“Apparently, I looked lonely or something, but two kids came up to me and said, ‘Come over and be with us and our friends,'” Brock recalled with a laugh. “I’m the only graduate with compression socks on and they’re wondering, ‘How in the heck did you get here?’

“My stoles said ‘student athlete’ and so they asked, ‘What sport were you in?’ I told them football. And then they were really confused. Like, how’s an old guy like you a student athlete?”

Brock, 71, was who went on to an accomplished NFL career with the New England Patriots. After that, he found success in broadcasting, served for 25 years as the founder and president of the Patriots Alumni Club, was a software entrepreneur, and was also involved in the mortgage industry.

But one “unchecked box” in his life brought him back to Folsom Field on May 2, when he graduated with a bachelor’s degree The feat came exactly half a century after he left CU, when the Patriots selected him in the first round of the 1976 NFL Draft.

“My degree was something I started and never finished, and it’s bothered me for a long time,” Brock explained. “There was a time when, after my rookie year with the Patriots, I bought a home in Longmont so I could go back to school. But it didn’t come to fruition. Then, life happened, and it never got it done.”

Brock explained this backstory to his newfound group of friends on graduation day, and they were stoked for the former offensive lineman. Especially considering Brock stuffed the 42 credit hours he needed to graduate into a single year, starting with 12 hours last summer, 15 in the fall and three in a compressed winter-break course before finishing with 12 this spring.

Brock’s wife, Emily Brock, sees parallels between her husband’s football achievements and his determination to finish college.

“He learned that discipline when he was a pro football player and he carried that through his whole life, no matter what he’s done, in any endeavor he’s taken on,” Emily Brock said. “It’s that discipline from those years that has carried him through to the greatness that he is, including accomplishing this degree 50 years after he should’ve finished it in the first place.”

CU great, ‘Mr. Versatility’

When the Patriots selected Brock with the No. 12 overall pick in ’76, it was at that time the highest a CU offensive lineman had ever been drafted.

Brock, a first-team selection to CU’s All-Century team in 1989, played for He played in 154 NFL games, with 88 starts, and “Mr. Versatility” saw time at every position on the line, including tight end, long snapper, and wing back. Most of his starts came at center, where he played in New England’s loss to the Chicago Bears.

was highlighted by several accolades, including the Patriots’ Unsung Hero Award in 1979, the Jim Lee Hunt Award for best Patriots lineman in ’84, the Ed Block Memorial Courage Award in ’85 after coming back from midseason knee surgeries and the Miller Lite NFL Lineman of the Year in ’86. All of that led to Brock being named to the Patriots’ All-Decade Team for the 1980s.

“Pete was one of the all-time great players in CU football history,” said Cherry Creek High School head coach Dave Logan, a wideout who was in Brock’s class at CU. “And you don’t play that long in the NFL unless you’re a hell of a player. Incredibly smart, very tough, a good athlete who could move around. Look at how many different things the Patriots asked him to do — that speaks to his football acumen.”

With the Buffs, the Portland, Ore., native was a pillar on the 1975 team as a senior when CU went 9-3, was ranked inside the Top 10 and lost to Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl. Brock was one of 12 in ’75, including three in the first round. But there’s one game from that season he wants back — a 21-20 road loss to No. 1 Oklahoma, the defending national champions who went on to repeat.

“With about three minutes to go, we got the ball down 21-14 and we drove the length of the field just pounding them,” Brock recalled. “That was a tough defense, and we flat wore them out, we ground them down. When we put it into the end zone to make it 21-20, I’m thinking, ‘These guys are done. Let’s go for (two).’

“And out trots the kicker. I wanted to call a timeout and go discuss this with anyone who would listen to me. We missed the extra point. If it were up to me, we would’ve called a (smashmouth run up the middle) and I still believe we would’ve won the game on that play.”

Brock’s younger brother, Willie Brock, played on CU’s O-line with Pete that season. They were two of four football-playing Brock brothers, three of which (Pete, Willie and Stan) went on to the NFL. Three Brock sisters were also prosperous — two were executives at Nike, and one has run a daycare center for about 40 years — so Willie says it’s no surprise that Pete felt compelled to finish his degree.

