Castle Rock – This one will be talked about for years, a matchup between the defending champion and the heavy playoff favorite in which the individual stars played big roles, the teams gave it their all on the field and Coloradans sold out the venue.
Ultimately, the epic encounter was decided in overtime by the state’s best player, wide receiver-returner Devin Aguilar, who scored his fourth touchdown as Mullen outlasted 2005 champion Douglas County 41-38 on Saturday afternoon for a Class 5A semifinal victory at Douglas County Stadium in front of 5,000 fans.
In a word, Aguilar was awesome – he rushed seven times for 133 yards and two touchdowns and caught seven passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
“It feels real great,” Aguilar said after ending the game on a reverse. “The coach made a great call. They put it in my hands and we made it.”
Mullen, which fell to Douglas County in the title game a year ago, improved to 13-0. The Mustangs will meet Columbine at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for the 5A title at Invesco Field at Mile High. Douglas County finished 11-2 and had a two-year record of 24-3.
In advancing to the title game for the third year in a row, the first time that has been done in 5A since Cherry Creek did it from 1994-96, the Mustangs, the 2004 champions, had to overcome a great effort by the Huskies. Mullen trailed 13-0, then three times weathered Douglas County tying the game or closing within a point.
“I want to say this – Douglas County has a great football team and is a deserving champion,” Mullen coach Dave Logan said after clinching his sixth championship-game appearance since joining the schoolboy coaching ranks in 1993. “And to our kids’ credit, I don’t know that I’ve ever been more proud of a team for showing the resilience to have a game tied in that fashion, and then go into overtime against a big, strong team and win it.”
Mullen led 35-27 on running back Phil Morelli’s second touchdown, a 4-yarder with 2:16 to play.
But Keiffer Garton led the Huskies down the field, survived a series of dropped passes, then found Andy Nappo for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 6.7 seconds to play. Garton passed to Curtis Prock for the tying two-point conversion.
Douglas County got the ball in OT first, but a run for no yards and two incompletions led to a 26-yard field goal by Andy Giepel.
Mullen began with an end-around to Aguilar for 6 yards, then Morelli was thrown for a loss of a yard. Aguilar capped off the victory on the reverse.
“Hardest game I ever played,” Aguilar said.
Said Mustangs linebacker Kyle Theret: “I didn’t want it to be that exciting.”
It was – Douglas County rolled to that early lead and also was in command of the line of scrimmage in the first half. With 1:02 before halftime, Mullen quarterback Clint Brewster followed a dropped pass with a 76-yard touchdown strike to Aguilar, who got behind the Huskies’ secondary.
Two plays later, Douglas County’s Jose Astorga was stripped – the Huskies finished with four turnovers – and Brewster eventually found Aguilar on a 2-yard touchdown pass.
“I thought we had a chance to go up by 20,” Huskies coach Jeff Ketron said.
Mullen took the lead three more times, only to have Douglas County come back.
Morelli ran for 178 yards and two touchdowns. For Douglas County, Garton was 13-of-26 for 255 yards, including an 80-yarder, and three touchdowns.
“That’s how a high school football game should be played at this time of year,” Ketron said. “I’m just pleased at both teams’ mental toughness. It was a great life lesson for both. You just keep fighting and see what happens.”
Mullen 0 14 7 14 6 – 41
Douglas County 7 6 8 14 3 – 38
DC – Prock 31 pass from Garton (Giepel kick). DC – Misare 1run (kick failed). M – Aguilar 76 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). M – Aguilar 2 pass from C. Brewster (Pavy kick). M – Aguilar 29 run (Pavy kick). DC – Misare 2 run (Garton run). M – Morelli 25 run (Pavy kick). DC – Whitney 80 pass from Garton (kick failed). M – Morelli 4 run (Pavy kick). DC – Nappo 8 pass from Garton (Prock pass from Garton). DC – FG Giepel 26. M – Aguilar 5 run.
