DENVER | The lack of practice leading up to Saturday’s Class 5A first round state playoff game showed a bit offensively for the Grandview football, but the defense was ready roll.
The 17th-seeded Wolves visited All-City Stadium to face No. 16 Denver East in a game moved back a day due to the massive snowstorm that blanketed the metro area the previous day and ceded a scoring drive to the Angels on their first possession.
But that was all Grandview’s defense allowed, while the offense got its ground game going and scored 17 unanswered points on the way to a 17-3 victory that moved coach Tom Doherty’s team into the second round. The Wolves (6-5) will get a rematch with Centennial League rival and top-seeded Cherry Creek (9-1).
Senior running back Caleb Llamas racked up 163 yards rushing and scored a touchdown, while junior quarterback Blitz McCarty threw 123 yards and rushed for a score and sophomore Quinn Reynolds knocked through a field goal for Grandview.
Denver East (6-5) took the opening drive of the day and marched into Grandview’s red zone, but was forced to settle for Will Beauregard’s 24-yard field goal. That would be the extent of what the Angels put on the scoreboard, however.
The Wolves answered the scoring drive with one of their own on the first possession, which was extended by a well executed fake punt on a pass by senior Kyler Vaughn. Two plays later, Llamas crashed through the line, veered to his right and got to the corner of the end zone with the help of some downfield blocking.
Grandview couldn’t add to its lead until a drive that ended the third quarter and opened the fourth quarter. McCarty hit a big pass to junior Asher Mattson to move deep into Denver East territory and the Wolves would go on to extend the lead to 10-3 when Reynolds put a 27-yard field goal attempt between the uprights.
The Grandview defense held up on the next possession and the offense sealed it with its ensuing drive, which covered 72 yards on 11 plays — eight of them carries by Llamas — and took 5 minutes, 34 seconds, off the clock. McCarty dove in from a yard out to make it a two-score game.
As a program, Grandview has qualified for the 5A playoffs 19 times in the past 20 seasons (missing out only in the 2020 season when only eight teams were in the playoffs because of the coronavirus pandemic) and has now won at least one playoff game in 18 of those 19 appearances. To reach the quarterfinals for a fourth straight season, the Wolves will have to knock off a Cherry Creek team they lost to 35-18 in the regular season finale.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CLASS 5A STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS (1ST ROUND)
(17) GRANDVIEW 17, (16) DENVER EAST 3
Score by quarters:
Grandview 7 0 0 10 — 17
Denver East 3 0 0 0 — 3
SCORING
First quarter
Denver East — Will Beauregard 24 yard field goal, 6:45
Grandview — Caleb Llamas 43 yard run (Quinn Reynolds kick), 5:01
Fourth quarter
Grandview — Reynolds 27 yard field goal, 10:03
Grandview — Blitz McCarty 1 yard run (Reynolds kick), 1:42
PASSING
Grandview: Blitz McCarty 11-20, 123 yards; Kyler Vaughn 1-1, 13 yards
RUSHING
Grandview: Caleb Llamas 20-163, Chris Blanks 7-19, Vaughn 1-(minus 1), McCarty 7-(minus 15)
RECEIVING
Grandview: Xay Neto 3-40, Asher Mattson 3-38, Aaron Ball 2-27, Donavon Vernon 1-19, Vaughn 2-8, Will Mellinger 4
