AURORA | You never know quite how much you need a kicker in football until you don’t have one.
That much was true for Vista PEAK coach John Sullivan Friday at Aurora Public Schools Stadium, when he lost his placekicker to an injury suffered in warmups before the Bison’s key East Metro League contest with Thomas Jefferson.
With nobody to kick, Vista PEAK had to go for two points after every touchdown — it went 2-for-5 — and the Bison had to go for a 4th-and-long in the red zone in the fourth quarter instead of attempting a go-ahead field goal try. That and a lack of big plays in crunch time led to a frustrating 35-34 loss that snapped a six-game winning streak.
Junior quarterback Derrick Smashum threw for three touchdowns, sophomore J.J. Augustus had 116 yards receiving and a pair of scores and junior Tyrese Bailey finished with nearly 100 yards of total offense and a touchdown, but the Bison (6-3 overall, 3-1 in the East Metro League) couldn’t overcome a variety of mistakes and penalties in their first loss since Sept. 8.
Senior Dylan Holt hauled in a touchdown pass and junior Daniel Smashum also had a TD toss in the defeat for Vista PEAK.
The Bison — who dropped from No. 16 to No. 18 in the Class 3A RPI standings (16 teams make the playoffs) — closes out the regular season at Palmer Ridge (7-2, 4-0) in a game they must win to make the postseason.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
THOMAS JEFFERSON 35, VISTA PEAK 34
Score by quarters:
Thomas Jefferson 0 22 6 7 — 35
Vista PEAK 14 12 0 8 — 34
Vista PEAK highlights: Derrick Smashum 255 yards passing, 3 passing touchdowns; J.J. Augustus 116 yards receiving, 2 receiving touchdowns; Dylan Holt 71 yards receiving, receiving touchdown; Tyshun Hamilton receiving touchdown; Tyrese Bailey 54 yards rushing, rushing touchdown, 45 yards receiving; Daniel Smashum passing touchdown
