AURORA | Mike Campbell has coached long enough to know that not every win in prep football has style points.
But they all are certainly to be savored.
Despite a rash of turnovers and costly penalties, Campbell received his first victory as Vista PEAK Prep head coach as his team triumphed 15-13 in a matinee against Overland at Aurora Public Schools Stadium.
Junior Collin Anderson scored a defensive touchdown and fellow juniors Canaan Barthlow and Quay Davis hooked up on a touchdown pass in the third quarter that held up as the Bison held off a late rally by the Trailblazers. Both teams sit 1-1 after the result.
Coach Tony Lindsay Sr. won his debut with Overland in Week 1 and his team got a big game from senior Avante Hendrix — who had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown, plus an interception on defense — but it wasn’t enough to overcome four turnovers. Hendrix caught a touchdown pass from freshman Angel Garcia and senior Jarrius Ward scored on a short run with just under eight minutes left for the Trailblazers.
Just like in Week 1 (a 42-12 loss to Denver East), Vista PEAK Prep’s defense got it on the scoreboard. Junior Jorge Hernandez-Garcia took an interception back to the end zone against the Angels and this time it was Anderson, who scooped up a ball knocked loose in the backfield exchange between Garcia and Ward and took it 20 yards to the end zone.
It was the first of four takeaways for the Bison, who also got fumble recoveries from Hernandez-Garcia and senior Isaiah Guevara-Ennis along with a key red zone interception from junior Joshua Gallien in the victory.
Overland finally got on the scoreboard in the final minute of the opening half when Garcia dropped a perfect ball into the corner of the end zone to Hendrix, who snatched it from above the hands of a defender. A two-point conversion try failed, however, sending the teams to halftime with Vista PEAK Prep ahead by two points.
Late in the third quarter, the Bison added to the lead with an 87-yard march that culminated with a touchdown when senior quarterback Carson Campbell handed off to junior Tyrone Smiley, who flipped it to Barthlow (now a wide receiver who started a few games at quarterback last season), who found Davis in the corner of the end zone.
Overland threatened to score early in the fourth on a good drive led by backup quarterback Matthew Jimenez-Solis, but turned it over on downs in the red zone. Senior Louis Amadeus Dupuis-Spiva stripped the ball on Vista PEAK Prep’s next offensive play and the Trailblazers capitalized when Ward scored on a short run.
The Overland defense got another stop, but the offense could not sustain a drive for the go-ahead score.
Vista PEAK Prep returns to APS Stadium on Sept. 12 for a 6:30 p.m. game against Lakewood (0-3), while Overland has a 4 p.m. home game at Stutler against Fountain-Fort Carson (2-1) on the same day.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
VISTA PEAK PREP 15, OVERLAND 13
Score by quarters:
Overland 0 6 0 7 — 13
Vista PEAK Prep 8 0 7 0 — 15
SCORING
First quarter
Vista PEAK Prep — Collin Anderson 20 yard fumble return (Tyrone Smiley run), 2:35
Second quarter
Overland — Avante Hendrix 12 yard pass from Angel Chavez (pass failed), 0:14
Third quarter
Vista PEAK Prep — Quay Davis 24 yard pass from Canaan Barthlow (kick successful), 0:50
Fourth quarter
Overland — Jarrius Ward 5 yard run (Josiah Ashton kick), 7:58
RUSHING
Overland: Jarrius Ward 15-59, Matthew Jimenez-Solis 3-4, Kylan Jones 3-4, Josiah Ashton 1-(minus 3), Angel Chavez 3-(minus 18)
PASSING
Overland: Chavez 8-14, 131 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception; Jimenez-Solis 3-9, 66 yards
RECEIVING
Overland: Avante Hendrix 4-102, Dejay Davenport 3-86, Lawrence Griggs 3-11, Ward 1-3
