Greenwood Village – Mullen may have lost some stallions from last year’s 5A championship team, but in Thursday night’s 49-0 Centennial League opening romp over Overland at the Stutler Bowl, the Mustangs displayed plenty of horses.
Included in fourth-ranked Mullen’s third straight win since a season-opening loss to Bear Creek were touchdowns of 75, 86, 30 and 47 yards.
“They’ll be there all season,” said junior receiver Devin Aguilar, who contributed two of the big plays: a 75-yard punt return in the first quarter and an 86-yard catch from quarterback Clint Brewster as the Mustangs built a 35-0 halftime lead.
Junior Phillip Morelli, a slotback converted to running back because of the injury to Jarrett Hullum, added two TDs himself. Morelli scored on a 30-yard pass from Brewster 5:18 before halftime and broke a 47-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half.
“You can’t really coach them, and you can’t count on them,” Mullen coach Dave Logan said of the big plays, though this was the second straight game in which Aguilar had scoring plays of 50 yards or longer. He had a 50-yard catch and a 97-yard kickoff return against Montbello.
Though Overland (1-3 with a one-point win over Poudre) didn’t provide much opposition, Mullen appears to be gaining momentum since a double-overtime opening loss. The Mustangs will play their first two home games, against Eaglecrest and Boulder, before traveling to Fairview and Cherry Creek for key back-to-back Centennial games in mid-October.
“We were down after the first loss; we had to get over the hump,” Aguilar said. “We’re on a roll now.”
Overland, which played for the 5A title in 2003, had more return yards than total offense in the first half. Justin Cooper and Curshion Jones had kickoff returns of 62 and 51 yards, but the Trailblazers managed just 101 yards offense, holding quarterback Isaac Neal to 4-of-16 passing along with three sacks.
Brewster was 7-of-13 for 187 yards and three touchdowns.
Mullen 21 14 14 0 – 49
Overland 0 0 0 0 – 0
M – Morelli 11 run (Pavy kick). M – Skene 14 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). M – Aguilar 75 punt return (Pavy kick). M – Aguilar 86 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). M – Morelli 30 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). M – Morelli 47 run (Pavy kick). M – Nsumba 1 run (Pavy kick).
