empower Field at Mile High.
The Creek attack was powered by 4 touchdown passes by freshman quarterback Brady Vodicka, one to senior receiver Kyair Johnston, and three to senior wideout Ismael Cisse in the victory.
“This whole year Ish has always been there,” said Vodicka “I can always trust him no matter what.”
The Bruins led 27-17 after one half of play, despite a surprise pooch kick and loose ball recovery by the Eagles on the opening kick-off. However Pine Creek fumbled on the ensuing drive. Cherry Creek’s Carlson (Bubba) Tann then took over, rumbling 58 yards to the 2-yard line, and punched it in two plays later to give the Bruins a 6-0 lead.
Pine Creek answered quickly as sophomore Cameron Cooper hit senior Jake Graver for 85 yards and the touchdown to take the lead 7-6 with 7:10 left in the first quarter.
Cherry Creek came back with the first of the Vodicka to Cisse touchdowns, from 19-yards out, and the Bruins led 13-7 as the quarter came to a close. A Pine Creek turnover opened the second quarter, and Cherry Creek took advantage with the 85-yard touchdown pass from Vodicka to Johnston to make it 20-7 Bruins.
The home team increased the advantage to 27-7 going to the halftime break with another Vodicka-Cisse hookup – this time from 41 yards out.
The second half saw the Bruins and Pine Creek both score 14 points each, but it was too little, too late for the Eagles, who finish the 2022 campaign at 10-3.
The Bruins will try and win their 4th straight 5A State Championship under Head Coach Dave Logan next week.
“I was proud of our bunch today,” said Coach Logan. “We didn’t get off to a good start, we had mishaps on special teams that we have to get rectified. We played hard, and credit to Pine Creek, a physical football team for sure. We’ll enjoy this briefly and move on to one last game.”
(2) Valor Christian 42, (3) Ralston Valley 41 (2OT)
HIGHLANDS RANCH – The way the Valor Christian and Ralston Valley offenses traded blows Saturday, overtime might have gone on for quite some time.
Because of that, Eagles coach Bret McGatlin was prepared to put an end to the game in one way or another in the second overtime by going for two points.
A missed extra point on the Mustangs’ touchdown made that risk unnecessary, however, as a touchdown run by senior Trey Stott followed by Jeremy Claycamp’s extra point was enough to give second-seeded Ralston Valley at 42-41 win over third-seeded Ralston Valley in a fantastic Class 5A semifinal at packed Valor Stadium.
“We had a call ready if they made that extra point,” said McGatlin, who is in his first season at Valor Christian after leading Chatfield to the 4A state championship last season.
“We were going to go for two because we weren’t going to stop those guys,” he added. “They are just too good and they had matchups we just couldn’t win.”
In a rematch of a Week 5 non-conference meeting that was decided by four points, both the Eagles and Ralston Valley put up 28 points in regulation and both scored touchdowns on their two overtime possessions. But only one team could move on to play top-seeded Cherry Creek — a 41-21 winner over No. 5 Pine Creek in the other semifinal — in next week’s state championship game.
Valor Christian (11-2) had to come back in order to even make it to overtime, however.
Ralston Valley (10-3) — which had knocked off three different teams ranked No. 2 in 5A during the course of the regular season — seemed poised for another upset when it scored twice in the fourth quarter and took a 28-21 lead on a touchdown pass from junior Logan Madden to senior Brayden Schatz with just 4 minutes, 40 seconds, left in regulation.
The Eagles came up against likely their final down once during their drive — but got a first down via penalty on fourth and inches near midfield — but went the 71 yards they needed for the tying touchdown when junior Gabe Sawchuk scored from 10 yards out.
“We’ve been fighting through adversity all season, so we were all calm in that moment,” Valor Christian senior Roman Bradley said of the final drive of regulation.
Ralston Valley won the overtime toss and chose to go on defense first, ceding a 3 yard touchdown run to Valor Christian’s Greg McDonald on a direct snap.
The Mustangs countered immediately when Madden hit junior Jackson Hansen for a touchdown on the first play of their possession.
Ralston Valley coach Jared Yannacito had the first chance to potentially go for two, but felt comfortable that his team could continue to trade blows without gambling.
“Offensively, they weren’t stopping us, so in my opinion it was let’s keep scoring and defense I trust you guys, you guys have been awesome all season, to get a stop,” Yannecito said. “Sometimes it doesn’t happen, but it’s a team game and our defense is a big reason we are here.”
Ralston Valley turned around and scored again in just two plays on Madden’s 1-yard keeper, but junior Marshall Strange’s extra point attempt drifted wide right.
A keeper from junior quarterback Asher Weiner and inside run by junior Jake Krekeler got Valor Christian in scoring possession and Stott got into the end zone on third down.
Claycamp finished six-for-six on PATs, with his final kick igniting a walk-off celebration and sending Valor Christian students jumping over the railings to swarm the field.
Valor Christian got off to a good start with a long touchdown run by Bradley in the opening quarter followed by Weiner’s two-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter for a 14-0 advantage.
Ralston Valley got back into the game with an epic 19-play drive to end the first half that ended when senior James Wochner found senior Bradyn Craft for a short touchdown on fourth and goal with nine seconds left. The Mustangs followed that with a quick-strike from Madden to senior Josh Rillos to tie the game early in the second half.
Bradley again put Valor Christian in front, only for Madden to find Hansen to tie it up and Schatz for Ralston Valley’s first lead of the game.
But it was the Eagles that never yielded and eventually came through in the end.
“This feels amazing and Ralston Valley is a heck of a team,” Weiner said. “It just shows the grit of our team being able to come out on top.”
Now, Valor Christian gets to prepare for a rematch with a Cherry Creek team that defeated it 21-0 last season to win its third consecutive state title.
“It will be fun for sure,” Bradley said.
For Ralston Valley, key seniors graduate, but the way the team competed all season and in the semifinals should resonate going forward.
“This team has a lot to be proud of for this season,” Yannecito said. “We just fell short today.
