AURORA — If Kain Colter was thought to be tip-toeing through his first season at Cherry Creek after transferring from Boulder, the junior certainly made deafening noise in officially arriving on Friday night.
The quarterback made a boatload of plays, none bigger than the 36-yard run in the second overtime that propelled the Bruins past Grandview 26-20 at Legacy Stadium. It eliminated the defending Class 5A champion Wolves and ended their 22-game winning streak.
“I was just trying to make a play,” an elated Colter said.
Cherry Creek improved to 10-2 and will host Columbine at the Stutler Bowl in next week’s semifinals. Grandview ended 11-1 and was 23-3 over two seasons.
Colter’s magic was evident throughout a tough, exciting Centennial League rematch, but his grand finale will be recalled for years.
Both teams had significant opportunities in the first overtime that ended with Cherry Creek misfiring on fourth down from the 5-yard line and Grandview’s Kris Briggs having a 24-yard field-goal attempt blocked.
In the second extra session, a chop-block penalty pushed the Wolves backward. Three Matt Tucker incompletions later, Briggs missed on a 44-yard field-goal attempt.
However, the Bruins made it interesting by passing on a field-goal attempt on first down at the 10. Instead, a 1-yard rushing loss and holding penalty put them in a hole. It got deeper when the snap sailed over Colter’s head while in shotgun formation. He recovered at the 36. On third down, he bootlegged right, broke a couple of tackles, cut back and scored standing up.
“I don’t even remember those last yards, I only remember that we won,” Colter said.
First-year Bruins coach Mike Brookhart was thrilled: “It was just a great play by Kain.”
The Wolves didn’t disagree.
“That’s what (Colter) did all game and that’s what he did the whole stretch run for them,” Grandview coach John Schultz said. “That’s what he’s going to do next week. They’re a dangerous team with him running the ball.”
Cherry Creek had been in command for most of regulation. Colter’s 13-yard pass to Austin Wilbers provided an early lead, while Grandview, which sputtered again offensively, didn’t tie it until late in the second quarter on a 42-yard run by Tucker.
But the Bruins struck again after a T.J. Shantz interception. Colter’s last-play attempt of the first half resulted in a 44-yard touchdown pass careening off a Wolves defender and into Chuck Zeller.
Grandview briefly took the lead in the third quarter, but Colter capped a steady drive with a 9-yard touchdown run.
Cherry Creek 7 7 6 0 0 6 — 26
Grandview 0 7 13 0 0 0 — 20
CC — Wilbers 13 pass from Colter (Willenbrock kick). G — Tucker 42 run (Briggs kick). CC — Zeller 44 pass from Colter (Willenbrock kick). G — Davis 33 pass from Tucker (Briggs kick). G — Horan 4 run (kick failed). CC — Colter 9 run (kick blocked). CC — Colter 36 run.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
