On the Mullen sideline, the screaming words punched Dave Logan in the eardrum.
“Ball! Ball!”
Suddenly, all the Mustangs coach could see was what he described as “a mad scramble.”
And then — ecstasy.
Trailing 21-14 Friday with 25 seconds left, Bear Creek had a fourth-and-2 at the Mullen 9. But two Mustang linebackers — Patrick Healy and Castille Bayers — smashed into Curtis Santero, who fumbled the football, and it was recovered by Healy.
“Great heart,” Logan said of Healy, whose fumble recovery preserved the second-round win in the Class 5A playoffs. “Both teams were spent, exhausted. . . . This is about as good a high school football game as you’ll see.”
Mullen is still in it, folks. The three-time defending champs (9-2) will play Pomona next weekend. Pomona is ranked No. 3, while Mullen is No. 6, since the Mustangs lost twice this season — Sept. 9 at Grandview and then the two Fridays ago at No. 1 Columbine.
Friday was a grueling grind, which had many in the Mullen stands thinking that the Mustangs’ run might be over. The two teams were tied at 14 heading into the fourth and the best player on the field, arguably, wasn’t Mustangs stud quarterback Cyler Myles. It was the senior Santero, who ran the football like each carry could have been his last. Alas, his last carry was the fumble.
But Santero put on a show. He ran for 102 yards in the first half alone, including a touchdown to tie the game at 7. He finished with a career-high 129 yards rushing.
“He played every snap on defense tonight and their regular running back got hurt a couple of weeks ago,” said Logan, who won career game No. 201. “He’s a really strong kid — 200-pounder — and he played his heart out. I’m proud of our team for hanging in there.”
Mustang running back Addie Brown had a nice night too, smashing into the defensive line with poise and power all night. He scored all three touchdowns for the home team.
“Our game plan was to hit the inside, follow our big offensive linemen and just attack, attack, attack,” Brown said. “That’s what we did.”
Bear Creek’s final drive began with 3:01 left and featured a fourth-down conversion, with 1:08 left — a Sean Flanagan pass to, yup, Santero.
But on the final play, the hero was Healy.
“There’s nothing like it, just the joy you get from seeing everyone so happy,” Healy said.
Bear Creek 7 14 0 0 — 14
Mullen 7 7 0 7 — 21
M — Brown 4 run (Harrison kick). BC — Santero 6 run (Dalton kick). M – Brown 3 run (Harrison kick). BC — Dalton 7 pass from S. Flanagan (Dalton kick). M — Brown 9 run (Harrison kick).
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
