CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE — On a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon amid the splendor of the Kent Denver campus, two teams battled for all but 48 seconds. At that point, Kent quarterback Matt Florence’s tipped pass floated into the waiting hands of Platte Canyon’s Mikey Gunkel, ending the Sun Devils’ final threat and securing a 21-14 Huskies victory in The Denver Post Game of the Week.
“It was like in slow motion in the air,” Gunkel said. “I was like, ‘I have to catch this to win,’ so I caught it.”
Although Kent was nearly out of time, the Sun Devils’ offense was moving quickly. Tyler Jackson, who had been slowed most of the day — with the notable exception of a 72-yard kickoff return for a touchdown — gained 20 yards on first down, then Florence connected with Collins Gantz for a 14-yard gain to the PC 43-yard line.
“They were rolling; we were worried,” Gunkel said.
Like many competitors in Class 2A, Gunkel plays both ways. In his case, he leaves the field only for punts and field goals. Yet after running for a game-high 131 yards on 27 carries, he was lucky to be on the field for the last defensive stand.
“It was very tiring,” he said. “I almost threw up in the fourth quarter, but I held it in. It was so hot! I drank water, but it was almost too much water.”
With the triumph, No. 7 Platte Canyon, from Bailey, wrested control of the Colorado League with a 4-0 record, 7-0 overall, including five road victories. Kent (5-2, 3-1) fell into a three-way tie for second in the league with Classical Academy and Bennett.
Jackson, who came into the game averaging 205 yards rushing, finished with 61 yards on 13 carries.
“They hemmed him in pretty well,” admitted Kent coach Scott Yates. “We didn’t play as well as we have, especially getting Tyler open.”
While Kent’s running game was limited to 84 yards and stalled by a fumble, the passing game was restricted to three completions for 25 yards and two interceptions.
It was a stark contrast to the Sun Devils’ past four games, in which they outscored opponents 192-3.
“This means a lot to win here,” Gunkel said. “We had to show the class that graduated last year that we could do it. Because they had never won here, we had that motivation to do better. We are road warriors.”
While Gunkel was fighting for extra yardage mostly up the middle out of the double-wing offense, teammate Alan Debs repeatedly swept to his left, gaining 85 yards on 11 carries, including a 21-yard TD run. The Huskies’ most impressive drive covered 80 yards on 18 plays and was revived by a roughing-the-kicker penalty en route to a 14-7 lead.
Platte Canyon 14 7 0 0 — 21
Kent Denver 7 7 0 0 — 14
PC — Debs 21 run (kick failed). KD — Jackson 72 kickoff return (Brugioni kick). PC — Robl 1 run (Gunkel run). PC — Clark 1 run (Hamari kick). KD — Jackson 14 run (Brugioni kick).
