GREENWOOD VILLAGE — With the thunder in R.C. Willenbrock’s right leg, the Cherry Creek Bruins didn’t have to get all that close at the end of Saturday’s Class 5A semifinal to have a chance to win. Midfield might have been enough.
But receiver T.J. Shantz turned a good play into a great one, catching a Kain Colter pass over the middle and sprinting for a 46-yard gain to the Columbine 18-yard line.
That brought in Willenbrock, who booted the winning 35-yard field goal with two seconds left, giving Cherry Creek a 27-25 win at the Stutler Bowl.
“I was nervous, but I had faith in the Lord,” said Willenbrock, whose longest field goal in a game is 50 yards. But he said he has hit from 71 yards in practice, which was believable, considering Columbine did not return a kickoff.
“We had faith in R.C. to kick it right through,” said Shantz, who had seven catches for 142 yards.
That sent the Bruins (11-2) into Saturday’s big-school title game at Invesco Field at Mile High against Centennial League rival Mullen.
“We have a chance to play for the gold ball, which is what every kid wants,” said Cherry Creek first-year coach Mike Brookhart.
The battle of Colorado heavyweights appeared to go to the Rebels (11-2) on a TKO. Junior quarterback Danny Spond (184 yards rushing on 18 carries, including a 60-yard scoring dash) found Nathan Wiggins in the middle of the end zone for a 9-yard, go-ahead touchdown with 47 seconds left, culminating a 71-yard drive.
A winning drive, by the looks of it. Not so fast.
Cherry Creek took over at its 22 with 40 seconds left, and three passes and a penalty moved the ball only 9 yards, to the 31. Just 16 seconds remained. Panic time? No way.
“To be honest, it felt just like practice,” Colter said. “We were all calm in the huddle.”
That’s when Colter found his favorite target for the game’s decisive play.
“That’s what T.J. is: He’s a playmaker,” said Colter, who accounted for 331 of Cherry Creek’s 364 total yards, completing 17-of-24 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns.
At one point in the first half, some Columbine students chanted, “No more Elway” after a rare loss of yardage by Colter. True enough, Cherry Creek’s All-Colorado quarterback from last season, Jack Elway, is a freshman at Arizona State. But Elway doesn’t have the kind of magic in his feet that Colter possesses.
Colter created offense ex nihilo, repeatedly making first downs on scrambles. He finished with 75 yards rushing, a worthy counterpart to Columbine’s Spond, who showed why some consider him the state’s top junior. The 6-foot-3 1/2, 220-pounder showed speed, power and a knack for making pitches on the option.
Columbine rushed for 372 yards, including 126 on 16 carries by Phillip Romero, and never punted, which is a combination that can’t lose. But almost never does a prep football game have two quarterbacks as athletic as Spond and Colter.
“They’re both special,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said. “Mike (Brookhart) deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done in one year.”
Columbine 7 9 3 6 — 25
Cherry Creek 3 14 7 3 — 27
CC — FG Willenbrock 34. Col — Romero 1 run (Link kick). CC — Billinghurst 11 pass from Colter (Willenbrock kick). Col — Spond 60 run (Link kick). Col — Safety. CC — Wilbers 13 pass from Colter (Willenbrock kick). Col — FG Link 32. CC — Shantz 24 pass from Colter (Willenbrock kick). Col — Wiggins 9 pass from Spond (pass failed). CC — FG Willenbrock 35.
Mike Judson: 303-954-1549 or mjudson@denverpost.com
