Denver East football rallies to stun No. 8 Chatfield

LAKEWOOD — Denver East football pulled off a signature victory in the newly formed Class 5A Metro League on Friday night at Jeffco Stadium.

The Angels rallied from a 16-0 first-half deficit to Chatfield. Denver East stormed back in the second half for a 29-26 road victory over the Chargers, No. 8 in the 5A Colorado Prep football rankings.

Denver East outscored Chatfield 22-10 in the second half.

Senior Elijah West-Duah provided the second-half spark for Denver East with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open up the third quarter, cutting Chatfield’s lead to 16-14.

After a 45-yard field goal by Chatfield senior Andrew Astone that gave Chatfield a 19-14 lead, Denver East responded with back-to-back scoring drives to take a 10-point lead.

West-Duah found the end zone again on a 1-yard run. After Chatfield (5-2, 0-2 in league) was forced to punt midway through the fourth quarter, senior Sean Campbell scampered into the end zone on a 37-yard touchdown run with 4:53 left in the game.

Chatfield did get a short touchdown catch from junior Roni Rohlman from quarterback Cash Williams with 9 seconds left in the game to cut the lead to 29-26, but the Angels recovered the ensuing on-side kick to seal the victory. 

The loss dropped the Chargers pretty much out of contention for the 5A Metro League title. Chatfield suffered a tough 15-12 loss to Ralston Valley last week in its league opener after a solid 5-0 start to the season. The Chargers reached the 5A state semifinals a year ago.

Denver East (5-2, 1-1) is still within striking distance of the conference leaders. . 

No. 3 Columbine (7-0, 2-0) and No. 7 Ralston Valley (6-1, 2-0) are the front-runners in one of the deepest leagues in 5A. The Rebels and Mustangs face each other at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18, at Jeffco Stadium.