Aurora – Having blown out two lesser foes by a combined 82 points, Mullen welcomed the opportunity for better competition as well as the beginning of Centennial League play.
As expected, the Mustangs got lots of both in a 28-6 victory over Grandview on Friday night at Legacy Stadium in The Denver Post game of the week.
In winning its league opener, Mullen, ranked No. 2 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, moved to 3-0 overall. No. 3 Grandview dipped to 2-1, 0-1. Since Grandview joined the league in 2002, it is 0-5 against the Mustangs.
With lopsided victories over Poudre (57-20) and Montbello (45-0), Mullen was itching to test its mettle.
“Exactly,” Mullen senior running back Phil Morelli said. “I’m not really a fan of ending after the first half like I had to do in the first two games. To play the whole game is welcomed and I like it a lot better.”
Said Mustangs coach Dave Logan: “This league is a matter of survival.”
The Mustangs did most of the surviving early and late.
They jumped to a 21-0 lead in less than 11 minutes with touchdowns on their first three possessions.
At midfield on the game’s opening drive, quarterback Clint Brewster connected with Brett Skene for gain into Grandview territory. He was hit and fumbled, but Mustangs wide receiver Devin Aguilar, who came over from the other side of the field, picked up the fumble on a bounce at the 34-yard line and motored into the end zone.
Morelli, who has orally committed to Colorado State, began Mullen’s second drive by taking a pitch left and sprinting 81 yards for a touchdown.
A possession later, Morelli turned in an acrobatic catch for a 34-yard touchdown.
“Yeah, we had those big plays early, but we had some penalties and mistakes,” Logan said.
Grandview, sputtering at the outset, finally got on the board late in the second quarter on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Jared Schlehuber to Lloyd Bias, but that was it.
The key drive of the game was fruitless for the Wolves – they ran off 18 plays and benefitted from three penalties by Mullen in using the first 8 minutes, 52 seconds of the third quarter.
However, running back Bo Bolen was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the 7.
“I give their defense credit,” Grandview coach John Schultz said. “We had some young kids in there and they were a little starry-eyed (early). I told the kids to take it one play at a time.”
Grandview never threatened again and Mullen capped it with a 20-yard pass from Brewster to tight end Steve Watson.
“We knew it would be 48 minutes,” Logan said. “It always is in this league.
“The bottom line is, you don’t like to give up 18-play drives, but then you look up and we only gave up six points.”
Schlehuber was picked off once, the Wolves failed on a fake punt attempt and also gave it over on downs twice in the second half.
Defensively, linebackers Kyle Theret and Isaac Russomanno were among Mullen’s leaders. Morelli ran for 133 yards and added two catches for 36 yards.
“It was really nice for us,” Morelli said.
Mullen 21 0 0 7 – 28
Grandview 0 6 0 0 – 6
M – Aguilar 34 fumble return (Pavy kick). M – Morelli 81 run (Pavy kick). M – Morelli 34 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). G – Bias 17 pass from Schlehuber (kick failed). M – Watson 20 pass from (Pavy kick).
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
