Football: Ground game helps Regis Jesuit run past Rangeview

AURORA | The Regis Jesuit running game was hungry Thursday night and it feasted in the second half.

With the bruising 1-2 punch of sophomore Chukwuma Obinnah and junior Grant Neal taking advantage of big holes in the final two quarters, Regis Jesuit racked up 371 yards rushing — and nearly 500 yards of total offense — and outscored Rangeview 21-0 in the second half of a 36-21 season-opening victory at Aurora Public Schools Stadium.

Obinnah piled up 241 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries — or 17 yards per tote — Neal added 55 and two scores and Chase Bertinelli also rushed for a touchdown in an impressive early performance for a Regis Jesuit offense with a lot of new faces.

“We have this saying, Chuk and I, ‘we’re ready for those meat and potatoes,’” Neal said. “We’re hungry. We have work to do, but we’re going to keep going and try to stay off the mountaintops and out of the valleys.”

Obinnah — a 6-foot, 210-pounder who also plays wide receiver — had runs of 79, 40, 32 and 27 yards on his big night, which he credited to the play of the sizeable, but young, line in front of him. He had 179 of his yards after halftime and might have had two more touchdowns if not for saving tackles by Rangeview’s Armon Brown on long runs.

“The O-Line blocked so well today, it was ridiculous; they opened up all the holes and I’m just happy I got the opportunity to run the ball,” Obinnah said. “I was just trying to run hard and get what I could get. O-Line did a great job, the receivers were blocking well; I’m just happy with the team today.”

Rangeview got off to a fast start on Kietrich Griffin’s 33-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and quarterback Darien Odegard’s 3-yard keeper early in the second quarter, but scored just six points in the final 40 minutes.

Trevon Nubine had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown plus an interception for Rangeview, which also got two picks from Brown.

Regis Jesuit threatened first, with DeJour Elliott ripping off a 54-yard run that set up a first-and-goal at the Rangeview 8-yard line, but Nubine tipped and intercepted a Matt Houghtaling pass intended for 6-foot-6 tight end Robert Orban in the end zone.

Rangeview proceeded to march 85 yards in the next eight plays, capped by Griffin’s burst around the left edge and into the end zone. Regis Jesuit jumped offside on the extra point attempt to get Rangeview closer to the goal line and Griffin ran in a 2-point try to make it 8-0.

A bit of trickery helped Rangeview build its lead, as a 45-yard pass from Nubine to sophomore Arealous Hughes off a reverse set up Odegard’s 3-yard keeper to the left side and a 15-0 edge. Just one play later, Houghtaling — who finished 5-of-11 for 123 yards and three interceptions — unloaded a pass as he was hit that was reeled in downfield by John Schmidt, who shed Nubine’s tackle attempt and raced into the end zone to cut into the advantage.

A short punt and penalty gave Regis Jesuit the ball again just over two minutes later at the Rangeview 20 and Obinnah picked up all 20 yards on three carries, scoring from 9 yards out. Neal’s 2-point run tied it at 15-15, where it would remain at half after Brown’s interception halted Regis Jesuit’s last attempt to score before the end of the second quarter.

Late in the third quarter, Regis Jesuit’s depth and physical play began to wear down Rangeview, which had a large number of players seeing duty on both offense and defense.

A 79-yard run by Obinnah put the ball on the Rangeview 7 and Neal took it into the end zone on the next play for a 22-13 Regis Jesuit edge. Nubine countered with a 99-yard kick return score on the next play, though Ben Handy’s extra point try was no good and Regis Jesuit retained a 22-21 lead.

Obinnah ripped off another long gainer, this one of 32 yards, as Regis Jesuit had the ball to close the third quarter and scored on the first play of the fourth as Bertinelli — another in a stable of running backs — slipped through the defense for a 19-yard touchdown.

A 40-yard jaunt by Obinnah set up another Neal TD, this one from 6 yards out, to make it 36-21 with 6:43 left.

“Chuk is a young guy and I’m so proud of him; he’s focused in the weight room and on the field as well,” Neal said. “We couldn’t have done anything without our O-Line. The young guys blocking on the front made the difference. We had a lot of young guys up front who had to play because of injuries and they stepped up.”

Rangeview threatened on its next drive, but JJ Kilgore intercepted a tipped pass in the end zone to seal the game.

“You have to be able to play four quarters and we got worn down a little bit and got sloppy,” Rangeview coach Dave Gonzales said. “We didn’t get off the football well in the second half and they just pounded on us. We have a ton of two-way players and that was our main concern was how we’d hold up tonight.

“These guys are tough and have resolve, so we’ll learn from this.”

Regis Jesuit coach Mark Nolan also learned a lot about his group, which at times had six or seven sophomores on the field at the same time.

“All the parts came together; we’re young and inexperienced and when the lights come on and it’s their first game as a 15-year-old sophomore or 16-year-old junior, you’d love if they reacted the same way as in practices or scrimmages, but you don’t totally know,” Nolan said.

“While we were sketchy a little at the start, our guys said ‘Ok, we’re alright,’ then they started playing and doing their deal. I’m really proud of them for that.”

Rangeview is back in action against Arapahoe on Sept. 6, while Regis Jesuit plays host to Horizon on Sept. 7.

Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555

REGIS JESUIT 36, RANGEVIEW 21

Score by quarters:

Regis Jesuit  0  15  7  14 — 36

Rangeview    8   7   6   0 — 21

Scoring

First quarter

Rangeview — Kietrich Griffin 33 yard run (Griffin run), 3:48

Second quarter

Rangeview — Darien Odegard 3 yard run (Ben Handy kick), 10:00

Regis Jesuit — John Schmidt 75 yard pass from Matt Houghtaling (Harrison Thrasher kick), 9:42

Regis Jesuit — Chukwuma Obinnah 9 yard run (Grant Neal run), 6:12

Third quarter

Regis Jesuit — Neal 7 yard run (Thrasher kick), 2:55

Rangeview — Trevon Nubine 99 yard kickoff return (kick failed), 2:38

Fourth quarter

Regis Jesuit — Chase Bertinelli 19 yard run (Thrasher kick), 11:52

Regis Jesuit — Neal 6 yard run (Thrasher kick), 6:43

RUSHING

Regis Jesuit: Chukwuma Obinnah 14-241, Grant Neal 9-55, DeJour Elliott 3-48, Chase Bertinelli 8-43, Matt Houghtaling 2-(minus 16)

Rangeview: Armon Brown 9-30, Kiertrich Griffin 6-36, Darien Odegard 14-19, Patrique Hall 6-17

PASSING

Regis Jesuit: Houghtaling 5-11, 123 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions

Rangeview: Odegard 9-24, 144 yards, 1 interception

RECEIVING

Regis Jesuit: John Schmidt 1-75, Robert Orban 2-34, Kevin Ware 2-16

Rangeview: Trevon Nubine 5-72, Arealous Hughes 3-72, Josh Gibbs 2-33