GREENWOOD VILLAGE | Tony Lindsay Sr. didn’t know much about the history of the Wagon Wheel trophy, but holding it in front of his jubilant Overland football team most definitely made him smile Thursday night.
In his debut as head coach of the Trailblazers, Lindsay Sr. oversaw the first victory for the program against rival Smoky Hill since 2017 and it was a thorough one, even with multiple turnovers and penalties characteristic of an opening game.
Senior Jarrius Ward rushed for two touchdowns in the third quarter to put the finishing touches on Overland’s 40-0 victory that finally wrested custody of the Wagon Wheel from Smoky Hill, which saw its all-time lead in the series between the schools shrink to 27-17.
“I’m not used to this Wagon Wheel, so I had to look up and read where it started,” Lindsay Sr. said afterwards. “Seven years we haven’t had it, well…we have it now.”
Sophomore Zyaire Custis rushed for a touchdown in the opening half and returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter for a score, freshman quarterback Angel Chavez connected with freshman Dejay Davenport through the air for a touchdown and the Trailblazers also got a defensive score from sophomore Kashawn Mitchell (via fumble return).
Coach Brandon Alconcel’s Smoky Hill team won last season’s matchup 7-0, which was preceded by six other wins for the Buffaloes in the series, including regular season and playoff wins in 2019. Smoky Hill forced multiple turnovers, but was unable to convert them into scores.
Overland and Smoky Hill had played four straight scoreless quarters — the last three of last season’s matchup and one this season — before a pair of freshmen got the Trailblazers on the scoreboard first.
From just inside midfield, Chavez dropped a ball over the top of the Buffaloes defense and into the hands of Davenport down the sideline for a touchdown. Four minutes later, Curtis got to the edge and found the corner of the end zone to expand the lead and it grew even larger with a big defensive play in the final minute of the half.
Deep in its own territory, Smoky Hill had a high snap glance off the hands of quarterback Trent Littlejohn and land just inside the 5 yard-line, where Mitchell snatched it and lunged across the goal line to put the Trailblazers up 21-0 at the break.
The Buffaloes kicked off to open the second half and a short kick landed in the hands of Custis, who saw open space in front of him and blazed his way to the end zone.
“I was thinking ‘why would he kick this to me?'” Custis said. “It was just me and the open field and nobody’s catching me in the open field. That was my favorite play.”
Then it was up to Ward, who missed last season’s matchup, as he broke off scoring runs of 42 and 38 yards. After Chavez had a strong passing first half, Ward and senior Kylan Jones helped the Trailblazers protect the lead on the ground in the second half and the fourth quarter elapsed quickly with a running clock.
Lindsay Sr. was pleased with the victory, especially given the complete overhaul he and his staff have done to how Overland plays on both sides of the ball.
“We want to change the culture, but you have to win to get them to believe in it,” said Lindsay Sr., who is enjoying the large number of players he has at Overland that he didn’t have at his previous coaching stops.
Overland faces another Aurora area program in Vista PEAK Prep on Sept. 6, the same day Smoky Hill plays host to Douglas County.
Note: At halftime, Overland honored the school’s 1984 football team, which was the first for the school to have a winning record and qualify for the playoffs. Former coach Tony Manfredi and 19 members of his staff or players on the team were in attendance.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
Overland 40, Smoky Hill 0
Score by quarters:
Smoky Hill 0 0 0 0 — 0
Overland 0 21 19 0 — 40
SCORING
Second quarter
Overland — Dejay Davenport 49 yard pass from Angel Chavez (Josiah Ashton kick), 9:38
Overland — Zyaire Custis 5 yard run (Ashton kick), 5:13
Overland — Kashawn Mitchell 4 yard fumble return (Ashton kick), 0:58
THIRD QUARTER
Overland — Custis 60 yard kickoff return (kick failed), 11:49
Overland — Jarrius Ward 42 yard run (Ashton kick), 10:22
Overland — Ward 38 yard run (kick failed), 0:35
You got the whole story messed up! You got to fix this and give credit where credits do. It was Angel Chavez number 15, a true freshman. Angel is the reason of this accomplishment! If you’re going to publish story’s make sure you got your facts straight. Angel threw for 190 yards, 50yard touchdown to DJ, drove his team down for 4 touchdowns! He went 10 for 12 completions and played only 2 quarters not too bad for a true freshman right? Do me a favor and please fix your story.