“There’s a lot of grit and determination in the Brock family,” Willie Brock said. “Once he set his goal and once he told the family that he was going back to school, we knew it would get done. I just didn’t think it would get done that fast.”

An ‘above-and-beyond’ student

Pete Brock, who lives in Kingston, New Hampshire, finished his degree over the last year by taking classes online. He took advantage of the for retired players, so the league paid for his classes.

, who taught Brock in an introductory geology course this spring, noted online classes are “generally all about distance” with little or no interaction between the professor and the students. But that wasn’t the case with Lester and Brock, as the professor found his senior-citizen pupil eager to engage.

“He went above-and-beyond to interact in this class, whether it was chiming in with cool discussion posts or just talking about geology with me,” Lester said.

“… You go to college because you get exposed to a lot of different subjects and it helps you learn how to think. And it’s all about perspective. That’s what I think was driving Mr. Brock when he went back to get his degree. He wanted the (degree) to put on his mantel, of course, but he really wanted to dip his toes into a bunch of different knowledge.”

, who taught Brock in tropical marine ecology over the fast-paced, condensed winter semester, also says Brock stood out in her course for his paper on an anthropogenic effect on the ocean. He studied “the dual value of oyster aquaculture in both food production and ecosystem improvements.”

“He had such a passion for the project that it was a pleasure to work with him and fascinating to read the final product,” Furman Dougherty said.

Efforts like that led to a 3.57 GPA over the last year, a stark improvement from his approach in the classroom at the end of his CU playing career, as Brock lamented how he “goofed off and blew off my senior spring” while skipping classes and letting his GPA slide. His academic prowess at age 71 raised his cumulative GPA to 2.5.

“I didn’t go into this to (show off) or to evangelize the world of an education,” Brock said. “But I hope that it might inspire somebody like me, someone who is maybe thinking it’s too late to finish college, to do this.”

Now what?

Brock, who is retired, has no intention to use his degree in the workforce. But what is for sure is you won’t find him loitering in his recliner anytime soon.

In recent years, he’s become a budding carpenter and has recently built a greenhouse in his backyard. Brock plans on spending lots of time in there this summer, planting a vegetable garden and helping his wife cultivate a collection of annual flowers. He’s also got big plans for trips into the wilds of New Hampshire with his “best friend,” a German Wirehaired Pointer named Jäger, hunting upland birds.

“He had never built anything before in his lifetime before he built that greenhouse, and that’s only the start,” Emily Brock said. “He’s going to build a bed for the spare bedroom. He’s going to build shutters for the home. That’s just how he’s wired — you put it in front of him, he’ll do it.”

And still, he returned for a Broncos curtain call, on Monday, in the building where he helped lay the current foundation.

Ten years to the day that the Broncos drafted him in 2016, the 32-year-old Simmons announced the end of his playing days on Wednesday morning through a video announcement on the Broncos’ account. After a one-year stint with the Falcons and a year-long absence from football, Simmons also signed a ceremonial deal to retire with the Broncos.

Simmons welled up several times in a 30-minute-long press conference later Wednesday afternoon in Dove Valley, thanking a seemingly never-ending slew of backers: wife Taryn for supporting him, Broncos executive John Elway for drafting him, general manager George Paton for extending him, and the Denver fanbase for sticking with him.

“It just felt like there was a lot asked, and I feel like I fell short,” Simmons said, on his eight-year career in Denver. “So, that’s why — a lot of the emotional aspect of it. And so, I felt like I let a lot of people down over the years.”

“And so, to see that type of reaction for me is more than I deserve,” he continued, on the response to his retirement. “It’s heartwarming. I’m thankful. I’m blessed, I’m honored.”

The heartbeat of the Broncos’ defense

For eight seasons after Elway took him with the final pick of the third round in 2016, Simmons led the Broncos’ secondary, defense and locker room at large. His 30 interceptions are tied for seventh all-time in Denver franchise history. And he lives in rooms he’s never touched — still flashing across the tape that Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker shows players, a deep-safety model for the defense that the former Broncos secondary coach wants to install in Dallas.

Parker has a simpler lasting memory of his years with Simmons, though.

