Thornton – The wave of emotion that swept through Five Star Stadium on Friday night was nearly overwhelming.
However, Northglenn somehow kept its feelings in check and turned in the first upset in the new Class 5A 32-team playoff bracket.
Behind University of Colorado-bound Anthony Perkins and a brilliant return of a squibbed kick for a touchdown by Colin Nunley, Northglenn, the 26th seed, stunned No. 7 Legacy 16-15 in the first round.
The Norse, who improved to 5-5, will host Bear Creek in the second round next weekend. Legacy ended 7-3.
The final six-plus minutes were wild. Perkins, also brilliant on defense, led the Norse on a 72-yard scoring drive to take the lead at 10-9.
Legacy came back with an 11-yard scoring run by senior running back Joey Applehans with 2:48 remaining in the game. Applehans also became the Lightning’s leader in single-season and career offense.
Then Nunley, after a 5-yard offside penalty by the Lightning on a kickoff attempt, picked up a squibbed kick at his team’s 28-yard line, ran up the middle and scored standing up for a 16-15 lead with 2:35 to play.
“That was the best moment of my life,” Nunley said.
But it wasn’t over – Applehans scored what appeared to be another go-ahead touchdown on a 53-yard run. However, Legacy was called for holding, suffered consecutive penalties and gave it over on downs when quarterback Nick Edwards was pressured and lobbed one forward to Applehans, who was tackled for no gain on fourth-and-14.
Northglenn knelt to run out the clock, two Legacy players shockingly threw their helmets in the vicinity of referees and the game was over.
The Norse was already reeling after losing a student to a suicide on Halloween; former team star Adam Matthews suddenly died Thursday from an apparent seizure; and coach Vince Vieyra had a cancer survivor with him on the sideline.
Vieyra called all of it “heart-wrenching … we’re riding a wave of emotion this year and doing whatever it takes … we’re playing for everybody every play. I’m very, very proud of community. Everybody’s struggling. And I told our kids it’s not often you get a second chance.”
The Norse fell to Legacy 35-3 in Week 4, but never blinked, even after falling behind 9-0.
But the Lightning never quite cashed in. In another unlikely twist, three different kickers missed field goals and they had trouble finishing drives.
“We didn’t move it at inopportune times,” Legacy coach Wayne Vorhees said.
He also was embarrassed about his team’s bad sportsmanship: “We don’t accept it and that’s not the way you play.”
Northglenn 0 3 0 13 – 16
Legacy 9 0 0 6 – 15
L – Safety, L – Dickson 15 pass from Edwards (Weber kick). N – Festi 22. N – Ortega 11 pass from Perkins (Festi kick). L – Applehans 11 run (run failed). N – Nunley 72 kickoff return (run failed).
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
