Late TD leap sends Chatfield football to win over Eaglecrest

LAKEWOOD — Chatfield coach Kris Rosholt had faith in his offensive line to give one final push Friday at Jeffco Stadium.

“I looked at our o-line — they are all seniors — in the face and asked them if they could get this. They said yes,” Rosholt said of going for the touchdown from a yard out with no timeouts left and 24.5 seconds left on the clock. “I know it is kind of weird trusting a bunch of 17 year olds, but they are the ones out there, not me. If they want it on their shoulders I’ll put it on their shoulders.”

The Chargers — No. 7 in the Colorado Preps Class 5A football rankings — grabbed a 23-16 victory over Eaglecrest on the 1-yard touchdown dive by sophomore quarterback Cash Williams to break a 16-16 tie.

“They were cutting down on us the whole time,” Williams said of Eaglecrest’s defense going low on short-yardage plays. “Coaches and the o-line told me to just clear it (jump) and I’d get in.”

The jump cleared the toughest hurdle so far this season for the Chargers (3-0 record). Chatfield was a 5A state semifinals last season, but graduated a number of key seniors from last year’s squad.

“People were doubting us. They didn’t know what we would do in this game,” Chatfield senior defensive back Riley Suddath said. “We just wanted to go out there and show we are competitive. And win.”

Suddath came up huge with a pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter. The senior intercepted Eaglecrest senior quarterback Joe Steiner with 5:19 left in the fourth quarter to give the Chargers the ball on the Raptors’ 36-yard line. 

The turnover lead to the game-winning touchdown by Williams. Suddath sealed the win by picking off Steiner again on a final heave from midfield.

“We were just making sure nobody got behind us,” Suddath said of the final play of the game as time expired. “I just wanted to go out and make a play for our team.”

Chatfield had a 16-8 lead after a 36-yard touchdown catch by freshman Rome Bell on a 3rd-and-17 play with 9:35 left in the fourth quarter.

“Rome is baller,” Williams said of his freshman receiver. “He is going to be the best in the state. We have a lot of upcoming young guys.”

Eaglecrest (2-1) responded less than a minute later with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Steiner to senior Logan Robitaille. A successful 2-point conversion tied the game at 16-16 with 8:56 left in the final quarter.

“(Eaglecrest) has a lot of talented playmakers,” Rosholt said. “They are a very talented team.”

Eaglecrest put up the first score of the game with a 3-yard touchdown run by Steiner with 7:42 left in the second quarter. The drive was set up by an interception by Raptor senior Ramadan Owens of Williams. 

A successful 2-point conversion gave Eaglecrest a 8-0 lead.

Chatfield did respond just before halftime with an 80-yard scoring drive in the final minutes of the opening half. 

Senior Hunter Baiderston picked off Steiner was just more than a minute left in the second quarter. Williams hit Bell for a big 34-yard gain to get inside the Raptors’ 10-yard line. Williams finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to junior Ron Rohlman to cut the Raptors’ lead to 8-7 at halftime.

“A big part of our offense was our defense getting us back the ball,” Rosholt said. “The defense did an amazing job of doing that tonight.”

Chatfield will attempt to remain undefeated when it hosts Brighton (1-2) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, at Trailblazer Stadium.