By Jan. 8, 2021, the Vic Fangio era as the Broncos’ head coach was over. The locker room, Parker remembered, had a “feeling” about that, heading into a Week 18 matchup with the Chiefs. For a fifth straight season in Denver, they had nothing to play for. Simmons’ safety partner, Kareem Jackson, was hurt. Future Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II was hurt. Ronald Darby, the other starting corner, was hurt.

And yet Simmons trotted out to play like everything was on the line.

“He was still scratching,” Parker said, remembering. “He was clawing, out there.”

One’s football legacy is strange, Simmons said. His is no exception. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro, and tied for seventh all-time in Broncos history in interceptions. He showed up, as Parker pointed out, playing 118 of a possible 131 games in Denver. He also had one season with a winning record but never made the playoffs.

It ate at him, as Simmons said. He told reporters on Wednesday that he believed each passing year would be the year. Behind the scenes, he had “a lot of talks” with Parker about a burning desire to simply make the postseason, as the Dallas defensive coordinator recounted.

“That����ap really all he wanted to do, to be honest with you,” Parker said. “I think if you asked if he would trade some of those career accolades relative to the interceptions and All-Pro nominees, and all that kinda stuff — to have that taste of January and February football, he would trade it in a heartbeat.”

That never came, and the Broncos cut Simmons for his price tag while rebuilding under Payton after the 2023 season. He signed in Atlanta in 2024 to try and chase a playoff berth — but found it “miserable,” as he said, to be away from his wife and FaceTime-parenting his three children, who were still living in Denver.

Simmons continued to train throughout the 2025 season but never signed with a franchise. The time he regained with family, though, was invaluable, as he recounted. Eventually, he found peace in realizing that it was “just time” to move away from his playing days, he said.

The safety had always wanted to retire a Bronco, even after being cut, Parker said. And the two years away from Denver helped Simmons find peace, too, with a tenure that lacked wins but had a much greater effect on the orbit around him.

“My overall goal was to leave here, and continue the legacy and to be a Hall of Fame player,” Simmons said. “Obviously, I fell short of that, I think. Not I think — I know I fell short of that.

“I think what I’m the most proud of, though, is the adversity that popped up in those eight seasons … it����ap hard to get recognized as a player when your team is not doing well,” Simmons continued. “It����ap a very difficult thing. So I’m proud of the way I was able to fight through some adversity in that aspect. It����ap hard when you have a lot going on. It helped me, though. It����ap part of my journey and my career. I’m thankful for it.”

Simmons has been a bridge between eras in Denver. He was drafted in 2016, the year after the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 win. His time ended in 2023, the year before the Broncos returned to the playoffs. Denver went 52-79 in Simmons’ eight seasons, and saw six different coaches don a headset, and pivoted through a massive ownership change from the late Pat Bowlen to the Walton-Penner Group.

Still, Simmons became a “legend in his own way,” as former teammate Melvin Gordon told The Post. He organized Thursday bowling sessions and dinners with the defensive backs, and took care of the youngsters, Gordon said. Simmons was named a three-time captain and remained consistently accountable to local media during losing seasons. His impact ripples through foundational pieces still on the Broncos’ roster — Garett Bolles, Courtland Sutton, Surtain and Alex Singleton.

Gordon, a former Pro Bowler who played for the Broncos for three seasons, is quick to admit he fell into a bad place in Denver by his final year. He fumbled five times in 2022 and said he began to lose his “love for the game.”

Simmons, Gordon said, helped keep that passion burning through simple words and simple locker-room games of UNO.

“Sometimes, you do need a leader to show you the way,” Gordon said. “And I think he made his mark that way.”

The safety made his mark in the community, too, serving as an active mentor at the Broncos Boys and Girls Club. And after retirement, Simmons said he intends to try to wedge a foot into the broadcasting world — and explore a potential position at a local high school program, similar to Cherry Creek High head coach Dave Logan.

“I want to be the guy in the community that����ap a consistent, reliable figure for kids to look up to,” Simmons said.

And he hopes he left a legacy, as he said Wednesday, of a man who cared.

“I passionately cared,” Simmons said. “I wanted to do well. I really wanted to win. Didn’t work out. And I’m so glad that they’re winning now.”

