LITTLETON — Back in August, Heritage coach Mike Griebel sensed something special.
However, the veteran coach said he didn’t want to make too big of a deal about it “because we were coming off 4-6.”
The party was free to begin Thursday night after the Eagles held off Mountain Vista 30-25 in a back-and-forth and somewhat wild regular-season finale at Littleton Public Schools Stadium to claim the Class 5A Continental League.
Heritage, No. 6 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, is 8-1 heading into next weekend’s 32-team postseason bracket. No. 5 Mountain Vista (7-2) dropped its second in a row.
This one had quite a bit to grasp. Heritage ran to a 14-0 lead. Mountain Vista came back to put Heritage on its heels. The Golden Eagles eventually took the lead, couldn’t handle Heritage’s character-building drive that won it late and, oh, yes, the final play was reminiscent of the fabled Stanford-California game involving John Elway as a few players and fans – but not the band – went on the field while a play was under way.
“It was worth the ticket price, wasn’t it?” Griebel asked.
His son, Mitch, the Eagles’ sophomore quarterback, provided much of it in addition to spirited line play, the receiving of Brandon Kaufman and strong defense, notably at key points. The younger Griebel threw for two touchdowns, converted two passes for two-point conversions, eluded a substantial Mountain Vista pass rush and led the game-winning drive with 4:17 remaining.
Mitch Griebel also killed 10 key seconds off the clock in taking a safety that all but assured the program’s first league title since 1999 (it also won a division crown in 2003).
So where did Heritage come from?
“People are probably surprised by this, but we’re not,” Mitch Griebel said. “All the hard work we put in paid off.”
It was delayed as the game’s final play that was replayed.
With five seconds remaining, Heritage kicked off from its 30-yard line and the Golden Eagles did their best rugby imitation. They were stopped, penalized for a forward lateral, but got a second chance when a few Eagles players and fans found themselves on the field.
It was replayed and Heritage stopped the return and will return to the playoffs with as high as the No. 3 seed. Mountain Vista still has a chance to get within the top 10.
Mountain Vista 0 10 6 9 – 25
Heritage 14 0 8 8 – 30
H – Kaufman 12 pass from Griebel (Major kick). H – Kaufman 20 pass from Griebel (Major kick). MV – Duff fumble recovery in end zone (Prosia kick). MV – FG Prosia 44. MV – Paranka 80 pass from Anderson (kick failed). H – Griebel 1 run (Kaufman pass from Griebel). MV – Longoria 25 run (Prosia kick). H – Skogg 14 run (Blanding pass from Griebel). MV – Heritage quarterback ran out of end zone.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
