Lakewood – Isaac Russomanno saw it coming.
With Bear Creek having suddenly awakened, gaining momentum and threatening to climb within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon, the Mullen linebacker smelled a pass coming his way.
So the junior waited, stayed behind a good push by the Mustangs’ defensive line and picked off the attempt at his team’s 2-yard line, the decisive play that secured Mullen’s 35-14 decision of Bear Creek in the Class 5A quarterfinals at Jefferson County Stadium.
Russomanno’s heady play sealed the defending Colorado champions’ third consecutive semifinals appearance. The Mustangs (10-2) will take on host Arvada West at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada on Saturday for the right to defend their title in the first schoolboy title setting at Invesco Field at Mile High on Dec. 3.
Bear Creek, which downed the Mustangs 36-35 in double overtime in the teams’ season opener, ended 10-2.
Russomanno’s interception, which he returned 73 yards, highlighted a consistent defensive effort by Mullen, which also was crisp on offense.
Having scored on their previous possession and trailing 28-14, the Bears drove to the Mullen 6 with less than 10 minutes to play.
On a third-and-goal play, Bears quarterback Jake Spitzlberger tried to find 6-foot-8 tight end David Nelson on a look-in route. But Russomanno was there, took a step left, made the interception after he bobbled it and returned it into Bears territory.
“Yeah, I was waiting for it,” Russo- manno said. “I knew (Nelson) was coming back. But it helped there was pressure from the defensive line. It’s a team game.”
Mullen incorporated almost all of it.
Junior Clint Brewster threw three touchdown passes, two to the speedy Devin Aguilar; the Mullen defense never let Bear Creek get into a rhythm; Jarrett Hullum led a steady rushing attack; and the Mustangs were guilty of few mistakes.
“I think we’re a lot better than the first time we played them,” Brewster said. “Our defense is a lot better.”
Mullen picked off Spitzlberger twice (three total) kept the clamps on receiver Aromous Robinson and wore out the Bear Creek defense early. The Mustangs opened with a 15-play scoring drive, then Brewster connected with Aguilar on scoring passes of 10 and 80 yards as they led 21-7 with 8:35 remaining before halftime.
The Mustangs, coach Dave Logan said, played well and are happy to move on.
“We knew going in what we were going up against,” he said. “I mean, Bear Creek’s a really good team. We worked hard on the plan and the kids executed it. I’m proud of the effort, two good teams going at it, and we got away with one here.”
Bear Creek had another strong season end by struggling with keeping the Mullen defense at bay, and had issues in the secondary.
“I think we made some mistakes today that we hadn’t been making,” Bears coach Tom Thenell said. “We obviously blew some coverages that we don’t normally and we had a couple of mistakes offensively, which kept us from getting points early that we needed.”
The Mustangs forced Bear Creek to punt on its first two possessions, and Mullen’s Chris Carney, who had a battle all game with Robinson, had a 40-yard punt return to set up a TD.
The Bears scored on their third possession, but then gave it over on downs before halftime. Corey Cox added an interception for the Mustangs in the third quarter.
Mullen’s Phillip Morelli opened the scoring with an 18-yard touchdown run, and he nabbed a 43-yarder from Brewster for another touchdown in the third quarter.
Nelson had seven receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns for Bear Creek, which also missed running back Riley Newcomer. He was sidelined because of a sports hernia.
Mullen 14 7 7 7 – 35
Bear Creek 0 7 7 0 – 14
M – Morelli 18 run (Pavy kick). M – Aguilar 10 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). BC – Nelson 16 pass from Spitzlberger (Flanagan kick). M – Aguilar 80 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). M – Morelli 43 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). BC – Nelson 25 pass from Spitzlberger (Flanagan kick). M – Hullum 6 run (Pavy kick).
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-820-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
