AURORA | Grandview football coach John Schultz saw his team’s best week of practice of the season come prior its 42-0 win over Lakewood Nov. 11 in a Class 5A state football playoff victory.
The eighth-seeded Wolves will need to practice and play even better in the upcoming week given what’s ahead of them.
Grandview’s reward for its thorough victory over ninth-seeded Lakewood at Legacy Stadium is a road trip to play at top-seeded and undefeated Valor Christian at 7 p.m. Nov. 17.
“We need to get the job done, the whole state of Colorado needs to see it get done by somebody,” Schultz said of beating the Eagles, who haven’t lost in the postseason since the 2014 state final.
“Why not us?,” he added.
To that end, Schultz was encouraged with his team’s performance against Lakewood, the No. 9 seed that suffered the most lopsided loss of any of the eight 5A first round playoff games.
Grandview was particularly effective running the football, as the duo of junior Jordan Billingsley and senior Aaron Harris racked up nearly 400 yards and five touchdowns on a day where both thought the offensive line played as well as it has all season.
Billingsley had a monster game with more than 200 yards rushing — his third game of the season over that milestone — and scored four times, including a 54-yarder in the third quarter that invoked the running clock mercy rule.
“The O-Line was giving me lanes and giving me options so I pick where I’m going,” said Billingsley, who finished with 210 yards and touchdowns of 54, 25, 9 and 4 yards.
“I like it when it is up to me,” he added with a smile.
Harris also found the going fairly easy on the ground, as he averaged nearly 10 yards per attempt on his 11 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown.
It was Harris’ first 100-yard game of the season and he believes it was a taste of what he and Billingsley can do together in the backfield.
“Jordan’s been constantly improving throughout the season, so it’s great to see him have success,” Harris said.
“I think we play great together. Coach always says we have a stable of running backs. With me on the outside and him in the middle, we can hit them from all directions.”
The run success, which produced a 28-0 halftime lead against Lakewood, then opened up the passing game.
Senior quarterback Kyle Smith found 1-on-1 coverage with senior Andrew Turner on the outside and hit him for a 39-yard touchdown that expanded the lead to 35-0 in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Grandview defense imposed its will against the Tigers, as it stuffed them on three plays on the opening possession and then came up with a turnover on downs when senior Gunner Gentry snuffed out Lakewood’s fourth-down gamble on its own 29-yard line in the first quarter.
The Wolves held the Tigers to minus-13 yards rushing and just 101 yards through the air.
It was the type of complimentary performance that encouraged Schultz going into a game against Valor Christian.
“The defense has been crisp for awhile and today, the offense came out focused, did the job and moved the football,” Schultz said. “Both sides were working together and were on the same page for the first time since the Cherokee Trail game (a 40-13 win Sept. 28). I was really glad to see that now.”
Grandview will need its run game and defense to be on point if it has any chance to beat Valor Christian, which dealt the Wolves a 66-35 loss in the second round of last season’s playoffs.
The underdog role suits Grandview just fine going into this matchup against the Eagles, who the Wolves last beat in 2014.
“It makes the players and coaches want to rally together,” Billingsley said.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
(8) GRANDVIEW 42, (9) LAKEWOOD 0
Score by quarters:
Lakewood 0 0 0 0 — 0
Grandview 14 14 14 0 — 42
SCORING
First quarter
Grandview — Jordan Billingsley 4 yard run (kick failed), 8:01
Grandview — Billingsley 25 yard run (Billingsley run), 2:17
Second quarter
Grandview — Aaron Harris 22 yard run (Cobi Wood kick), 7:01
Grandview — Billingsley 9 yard run (Wood kick), 2:40
Third quarter
Grandview — Andrew Turner 39 yard pass from Kyle Smith (Wood kick), 8:40
Grandview — Billingsley 54 yard run (Wood kick), 3:00
RUSHING
Grandview: Jordan Billingsley 26-210, Aaron Harris 11-107, Noah Schmidt 6-22, Prentice Wilson 1-12, Kyle Smith 4-12, Will Schneider 1-7, Roman Anderson 1-2
PASSING
Grandview: Smith 4-7, 80 yards, 1 touchdown
RECEIVING
Grandview: Andrew Turner 1-39, Gunner Gentry 2-36, Julius Carter Jr. 1-5