“Think about this: I’m sitting in an office with a guy who was a coach for 25 years in the NFL,” Mullen High coach Jeremy Bennett told me Friday. “Having never met with him before, talking with him, it was like being with a buddy I’ve known for 20 years. It was comfortable. It was authentic.”

How authentic? Last Wednesday, Mora, the CSU Rams’ new football coach, popped his head into the football offices at Mullen just to say, “Hi.” Only as Bennett remembers it, that ‘pop’ lasted for about 55 minutes.

They talked shop. Mutual friends. The insanity of the transfer portal. Twenty minutes became 30. Then 40. Then 45. After 50, Mora glanced at his watch. Oh, crud.

“Coach, I gotta get going,” Mora said to Bennett. “My wife’s been out in the car this whole time.”

“Coach,” Bennett laughed, “she could’ve come in.”

“No, no, she gets it,” Mora said. “I just got caught up in the conversation.”

Time flies when you’re having a Rams run. Or a Rams Rush, in this case.

“And here’s the thing: We could have sat there for another hour,” Bennett recounted with a chuckle. “We would have just kept chopping it up.”

Mrs. Mora was left waiting, Bennett was told, because the couple planned to do some car-shopping in Denver on their way back to FoCo. Talk about Front Range multi-tasking at its finest. While we’re running errands, why not make new friends, build some bridges, while we’re at it?

“So I feel we’re going to see out of (CSU) better (recruiting) coverage in-state,” Bennett said. “I really do … it’ll be interesting to see how many ’26 guys (are signed) and how many offers are out in ’27. You can say, ‘We’ve got to see.’ But I think it is going to be better out of Fort Collins. I do.”

National Signing Day — like drive-ins, yes, it’s still a thing — falls on Wednesday. The Rams have just one in-state signee so far for the Class of 2026, They’re trying to improve on that number for 2027, for obvious reasons.

“We want Colorado kids to play in Colorado,” Mora told me by phone early in the week. “Now, they have to fit our profile. But the only way you find that out is if you spend time around them and build those relationships … (so) it’s not just a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing process.”

To that end, this past January 15, with the transfer portal spinning at about 50,000 rpm, Mora and CSU tried something a little different:

The Rams had 11 staffers out on the highways, driving to and visiting with Colorado high school coaches as part of Operation: Ram Rush, posting updates to social media with the hashtag #RamRush.

Mora’s ‘pop,’ in fact, was the Rams’ second trek to Mullen in 13 days. Bennett said that was new, too.

“It was way, way different,” Bennett said. “It was apologetic. And not that they needed to be, but they understand (the dynamics).

“You hear (that) all the time, but for some reason, it just hit different. They understand they’ve got to take the top guys in Colorado to be successful — not only on the field, but in the community. You’ve got to recruit your backyard.”

And now, maybe, more than ever. Why? For one, open transferring and revenue-sharing for players have made Power 4 schools more inclined to swoop in and pluck smaller schools’ more finished products rather than develop their own. CU football coach Deion Sanders’ newest portal haul reads like a Group of 5 all-star travel team.

Part of the CSU football brand is baked into getting the not-quite-fast enough, not-quite-big-enough Colorado prospects that the Buffs traditionally take a pass on. Some of the best Rams teams of the last 30 years had enough chips on their respective shoulders, collectively, to fill the entire snack aisle at King Soopers.

Based on the 247Sports database, CU offered eight in-state recruits for the Class of ’26 and had one Colorado signee as of last Friday afternoon. They’ve reportedly got five in-state offers out for 2027. CSU has 12.

“(Sanders and I) know each other very well,” Mora said of Coach Prime. “But I’m not competing against anybody but our standard. We don’t spend one section of our day worrying about other people. We just do the best we can.”

Sanders has targeted players that the Buffs can plug-in-and-play immediately, be they freshmen or former Mid-American Conference/Sun Belt Conference seniors. CU has checked in — but so have about 25 other major programs.

In fact, local coaches will tell you that The Prime Method of transfers first + recruiting nationally has only opened doors for CSU’s new staff when it comes to Colorado kids. If they want to run through them. The Rams haven’t produced a class with more than two in-state prep recruits since 2023. They haven’t produced one with more than seven since 2014.

