AURORA | With the Centennial League as strong as its ever been, the Grandview football team rose to the occasion.
When juggernaut Valor Christian was added to the already power-laden league, few thought an undefeated season would be possible.
Yet there were the Wolves on Friday night at Legacy Stadium, celebrating a rousing 24-21 victory over the defending Class 5A state champion Eagles to finish the gauntlet 5-0 and claim the Centennial League title. Coach John Schultz’s team finished the regular season 9-0 and made a case to be the No. 1 seed in the Class 5A state playoffs that are seeded Sunday.
Senior running back Chukwuma Obinnah rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns and Aiden Pirrin connected on a 39-yard field goal late in the third quarter that turned out to be the difference.
Stone Watson scored two touchdowns and quarterback Dylan McCaffrey had a 64-yard scoring strike to Bubba Watkins, but Valor Christian couldn’t get the ball back from Grandview’s grind-it-out offense in the final 4:33. The Eagles to dropped to 6-3 overall and finished third in the Centennial League after back-to-back losses to Cherry Creek and Grandview.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
(1) GRANDVIEW 24, (4) VALOR CHRISTIAN 21
Score by quarters:
Valor Christian 0 14 0 7 — 21
Grandview 14 0 10 0 — 24
SCORING
First quarter
Grandview — Chukwuma Obinnah 3 yard run (Aiden Pirrin kick), 8:56
Grandview — Obinnah 2 yard run (Pirrin kick), 0:06
Second quarter
Valor Christian — Stone Watson 3 yard run (Jarred Kendziorski kick), 10:11
Valor Christian — Bubba Watkins 64 yard pass from Dylan McCaffrey (Kendziorski kick), 5:55
Third quarter
Grandview — Obinnah 28 yard run (Pirrin kick), 8:56
Grandview — Pirrin 39 yard field goal, 2:13
Fourth quarter
Valor Christian — Watson 3 yard run (Kendziorski kick), 4:33
RUSHING
Valor Christian: Stone Watson 17-84, Eric Lee 3-16, Danny Rambo 2-10, Bubba Watkins 2-4, Dylan McCaffrey 5-2
Grandview: Chukwuma Obinnah 21-111, Cody Summers 10-48, Ben Marshall 4-25, Austin Quarles 4-7, Brandon Brooks 1-0
PASSING
Valor Christian: McCaffrey 13-28, 252 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
Grandview: Summers 8-12, 110 yards
RECEIVING
Valor Christian: Lee 7-114, Watkins 2-66, Ryan Damian 1-34, Ben Waters 1-28, Brian Dawkins 1-6, Rambo 1-4
Grandview: Morgan Smith 1-41, Tyler Vallin 2-37, Cameron Knight 1-20, Brooks 3-10, Keifer Glau 1-2
