As openings go, the first week of the prep football season had a little bit of everything for Aurora teams.
It had huge victories — Regis Jesuit toppled Valor Christian — it had games stopped early due to incidents in the stands, it had the intervention of Colorado weather (both soaking ran and lightning), it had sloppiness at times, it had some significant injuries and it saw some big time performances for players to keep an eye on.
What the first week didn’t have much of, however, was winning. City programs finished a combined 4-7, though two wins and two losses came from a pair of head-to-head meetings of local teams.
One of the small number of victories was particularly notable, however, as Regis Jesuit and Valor Christian got together for a season opener for a second consecutive season. And for a second straight time in the first game of the campaign, coach Danny Filleman’s Raiders came out on top.
Led by a determined effort by senior running back Anthony Medina, Regis Jesuit topped Valor Christian 24-21 Aug. 26 in a home game for the Raiders played at EchoPark Stadium in Parker with work still yet to finish on their campus at Lou Kellogg Stadium.
A boisterous crowd was treated to a back-and-forth contest that has become the trademark of the rivalry between the parochial schools in recent years, including last season, when the Raiders prevailed in overtime on the Eagles’ home field. But Valor Christian would get the sweetest of retributions when it defeated Regis Jesuit 45-28 in a Class 5A state quarterfinal contest en route to the title game.
While it remains to be seen if the programs will meet again in the postseason, this matchup went to the Raiders, as a 24-yard field goal knocked through by sophomore Jack Manthey with 5 minutes, 41 seconds, remaining stood up as the difference (see story, here).
A late interception by senior Lawson Douglas gave Regis Jesuit the chance to run out the clock and that’s what it did on the hard running of Medina, who finished with nearly 200 yards. He also finished with two touchdowns on screen passes from junior quarterback Peyton Lindell and rushed for a score as well.
It was the first of a variety of monster matchups to come for Regis Jesuit, which also has four-time 5A state champion Cherry Creek to come along with Ralston Valley and Pine Creek — both semifinalists last season — on a slate.
Another strong rivalry locally involves Rangeview and Vista PEAK Prep, as the intensity between the programs has gained steam over the past few seasons with a variety of close contests.
Last season’s contest was 17-7 in favor of the Raiders, but the rematch Aug. 25 at Aurora Public Schools Stadium, would be lopsided in favor of the Bison until the game was called to end with 2 minutes, 20 seconds, left in the third quarter. Reported scuffles under the bleachers and in the surrounding area prompted a large host of police to arrive and officials to stop the game (see story, here).
But this meeting turned out to be all Bison, as coach DaVaughn Thornton Sr.’s Vista PEAK Prep team, which had a touchdown just seconds into this season’s meeting when senior speedster Marcel Evans Jr. busted up the middle and took the opening kickoff to the end zone.
Evans Jr. would add a rushing score and sophomore quarterback Owen Packer tossed touchdown passes to senior Kyron Chiku-Martinez and sophomore Isaiah Watson (the latter traveling 65 yards) in the final two minutes of the first half. A touchdown run by sophomore Tyrone Smiley would cap the scoring before the came was called to a close.
Vista PEAK Prep’s defense got credit for a shutout with seniors Jalen Payne and Nathan Hunholz setting a physical tone up front and some hard hits laid out on the back end as well.
Grandview claimed the largest of the four victories among local teams as it defeated Overland 48-6 Aug. 25 at Legacy Stadium.
Senior quarterback Liam Szarka returned under center for coach Tom Doherty’s Wolves after he suffered a thumb injury that kept him out of most of the postseason last year. Szarka looked like his normal self as he threw for 201 yards and hit Xay Neto and Kyler Vaughn with touchdown passes, but the ground game took the pressure off him.
Junior Donavon Vernon and sophomore Chris Blanks both scored two touchdowns and combined for 183 yards rushing (100 for Blanks, 83 for Vernon).
That was plenty for the Wolves, who did a good job containing an Overland offense with some key playmakers. Junior Jarrius Ward picked up 116 yards rushing, but had to work for every one of them, while senior Talil Seals-Fisher had 88 yards of total offense and scored the lone touchdown for coach Kyle Reese’s Trailblazers on a fourth down run.
Eaglecrest also finished in the victory column with a 37-14 road win at Brighton Aug. 25.
Coach Mike Schmitt’s team got a 92-yard kickoff return touchdown from senior Cam Chapa as an exclamation point on a strong debut.
Senior Burke Withycombe — who usually plays wide receiver — threw two touchdown passes in relief of starter Joe Steiner, who had nearly 200 yards of offense before getting nicked up and the Raptors also scored via special teams when Elvis Ampofo took back a blocked punt to the end zone.
Cherokee Trail nearly joined the group of winners, but too many costly mistakes hurt coach Justin Jajczyk’s team in a 27-24 loss to Chatfield Aug. 25 at Legacy Stadium (see story, here).
The Cougars got two touchdown passes from junior Tyson Smith — one to junior Peyton Sommers and the other to senior Peyton Castro — and also got a scoring run from Ian Lee to have a second half lead. But Cherokee Trail allowed some big plays as Chatfield went back into the lead, then fumbled the ball away at the goal line in the fourth quarter on the verge of scoring the go-ahead points.
The loss was particularly costly for the Cougars because their final drive saw Sommers — a track star whose speed is a major asset — suffer a broken collarbone that will end his season prematurely.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