Mora, no dummy, has already noticed. CSU, per 247, had 23 in-state offers out in the Class of ’26 and a dozen so far for the Class of ’27. This after the Rams offered one for the Class of ’25, 13 for ’24 and 14 for ’23.

“Like I said when I took the job, you’ve got to try to win your state (by) recruiting high-school players,” Mora told me. “And the only way that you can do that is to get out and meet people and create relationships and build trust.”

Unlike his previous three predecessors, Mora’s already got one foot in several doors on that last front. His dad helped coach Dave Logan while the latter was starring at CU. His quarterbacks coach/pass game coordinator, Matt Mitchell, is the brother-in-law of Valor coach Mike Sanford. He’s known Legend coach Jake Heaps for years and the Pagano family forever.

“We want to be able to go and to see people,” Mora continued, “but it’s important that we try to get as many players and coaches as possible up to our campus to watch our spring practices and get with our coaches and exchange football ideas.”

And not just at clinics, either. Bennett says he landed a personal invite to Canvas Stadium. One he plans to accept.

“For all that he’s done, everywhere he’s been, for all the success he’s had in our industry, (Mora) didn’t treat me any differently,” the Mustangs coach recalled. “He just sat, and he talked to me like a ball coach. It was different.

“My staff was in there with us. And every one of them, when he left said, ‘Wow, what a great guy. That was cool.'”

Would you report on win/loss records of sophomore NFL quarterbacks?

— Jim Taylor, Littleton

What’s the fun in just talking win-loss record?

Matter of fact, we wrote a while back about the impressive seasons several of the quarterbacks from the 2024 class have engineered and, more broadly, how impressive the group has been through two seasons.

Consider that three of the top four seeds in the playoffs are led by 2024 QBs — No. 1 Denver (Bo Nix) and No. 2 New England (Drake Maye) in the AFC and No. 2 Chicago (Caleb Williams) in the NFC.

Let����ap start by pointing out that wins are a team stat, not a quarterback stat. A quarterback can play magnificently in a loss and horrendously in a win. Nix is no exception. The Broncos have lost four games in which he posted a quarterback rating above 106 and won six times when he sported a quarterback rating below 70.

One of the great things about this class is that nobody’s path has been entirely linear. Nix clearly walked into the most stable situation and he’s taken advantage of it, helping the Broncos qualify for the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. That includes a 14-3 regular season and the No. 1 seed this year. He also didn’t take a big statistical leap in his second season, whereas Williams and Maye each did.

Maye has by far the best single season of the class so far. He could well win the MVP this year. Williams took a massive leap in Year 2 and forms a formidable long-term pairing with coach Ben Johnson. Daniels had a Year 2 to forget due to injury, but he looked like a star as a rookie and helped lead Washington to the NFC Championship Game.

The jury is out on Michael Penix and J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy was the youngest of the group to begin with and then lost his rookie season to injury, but 2025 provided reason for concern. Penix now will have a new head coach and, presumably, coordinator going forward after Raheem Morris was fired this week. He’s already the third quarterback in the class to experience a head coaching change and you can throw Daniels in the mix, too, because offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is leaving the Commanders.

Change worked wonders for Williams and Maye. We’ll see with Penix.

Here’s a chart with several stats, though obviously not an entire encapsulation, for the 2024 class so far. Judge for yourself. If the draft were held again tomorrow, a lot of folks around the league would bet Maye, Daniels and Williams all still get picked before Nix. But Nix isn’t going sixth again, either.

Bottom line: Four of the six teams that took quarterbacks in 2024 are very happy with their guy through two seasons. That’s already a heck of a class.

Class of 2024 QBs

Hello Parker. Whew, it’s been an amazing ride when one recalls where ����apountry stood four years ago. Heading to the playoffs, I can’t help but wonder if giving more touches (and more consecutive touches) to Jaleel McLaughlin would help improve our running game production. For several games now, he seems to be able to pick up more yards in tight spaces than we’re seeing from RJ Harvey.

— Ted Loehr, Montrose

I wrote about this some after the game, so I won’t spend a whole lot of time on it, but the bottom line is I agree with you.

