Cherry Creek football begins quest for a third straight championship

LAKEWOOD — It’s 28 victories and counting for Cherry Creek’s football program, but it wasn’t easy Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium.

The Bruins opened its 2026 campaign with a 28-15 road victory against Chatfield, but the two-time defending state champions actually trailed 15-14 early in the fourth quarter.

“I credit Chatfield. I think they came out and played really hard,” said Cherry Creek coach Dave Logan, who graduated 36 seniors from its undefeated state championship team. “We are a young team. It’s a brand new year. There were plenty of times we made a ton of youthful and inexperienced mistakes. We’ve got a lot to get cleaned up.”

The Bruins were able to right the ship in the fourth quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Elijah Cromwell to give Cherry Creek a 21-15 lead with 9:59 remaining in the fourth quarter.

A 3-and-out by the Bruins’ defense gave the ball back to Cherry Creek.

Junior quarterback Bentley Unruh engineered a 70-yard scoring drive thanks to some big runs by junior running back Chance Phillips to put the game on ice. Unruh sealed the win with an 11-yard touchdown run with 4:30 left to play to make it a two-score game.

“We turned it up in the fourth,” Cherry Creek junior linebacker Jeriah Barnes said of Cherry Creek outscoring Chatfield 14-0 in the final quarter.

Cherry Creek is on a 28-game winning streak that dates back to the 2024 season.

 

In fact, Cherry Creek hasn’t loss a game to a Colorado school since the 5A state championship game against Columbine back on Dec. 2, 2023. The Rebels upset the Bruins 28-14 at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins.

If not for that loss against Columbine, Cherry Creek would be attempting to win a remarkable eighth straight 5A state title this season. The Bruins captured four straight championships from 2019 to 2022 before the title game loss to Columbine.

Cherry Creek has a 27-1 record over the past two years with only a loss to Skyridge (Utah) in the Bruins’ season opener in 2024.

“I feel like there is no pressure for any of us,” Barnes said of the Bruins’ current run of winning six state titles over the past seven seasons. “We aren’t focused on last season. We have a band new season ahead of us. We are trying to go for that three-peat, and that is what we are going to do.”

The Bruins had a sluggish first quarter with a handful of penalties. Cherry Creek got a defensive score when Barnes picked up a fumbled quarterback/running back exchange on the final play of the first quarter to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead.

“It was crazy to me. It was my first touchdown ever,” Barnes said about his scoop-and-score to close out the first quarter.

Chatfield hung in there with a 50-yard, 11-play drive in the second quarter that was capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Cash Williams to junior Brigg Jones with 3:15 left before halftime.

 

Cherry Creek responded with a 79-yard scoring drive in the final minutes before halftime. Unruh connected with senior Alijah Landrum-Hamiliton with 55.9 second left before halftime to give the Bruins a 14-7 halftime lead.

Chatfield got a special teams score on a safety on a punt attempt by Cherry Creek. The snap sailed over the punter’s head and he kicked out of the end zone. After getting the ball back following the safety, Williams had a big run to get deep into Bruin territory.

The Chatfield signal-caller has thrown for over 3,500 yards and 39 touchdowns the past two seasons, but had a first to finish out the final scoring drive for the Chargers. Williams caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from junior running back Devon Fleming to give Chatfield a 15-14 lead with 6:32 left in the third quarter.

“We put that in Wednesday, yesterday. I wasn’t sure if we were going to run it,” Williams said of the trick play that scored the Chargers’ go-ahead touchdown. “I was a little nervous honestly, I’ve never caught a pass in a game. It was pretty cool and we executed it pretty well.”

Logan was proud how his defense and offense responded in the fourth quarter trailing on the road, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the final 10 minutes and getting a pair of key defensives stops.

“They hung in there and were resilient,” Logan said of his team. “They found a way to win the game. We are happy just to get this one, move on and go back to work,”

Cherry Creek has a bye week before hosting a rematch of last year’s 5A state championship game against Ralston Valley on Friday, Sept. 4, at Stutler Bowl.

Chatfield travels to New Mexico to face Cleveland High School on Aug. 28. The Chargers actually don’t play back at Jeffco Stadium until their homecoming game against rival Columbine on Sept. 25.

“Honestly, it sucks that we lost. We really wanted this one,” Williams said. “It proves to us and should prove to everyone else that we are a dangerous team. We are going to be someone to look out for this season.”