PARKER — Andrew Loudenback was sore, but it was a good sore.
On a Thursday night that was a revival of sorts for Chaparral, the Wolverines welcomed back their quarterback, sent their fill-in quarterback back to his wide-receiver spot and returned to Class 5A’s upper mix.
With a hard-fought 20-3 victory over district rival ThunderRidge, Chaparral, No. 7 in The Denver Post/9News 5A poll, moved to 4-2 overall and evened its record to 1-1 in the Continental League.
Loudenback, a senior who sat out the Wolverines’ first five games on a transfer that drew lots of attention and was retroactive to the beginning of his junior season, nearly was picked off on the first play from scrimmage, then connected with the athletic Jordan Serena on a 69-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown as Chaparral never trailed.
In all, Loudenback was 15-of-23 for 152 yards, was picked off twice and rushed five times, but the incompletions, turnovers and bumps and bruises sure beat the alternative.
“Of course, I was happy to be out here,” Loudenback said. “It was definitely different than standing on the sideline for five weeks. My mental preparation was different all week.”
Said a relieved Chaparral coach John Vogt, “It was a tough one, puts us back in it.”
Serena hauled in six receptions for 100 yards and Christian Gann, who subbed while Loudenback was idle, contributed five catches for 15 yards. Chaparral needed all of them as well as an 8-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jordan West and an 83-yard fumble recovery by Andrew McReynolds to seal it.
“Our offensive line played well and our defense was phenomenal,” Loudenback said.
ThunderRidge (4-2, 1-1) kept coming, including behind inspired play by freshman quarterback Brody Westmoreland — a first as a starter for coach Joe Johnson — and tough-guy running back Zach Jones. Westmoreland was 9-of-21 for 118 yards. But three lost fumbles were killer, two in the second half that led to touchdowns.
“We hurt ourselves too much,” Johnson said. Fact is, he added, “We played hard, but we didn’t play well.”
Junior Chris Page added 105 yards rushing on 17 carries for Chaparral.
ThunderRidge 0 3 0 0 — 3
Chaparral 6 0 8 6 — 20
C — Serena 69 pass from Loudenback (kick failed). TR — FG Beck 47. C — West 8 run (Gann pass from Loudenback). C — McReynolds 83 fumble recovery (kick failed).
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