McLaughlin’s up to 5.1 yards per carry and the Broncos coaching staff on a near weekly basis comments on how good he’s been since J.K. Dobbins’ injury. You lose a bit of the homerun threat when he’s in the game compared to Harvey, but right now McLaughlin’s getting the yards that are there to be had in the run game at a more efficient clip.

Here’s the trick, though: Harvey is really good with the ball in space. So can Denver dial up McLaughlin’s usage in the run game, continue to get Harvey some touches out of the backfield and in the passing game and find the balance without being predictable? That����ap the question.

While RJ Harvey has had a productive rookie season, it seems to me he is not a No. 1 back who can carry the load, primarily, I believe, because of his size. It’s been more obvious since he’s become the primary back that when he gets to the second level, he gets absolutely hammered by LBs, and stopped dead or knocked backward. He’s not a pile mover. So, while he clearly has a lot of value in the Payton system, don’t the Broncos still need a true No. 1 back with more tackle-breaking ability?

— Dave, Charlotte, N.C.

Completely agree that Harvey is not a finished product, but have to disagree with you on the rationale.

In fact, I’d say Harvey has the most make-you-miss ability among Denver backs in at least in the past handful of seasons. He’s also forceful and violent when he’s decisive. Decision-making, though, is where the rookie still has a lot of developing to do. Nearly every time the Broncos get him the ball out in space, he delivers a hit or makes somebody miss and collects extra yardage. But when he’s asked to make the run-game reads in the backfield, it����ap hit and miss. If you’re in the wrong gap or hesitating, yeah, you’re going to get thumped.

Payton’s scouting on running backs is interesting but it makes sense to me. He differentiates between short and small. Harvey is short, but he ain’t small.

Another way Payton puts it: You’ve got to have mass and, uh, rump. Harvey’s built that way. He’s explosive. He’s just not efficient in the whole spectrum of the running game yet.

Whether he’s a true lead back, capable of playing on all three downs, is still an open question. He’s talented, though, that����ap for sure.

Everyone always says how difficult Sean Payton offense is, but yet how come Bo Nix doesn’t need to wear a cheat sheet on his wrist like most QBs do? Is Bo Nix that smart that he has memorized the plays that he hears in the helmet from Sean Payton?

— Mike, St. Louis, Mo.

Hey Mike, good question. Nix wore a wrist band last year, though he had it attached to his belt rather than actually wearing it on his wrist. He had it for the season opener back in September, too, but doesn’t appear to have used it since.

Quarterbacks and play callers use those wristbands for all kinds of reasons. With Payton and Nix, in particular, part of the rationale was to get some of Payton’s most wordy calls on the band so the coach could give short-hand to Nix, creating a couple of extra seconds for the quarterback to spit out a call that might be15 or 20 words long.

That only works, though, if the play-caller and the QB are both comfortable with it. If it����ap easier to repeat the words as you hear them in the headset or if it����ap easier for the coach to feel a rhythm by saying all the words, that just might work better.

Certainly, Nix’s command of the offense has grown, too.

This a follow-up question about the hit on Pat Bryant in the Jags game.  Your answer about the defenseless player rule was appreciated.  However, following the hit, I wondered about whether there are unwritten rules of football.  Down 14 points with 30 seconds left, the viciousness of the hit seemed more about injuring than winning a game that was already settled.  We regularly hear about the unwritten rules of baseball, hockey and basketball.  Do the Broncos owe Montaric Brown or another Jag at the next meeting?

— Shawn Thompson, Denver

Yeah, you could make that argument. But you could just as easily use the same rationale to argue that there’s no reason to put Bryant in that position in the first place. I’m not going to sit here and crush Nix after the fact — he was emotional on the field and said after the game that he felt like he was responsible. And while the sequence was not all on him, if you want to make an argument that the hit was unnecessary because of the game situation (and strip away the rulebook part of the conversation), then it����ap fair to wonder what good was going to come from throwing back across the middle under the same conditions.

At this point, chalk it up to a bad deal all around that Bryant was fortunate to come out the other side of in fairly good shape.

