AURORA | Prepared for the postseason by a challenging regular season schedule, the Grandview football team showed itself postseason ready Friday night.
The 11th-seeded Wolves weathered an early flurry of penalties in addition to a push from 22nd-Chatfield, but scored 25 unanswered points in the decisive stretch of the game on their way to a 32-13 victory in a Class 5A first round state playoff game at Legacy Stadium.
Junior Maddox Johnson rushed for three touchdowns and junior Brody Flores put the finishing touches on with a fumble return score for coach Tom Doherty’s Grandview team, which earned the program a win in its first playoff game for a fifth straight season.
Updated Class 5A state football playoff scoreboard and schedule, here
The Wolves (6-5) avenged a 2023 quarterfinal loss to the Chargers (4-7) and earned a Nov. 14 trip to the North Area Athletic Complex to play No. 6 Arvada West (9-1) in a second round contest.
Grandview lost its leading rusher, senior Chris Blanks, to injury after just two carries, but Johnson came on and had only his second game of the season with double-digit rushing attempts. He finished with 131 yards on the ground for the game and opened the scoring in the opening quarter when he drove through a tackle for a two-yard touchdown after senior quarterback Blitz McCarty’s scramble got the Wolves near the goalline.
Chatfield evened the game on a penalty-aided drive that resulted in a short touchdown, only to see Grandview respond with a time-chewing drive to take the lead.
The Wolves covered 80 yards in a series that took nearly seven minutes off the clock and ended in Johnson’s three-yard plunge in to the end zone. Johnson picked up a first down on 4th and short along the way and a double pass from McCarty to sophomore Lander Wise to junior Matthew Schimberg set up the score with 1 minutes, 19 seconds, left in the first half.
Grandview’s defense made a quick stop and the Wolves got the ball back into the red zone again in the final minute with no time outs. McCarty (who threw for 157 yards) couldn’t find an open receiver and got stopped on a scramble as time expired.
The Wolves added to their total on the scoreboard on the opening possession of the second half with a 42-yard field goal by senior Noah Galvez to bump their advantage to double figures at 17-7, then got a hat trick touchdown from Johnson on a 1-yard run.
Chatfield drove to the 7 yard-line in the fourth quarter, but a mishandled snap by quarterback Cash Williams put the ball on the ground. Flores scooped it up and flew to the end zone untouched for an 87-yard score that bumped the lead to 25.
Williams threw a late touchdown pass to William Rohlman for the Chargers.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2025 CLASS 5A STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS (1ST ROUND)
Nov. 7 at Legacy Stadium
(11) GRANDVIEW 32, (22) CHATFIELD 13
Score by quarters:
Chatfield 0 7 0 6 — 13
Grandview 7 7 10 8 — 32
SCORING
First quarter
Grandview — Maddox Johnson 2 yard run (Noah Galvez kick), 1:27
Second quarter
Chatfield — Cash Williams 1 yard run (Tyler McClay kick), 8:15
Grandview — Johnson 3 yard run (Galvez kick), 1:19
Third quarter
Grandview — Galvez 42 yard field goal, 9:02
Grandview — Johnson 1 yard run (Galvez kick), 3:18
Fourth quarter
Grandview — Brody Flores 87 yard fumble return (Matthew Schimberg pass from JT Cole), 4:38
Chatfield — William Rohlman 16 yard pass from Williams (pass failed), 1:37
RUSHING
Chatfield: William Rohlman 3-26, Cash Williams 13-21, Ryder Hoffschneider 4-4, Kaden Litrell 3-1, Jaden Zeller 1-(minus 1), Devon Fleming 2-(minus 1)
Grandview: Maddox Johnson 24-131, Chris Blanks 2-14, Jaxson Flores 1-1, Blitz McCarty 4-(minus 3)
PASSING
Chatfield: Williams 15-29, 191 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception; Rohlman 0-1
Grandview: McCarty 17-25, 157 yards; Lander Wise 1-1, 17 yards
RECEIVING
Chatfield: Donny Runyan 2-49, Rohlman 5-44, Gage Greulich 2-36, Litrell 3-33, Zeller 2-24, Fleming 1-5
Grandview: Flores 6-52, Matthew Schimberg 3-34, Timothy Arnold III 2-30, Julian Savaloja 3-24, Ryne Tripp 3-24, Aaron Ball 1-10
