AURORA | Grandview head coach Tom Doherty knew he needed a playmaker for a crucial defensive play in the final minute of Friday night’s showdown with rival Eaglecrest.
So without hesitation, he turned to the biggest playmaker he knew, senior quarterback Liam Szarka, who just a few minutes earlier had calmly driven the Wolves down the field to a go-ahead touchdown.
Doherty inserted Szarka into the defensive backfield with the Raptors just outside the red zone and he was in the right place to help break up a fourth down pass that sealed Grandview’s thrilling 39-32 Homecoming victory at a rocking Legacy Stadium.
“We never practiced that, but we needed a playmaker, so I told the defensive staff through the headset ‘give me Liam,'” Doherty said. “They said, ‘what?’ Threw him in there and he made the play. He did his job. It was great.”
On top of the defensive stop that finally put an end to a determined comeback from Eaglecrest (5-1), Szarka rushed for two touchdowns and threw for three more in the high-powered Centennial League opener for both teams, finally won by the Wolves (5-1).
“He just threw me out there because he wanted a matchup,” Szarka said. “He said just play man and be who you can be. As a defense, we made the play and it was big. …This is a game I will definitely always remember.”
On the offensive side of the ball, two of the Air Force Academy commitment’s scoring strikes went to junior Kyler Vaughn and the last one went to junior running back Donavon Vernon, whose leaping catch and lunge for the end zone provided the go-ahead points with 3 minutes, 30 seconds, left in regulation.
“I just saw Liam roll out and I got off my route and I was like ‘throw it me,'” Vernon said of his first receiving touchdown of the season.
“I had been telling the team if it came down to me, I was going to make it count. I just caught the ball, turned around and tried to get into the end zone.”
Szarka converted the two-point try on a keeper — much like his touchdown runs of 1 and 3 in the opening half — to make it a seven-point game and set up a dramatic conclusion.
The quarterback on the other side, Eaglecrest junior Joe Steiner, played very well himself.
Steiner threw three touchdown passes for coach Mike Schmitt’s team, including an 83-yard catch and run from junior Xavier Waldron that put the Raptors ahead for the first time in the game with just under six minutes left.
He also engineered a drive that went from Eaglecrest’s 20 yard-line down to just outside the red zone inside the final minute.
Waldron finished with two touchdowns, junior Zavion Gamble had another and junior Josh Wiley rushed for a score for Eaglecrest, while sophomore Chris Blanks had a rushing touchdown for Grandview.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
GRANDVIEW 39, EAGLECREST 32
Score by quarters:
Eaglecrest 0 6 13 13 — 32
Grandview 6 12 7 14 — 39
SCORING
First quarter
Grandview — Liam Szarka 3 yard run (kick failed)
Second quarter
Grandview — Szarka 1 yard run (pass failed), 10:07
Eaglecrest — Logan Ryan 8 yard pass from Joe Steiner (run failed), 8:38
Grandview — Kyler Vaughn 22 yard pass from Szarka (pass failed), 2:11
Third quarter
Eaglecrest — Xavier Waldron 21 yard run (Jermaine Amaya kick), 11:40
Grandview — Chris Blanks 4 yard run (Kyle Chavez kick), 9:26
Eaglecrest — Josh Wiley 1 yard run (kick failed), 1:11
Fourth quarter
Grandview — Vaughn 9 yard pass from Szarka (kick failed), 11:40
Eaglecrest — Zavion Gamble 11 yard pass from Steiner (Amaya kick), 9:52
Eaglecrest — Waldron 83 yard pass from Steiner (pass failed), 5:52
Grandview — Donavon Vernon 35 yard pass from Szarka (Szarka run), 3:30
RUSHING
Eaglecrest: Josh Wiley 19-83, Xavier Waldron 2-27, Zavion Gamble 1-11, Joe Steiner 3-7
Grandview: Liam Szarka 17-55, Donavon Vernon 14-52, Chris Blanks 4-47
PASSING
Eaglecrest: Steiner 14-33, 247 yards, 3 touchdowns
Grandview: Szarka 19-32, 267 yards, 3 touchdowns; Kyler Vaughn 1-1, 1 yard
RECEIVING
Eaglecrest: Waldron 3-103, Logan Ryan 5-61, Kota Becker 3-49, Gamble 3-48
Grandview: Nate Denton 7-75, Xay Neto 2-58, Dominic Henning 3-51, Vernon 2-41, Vaughn 5-39, Blanks 1-4
