Lakewood – Brennan Gallegos thought for sure he was going down, but somehow managed to stay up.
The junior’s 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter Saturday also held up the lead for his Chatfield Chargers teammates in a back-and-forth, season-opening 38-35 Class 5A South Metro League victory over Palmer at Jefferson County Stadium.
The Terrors had two clean shots on Gallegos, the second as he broke left, but couldn’t bring him to the ground.
“I thought I was going down, but then somebody hit me and I saw daylight,” Gallegos said. “He, like, hit me up” near the Chargers’ 45-yard line, “but I broke free.”
Good thing, too – Palmer, which had appeared listless throughout the first half in trailing 18-7 and gave up a touchdown on the second-half kickoff, had been rallying to the finish, including 21 points in the second quarter. A play after Gallegos’ touchdown return, the Terrors’ Jon Burnley returned the favor with a 95-yard kickoff return with 3:41 to play.
However, Chatfield, which had the ensuing kickoff squibbed and sent out of bounds to end the return rush, was able to run seven plays from scrimmage and not give the ball back to the Terrors until just 42 seconds remained.
“You hope with special teams that you shore them up and they’re the thing your not sure on (for the first game),” Palmer coach Rod Baker said. “But (Gallegos) made a good play.”
Reggie Jackson threw four touchdown passes for the Terrors.
For Chatfield, James Skelton ran for two touchdowns and Scott Kellogg produced a 25-7 lead with his 87-yard kickoff return to begin the third quarter.
“We knew (the Terrors) were dangerous and we knew if we could contain them (that) we’d have a good shot,” Chargers coach Bret McGatlin said. “We did it for three quarters, I guess.”
Palmer 7 0 7 21 – 35
Chatfield 15 3 13 7 – 38
C – Skelton 1 run (Wade pass from Stratton). C – Moisey 43 run (Borrego kick). P – Hawkins 35 pass from Jackson (Fisher kick). C – FG Borrego 26. C – Kellogg 87 kickoff return (Borrego kick). P – Pellow 12 pass from Jackson (Fisher kick). C – Skelton 4 run (kick failed). P – Burnley 24 pass from Jackson (Fisher kick). P – Hawkins 59 pass from Jackson (Fisher kick). C – Gallegos 85 kickoff return (Borrego kick). P – Burnley 95 kickoff return (Fisher kick).
Staff writer Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714- or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
