New Denver South football coach Ryan Marini earned his first career win on Thursday night, beating his alma mater Heritage 35-20 in a non-conference, Class 4A affair at Littleton Public Schools Stadium.
“It’s cool to be on my old field, but more than about me, I’m just happy for our kids,” Marini said. “They’ve been working so hard, and we’ve lost two games in the last minute where we’ve had the lead. But we hadn’t really earned it yet. Tonight, I felt like we earned it.”
Denver South struck first after taking advantage of an interception deep inside the Eagles territory, as senior running back Brandon Martin’s 4-yard touchdown run gave the Rebels an early 7-0 advantage.
Heritage, playing without the services of injured senior running back Josh Martin, responded with its other dynamic backfield weapon in senior Tyler Zoesch, whose 14-yard touchdown run tied the game 7-7 with 6:29 to play in the first.
The Rebels weren’t done scoring in the opening quarter, however, as Brandon Martin busted a 57-yard scoring scamper with less than four minutes to play in the frame to give Denver South a 14-7 advantage.
“He’s a complete X-factor,” Marini said of Martin. “He’s also probably the smartest football player I’ve ever coached. He brings that athleticism, and he’s a double X-factor because he’s like a coach on the field.”
The Eagles came right back early in the second quarter, with Zoesch finding the endzone by ground again, this time from 64 yards out in what is the longest offensive play for Heritage this season. The extra point was no good, making it a 14-13 score in favor of Denver South.
But it was the Rebels who — in a seesaw battle between two winless teams hungry for their first victory — had the decisive momentum-shifting play.
It came with 5:58 to play in the second quarter as Rebels senior quarterback Kwesi Singleton scrambled and found senior wideout Hassan El-Amin for a 64-yard touchdown strike to give Denver South a 21-13 advantage and a tangible swagger heading into halftime.
After a scoreless third, Denver South added another score early in the fourth quarter to go up 28-13 but the Eagles came back with a third Zoesch touchdown run, this time from 3 yards out, to make it a 28-20, one possession game with 4:55 to play.
Defensively, Heritage senior linebacker Matthew Brouillette was all over the field to limit the Rebels’ offensive playmakers.
Meanwhile, junior tackle Nejon McCray stood out for Denver South with his backfield disruption, as did sophomore linebacker Nate Flannery, whose 38-yard scoop-and-score sealed the win for the Rebels with 3:27 to go in the fourth.
Denver South (1-3) hosts Palmer next Friday at All-City Stadium, while Heritage (0-4) plays on the road at Mesa Ridge that same night.
“I told the kids that now that the monkey of (that first win) is off our back a little bit, we can be more confident,” Marini said. “And like we did tonight, we can play with the lead with a little bit more assurance instead of always being worried about losing. We’re going into league here in a couple weeks, so hopefully we can use this momentum to move ahead.”
