THORNTON — The winter wind, that whirling minx, whipped so often during Friday’s Fairview-Legacy game, there was more debris flying through the air than there were passes.
The boys ran and ran all night, so it was fitting that the biggest play was a gritty fourth-and-1 run — which turned into a game-changing touchdown.
Meet running back Gage Greer. In Fairview’s 28-14 win at Five Star Stadium, the game was tied at 14 with 3:40 left, when the Knights lined up for fourth-and-1 on the Legacy 26.
Greer took the handoff, and — on the heels of steamrolling tailback Jeff Cunningham and pulling guard Joe Scherer — a first down turned into a touchdown.
“No one touched me — it just opened up,” said Greer, who galloped for a score. “My teammates got my back.”
The Knights (6-0) entered the game ranked No. 8 in Class 5A — seeking their first league title since 2002 and seeking revenge after Legacy piñata-ed them last year, 42-0.
When you think of Fairview, you think of a run attack involving Kenny Bell (who was out with a collarbone injury) and Tucker Tharp (who had 17 carries Friday night for 99 yards and two scores).
But Greer was arguably the Knights’ star of the game, gaining 79 yards on just nine carries (and two scores), as well as three sacks from his perch on the defensive line.
“It’s just a great feeling beating a team like this,” Greer said. “It just makes your team more confident.”
Legacy (4-2) isn’t too shabby itself, and it catapulted to a 14-0 first-quarter lead, which had squealing cheerleaders and mothers alike thinking upset.
But Legacy didn’t score again for the rest of the night.
“It was a horrible way to lose,” Legacy running back Colton Chavez said. “We were fired up, but in the end, mental mistakes cost us the game.”
After Tharp tied the game at 14 with a touchdown on the fourth quarter’s first play, Legacy launched a drive that took it basically from its 30 to Fairview’s 30, thanks to some penalties questioned by the Fairview coaching staff. (Legacy, too, had some postgame questions about the officiating.) But Chavez, the Lightning’s workhorse, bobbled a handoff, losing the football and momentum.
Fairview marched and even completed its first two passes of the game, setting up the fourth-down, short-yardage play that made Greer the hero.
On the first play after the kickoff, Legacy quarterback Bradie Koch lofted a pass that was intercepted by Kevin Kang. So, with 3:10 left, it was Fairview’s game to lose.
Tharp broke off a 33-yard dart, carrying defenders like a backpack, to take the 28-14 lead with 1:30 left.
“We felt if we could beat Fairview, we’d have a good chance to win the league,” a forlorn Chavez said afterward. “The game was way closer than the score indicates, that’s for sure. It shows how quick a game can turn with a couple mental mistakes.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
