AURORA | On behalf of Grandview football teams of seasons past, the 2014 Wolves gained some retribution against ThunderRidge.
Behind two touchdowns by quarterback Cody Summers and two more from running back Chukwuma Obinnah, the Wolves — ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 5A Associated Press poll — avenged losses to the Grizzlies in the regular season and playoffs in each of the past two seasons with a 44-0 demolition Friday night at Legacy Stadium.
Defensive lineman Tilmon Gash returned a fumble for a touchdown to invoke the running clock mercy rule early in the fourth quarter and the swarming Grandview defense posted its second shutout in four games to the delight of a massive homecoming crowd. Coach John Schultz’s Wolves improved to 4-0 ahead of the start of Centennial League play.
“This feels a lot better than the last four times for sure,” said Schultz, whose Grandview team joined Overland (4-0) as Aurora’s two remaining unbeaten teams — and one of just seven in all of 5A — through the first month of the season.
“We worked them hard this week and the kids were focused,” he added. “I was just worried they were going to try too hard, but they did exactly what we wanted. They played loose, they played fast and they were the more physical team, which is something we were not the last four times we played ThunderRidge.”
While ThunderRidge (1-3) won each of the last four meetings, all of them had been close — 21-7 in the 2013 regular season and 13-9 in the quarterfinals of the 5A playoffs, after 34-20 regular season and 21-17 postseason Grizzlies’ wins in 2012 — but the 2014 meeting was a rout from start to finish.
Grandview players let out a bit of pent-up frustration with a few personal fouls for excessive celebration, but dominated on both sides of the football.
“It was an unbelievable week of practice; the defense was going at it because we knew that what happened for four years wasn’t going to happen again,” senior defensive back Keifer Glau said. “Last year and the year before, we head to help them out. It wasn’t just our team, it was for the years before.”
Summers opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and threw a 6-yard strike to Jalin Bishop, which was sandwiched around a 58-yard scoring rumble for Obinnah, who racked up 153 yards rushing on just 15 carries.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons; we have to just try to keep using them all and keep them healthy with a league schedule coming up,” Schultz said.
The Grandview defense held ThunderRidge to just nine offensive plays on three series in the third quarter — which netted minus 12 yards — while the offense scored on three of its four possessions in the period.
The Wolves needed just four plays on two touchdown drives, which both started at roughly midfield.
Summers’ 4-yard jaunt capped the first series and Obinnah dragged a group of Grizzlies over the goal line on an 11-yard run later. A third drive reached the red zone, but Grandview settled for Aiden Pirrin’s 34 yard field goal.
A fumble near midfield at the end of the third period gave ThunderRidge its best starting field position of the night, but the Wolves swarmed quarterback Tristan Eve and forced a fumble that Gash scooped up and took to the end zone, breaking the 40-point barrier that kept the clock from stopping for the rest of the game.
“We always aim to strip, pick and get the ball; scoring is good,” Glau said.
Grandview opens Centennial League play against high-scoring Eaglecrest (3-1) at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at Legacy Stadium.
“We have five tough games coming up, so it’ll be fun each week,” Schultz said.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel. IG: Auroraprepsentinel
(2) GRANDVIEW 44, THUNDERRIDGE 0
Score by quarters:
ThunderRidge 0 0 0 0 — 0
Grandview 7 14 17 6 — 44
SCORING
First quarter
Grandview — Cody Summers 1 yard run (Aiden Pirrin kick)
Second quarter
Grandview — Chukwuma Obinnah 58 yard run (kick blocked)
Grandview — Jalin Bishop 6 yard pass from Summers (Brandon Brooks run)
Third quarter
Grandview — Summers 4 yard run (Pirrin kick)
Grandview — Obinnah 11 yard run (Pirrin kick)
Grandview — Pirrin 34 yard field goal
Fourth quarter
Grandview — Tilmon Gash 36 yard fumble return (kick failed)
RUSHING
Grandview: Chukwuma Obinnah 15-153, Cody Summers 5-36, Austin Quarles 4-10, Ben Marshall 3-5, Adrian Sims 3-3, Alex Reyna 1-(minus 1), Brandon Brooks 1-0
PASSING
Grandview: Summers 6-11, 72 yards, 1 touchdown
RECEIVING
Grandview: Brooks 2-33, Morgan Smith 1-19, Keifer Glau 1-10, Jalin Bishop 2-10
