Highlands Ranch – If Douglas County coach Jeff Ketron is lucky, he’ll get two more smooches on the cheek from principal Edna Doherty.
That was Ketron’s reward after his defending Class 5A champion Huskies avenged their only loss in the past 25 games, downing Continental League foe Mountain Vista 12-10 on Friday night at a packed Shea Stadium.
A semifinal date with either Mullen or Chaparral awaits Douglas County (11-1).
“I could care less if we are playing the Denver Broncos, or the Dolphins pee-wee,” Ketron said. “I feel unbelievably blessed to have a chance to host a state semifinal game.”
Douglas County, which lost 7-6 to the Golden Eagles in Week 8, kept things simple offensively Friday night, grinding out yards on the ground with running back Ryan Misare and picking its spots in the air behind quarterback Keiffer Garton.
Garton and senior wideout Kaither Holiway were on a similar wavelength in the first half, hooking up seven times for 84 yards. Late in the second quarter, Holiway got defensive back Ryan Hamerstadt to bite on a double move and hauled in a 22-yard TD pass from Garton.
“That was straight fundamentals of what we do, cut and dry,” said Holiway, who finished with nine receptions for 110 yards. “We didn’t sugarcoat anything, we just went with the same plays back and forth, and just kept going back to what was working.”
Holding onto a 6-3 lead after three quarters, Douglas County put the offense in the hands of Garton again to put the game out of reach. Two plays after a fumbled snap nearly turned the ball over to the Golden Eagles, Garton hit junior Jeff Stevens on a post route for Stevens’ first touchdown of the season, giving the Huskies a two-score lead of 12-3.
The Golden Eagles didn’t roll over and die; instead, they decided to pick on Douglas County’s cornerbacks. Quarterback Danny Beck hit Matt Tuten, who had twisted around DC’s Lyle Brown, for a 42-yard score.
“Certainly this a game that could have been played two weeks from now,” Mountain Vista coach Ric Cash said. “A little glitch here and there kind of short-circuited ourselves, and you just can’t do that against Douglas County.”
Mountain Vista (10-2) had one last chance to win the game – but only after backup punter Michael Facchinello (taking a snap from backup long snapper Dustin Davis, who had never snapped in a varsity game) pinned the Eagles back on their own 1-yard line with no timeouts left.
“I think there are some people smiling down upon us,” Ketron said.
Facchinello then broke up a fourth-and-3 that sealed the victory.
Douglas County 0 6 0 6 – 12
Mountain Vista 0 3 0 7 – 10
DC – Holiway 22 pass from Garton (kick failed). MV – FG Moffitt 38. DC – Stevens 18 pass from Garton (kick failed). MV – Tuten 42 pass from Beck (Moffitt kick).
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
