Greenwood Village – It could not have been any more prime time if Deion Sanders was one of the estimated 8,000 fans who nearly packed the Stutler Bowl.
So it was on a Thursday night in which two of Colorado’s storied schoolboy football programs went at it, adding another segment to a glossy history and making a portion of the southeastern metropolitan area the focus of the universe.
Ultimately, Mullen, the private school that is an obvious target for its outstanding athletic success, knocked off Cherry Creek, the school that made the Denver suburbs popular, with a huge second-half effort, 28-14 in the Class 5A Centennial League.
“It’s Mullen and Cherry Creek,” Mustangs coach Dave Logan said.
And prime time all the way with Fox Sports Network having its regular Thursday night game turn into what usually is the premier matchup of the regular season. With Yom Kippur beginning at sundown today, it fell right into FSN’s lap.
“It’s our regular Thursday game and will be center stage,” said Amy Turner, FSN’s director of marketing.
It was so big the stadium’s two major concession stands ran out of ice – in the first half that took 1 hour, 23 minutes, and undoubtedly will make for tired students in this morning’s classes (the game ended at 9:58 p.m.) and parking flowed into a nearby King Soopers.
Logan’s 80-year-old mother, who has the attendance of Cal Ripken Jr. at her son’s games, found a seat.
There was no truth the matchup was good enough that U2 should have been asked to perform at halftime, but since 1990, when Colorado expanded its number of classifications, Mullen is 172-41, Cherry Creek 165-52.
Over the past 18 years, either the Mustangs have ended the Bruins’ season or vice-versa five times.
Plus, the star quality lasted throughout the matchup. The two programs have had a Broncos flavor for more than a decade and it continued Thursday with Logan, a former Bronco; Mustangs safety Nolan Brewster, the son of former Broncos assistant coach Tim; and none other than John Elway as the Bruins quarterbacks coach giving direction to son Jack, who made the crowd buzz with a throw across his body for the game’s first touchdown, a 14-yarder to Thomas McCauley.
Unlikely heroes emerged. Tim Tancik, a Mustangs junior making his first start at quarterback, connected with Brannon Belloni on a picturesque, 70-yard touchdown play to begin the second half, a feather he dropped in between two Bruins defenders.
“There was so much excitement,” Tancik said.
And a younger Mullen skill corps rode the ninth-grade legs of freshman running back Adonis Ameen Moore (126 yards rushing and three touchdowns in the second half).
“It was perfect,” Mullen tackle Bryce Givens said.
In prime time.
MULLEN 28, CHERRY CREEK 14
Mullen 0 0 7 21 – 28
Cherry Creek 0 7 7 0 – 14
CC – Elway 14 pass to McCauley (Willenbrook kick). M – Tancik 70 pass to Belloni (Pavy kick). CC – Papilion 45 fumble recovery (Willenbrock kick). M – Moore 4 run (Pavy kick). M – Moore 7 run (Pavy kick). M – Moore 1 run (Pavy kick).
