AURORA — Chances are today will be a pretty leisurely day for Kain Colter — maybe a stint in an ice bath, perhaps a date with a hot tub. This after a Friday evening in which the Cherry Creek quarterback seemingly did the work of 10 men, carrying the Bruins to a 24-10 victory over No. 8 Grandview at Legacy Stadium.
“I’m pretty sore now, and I’ll be pretty sore (today),” Colter said afterward. “But it’ll be a good sore because we got the win.”
Colter, a senior who is committed to Stanford, has been playing hobbled for the latter part of the season after coming back from a torn labrum. But while some of his throws may be a little wobbly, the Wolves can attest that there’s nothing wrong with his legs.
It got to the point that everybody in the stands, the players and coaches along both sidelines — even passing cars on C-470 — knew Colter was going to run with the ball. The problem for Grandview was that, even with said knowledge, more often than not, it was unable to do much about it.
For the night, Colter ran the ball 34 times for 123 yards, and while the average per carry may not be great, there was little doubt who the dominant player on the field was.
Already ahead 7-0 after a 6-yard touchdown run by Brinton Thomas, Colter gave the upset-minded Bruins (4-4, 3-3 in the Centennial Conference) a 14-0 lead with a 5-yard scamper midway through the opening quarter. And, when Creek sputtered, allowing Grandview (5-3, 4-2) to close to within seven at 17-10, it was Colter who rallied the troops, running five times for 30 yards in a 57-yard march, including an 11-yard score that sealed the victory.
“All week we had talked about coming out and jumping right on them, and we did that,” Colter said. “The disappointing thing was that after the good start, we weren’t punching in any more points.
“We just said the defense had been bailing us out all night, so let’s do something, and on that last drive we were just running it down their throats.”
Meanwhile, although Grandview’s spot in the upcoming Class 5A playoffs is secure, the loss did mean the team will miss out on a chance to tie Mullen at the top of the conference standings when they meet next week.
Wolves coach John Schultz said Friday’s outcome wasn’t a case of his team overlooking the Bruins in anticipation of that contest as much as being awestruck by the talented player before them.
“I think in the first two series we were just standing around watching him run,” he said of Colter. “We gave (them) two touchdowns before we settled in; after that we played a pretty good game, but it was too much to overcome.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
