AURORA | Cherokee Trail ushered in the 2012 football season with a 24-0 blanking of Chatfield Thursday night at Legacy Stadium.
An offense with a lot of new faces on it got a big boost from juniors Aric Johnson and Cameron Currington and sophomore Cameron Smith as the Cougars led from start to finish in a non-league victory over the visiting Chargers.
In his first varsity start at quarterback, Johnson completed 10 of his 18 pass attempts for 142 yards and a touchdown — a 19-yarder to Dominique Grady that got Cherokee Trail on the scoreboard in the second quarter — and also rushed for an insurance score in the fourth quarter, while Currington racked up 91 yards of total offense (65 rushing, 26 receiving) and ran for a third quarter touchdown.
Smith cracked 100 yards of total offense with 54 in the air and 52 on the ground.
Ryan Winke made a 46 yard field goal and was 3-for-3 on extra points for the Cougars.
Defensively, Cherokee Trail matched the number of shutouts it had all of last season in the opener.
The Cougars play Fort Collins at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at French Field.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
CHEROKEE TRAIL 24, CHATFIELD 0
Score by quarters:
Chatfield 0 0 0 0 — 0
Cher. Trail 0 7 7 10 — 24
SCORING
Second quarter
Cherokee Trail — Dominique Grady 19 yard pass from Aric Johnson (Ryan Winke kick)
Third quarter
Cherokee Trail — Cameron Currington 3 yard run (Winke kick)
Fourth quarter
Cherokee Trail — Johnson 1 yard run (Winke kick)
Cherokee Trail — Winke 46 yard field goal
RUSHING
Cherokee Trail: Cameron Currington 14-65, Cameron Smith 12-52, Darian Belt 4-17, Aric Johnson 7-5, Josh Ko 1-0, Jordan Strickland 1-0, Kane Vijil 1-0, Evan White 1-0
PASSING
Cherokee Trail: Johnson 10-18, 142 yards, 1 touchdown
RECEIVING
Cherokee Trail: Smith 4-54, Brandon Barry 2-35, Dominique Grady 2-27, Currington 2-26