Now, as for the Broncos and Jaguars, between that hit, the “small market” stuff, Jacksonville being the lone team to win in Denver this year and the fact that both teams have been terrific overall, you don’t need to convince me that it would be one heck of an AFC Championship Game at Empower Field.

I don’t want to take away from Matthew Stafford or Drake Maye, but I think Justin Herbert should be getting a lot more consideration as MVP. After all, what would the Chargers be without him, and isn’t that the definition of MVP?

— Mark, Centennial

I hear what you’re saying but I’m not sure Herbert����ap numbers stack up with Stafford and Maye this year.

That takes nothing away, though, from the epic job Herbert did dragging the Chargers through the second half of the season. Their offensive line was battered and he got it, too. He got hit more than any quarterback in football. Broke his left hand. Just kept on playing and winning until Week 17 against Houston.

It����ap a heck of a season. Not many quarterbacks could have done what he did. But it wasn’t MVP-level.

Josh Allen had a similar Superman run in Buffalo down the stretch. There were some incredible individual seasons across positions like San Francisco RB Christian McCaffrey, Seattle WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cleveland DE Myles Garrett. You could make an argument in absentia for Green Bay edge Micah Parsons, whose torn ACL against Denver marked the exact moment at which the Packers’ defense went from among the league’s best to getting regularly shredded.

It����ap going to be Maye or Stafford. Give me Maye by a hair.

Who do you think is the worst opponent for the Broncos in the divisional round? Personally, I’d hate to see Houston. They’re scorching hot right now. I really don’t want to see them.

— Max, Colorado Springs

Good question and a totally fair place to land on it yourself. The Texans haven’t lost since the last time they played Denver. That����ap nine straight since early November. The Texans’ defense is ferocious. They have offensive weapons, too, though their production on that side of the ball has been hit and miss, particularly situationally. Houston is 23rd in the NFL on third down and 30th in the red zone.

I know I just got done saying Herbert isn’t an MVP candidate, but I’d put the Chargers at the top of the list of tough matchups.

Consider this: Nix was pressured just 27.7% of the time last year. Houston got to him 38% of his drop-backs. That was third-most in a game on the season.

The most: Week 3 at the Chargers (43.8%). Second-most: 40.6% Week 18 against, you guessed it, the Chargers and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Khalil Mack didn’t play in either game. The Chargers sat OLB Tuli Tuipulotu (13 sacks) and S Derwin James — who made play after play in Week 3 — this past weekend.

And Herbert will be coming off a week’s rest.

There’s no such thing as an easy divisional round matchup, typically, but I agree with Post columnists Troy Renck and Sean Keeler that Pittsburgh looks like the most favorable matchup. After that, in order, let����ap go Houston, Buffalo and the Chargers

Is there a source to listen to a replay of the radio broadcast of Dave Logan’s Broncos gameday play-by-play?

— Mike, Arvada

The NFL doesn’t allow local radio broadcasters to repurpose full game replays, so unfortunately the answer is no. There are usually some clips floating around on the team’s social media and website.

The Bruins blasted Ralston Valley 56-28 on Saturday in the Class 5A championship at Canvas Stadium, padding their ongoing dynasty that is showing no signs of slowing up.

In Cherry Creek’s eighth straight title appearance, the Greenwood Village blue blood won its 15th title, and gave head coach Dave Logan his 13th crown. The two marks padded Colorado big-school and coaching , respectively.

PHOTOS: Cherry Creek Bruins Defeat The Ralston Valley Mustangs 56-28, Winning The Class 5A State Championship

In the Bruins' span of consecutive championship games since 2018, Logan's squad is 99-8 (92.5 winning percentage) with more rings (six) than in-state losses (five). No Colorado opponent has beaten the Bruins since Columbine upset them in the championship two years ago.

Logan said that although the Bruins made the path to another title look easy, it wasn't always effortless as Cherry Creek answered the bell numerous times throughout the fall.

"We beat a really good Florida team in Orlando, we beat a good team out of Utah at home, Fairview had us on the ropes in the first half (of the quarterfinal), Valor Christian had the lead going into the fourth quarter (of the semifinal)," Logan said. "When you get so used to winning, and you get the proverbial punch in the face, how your team answers is indicative of the character of the team.

"When this team has been challenged by good teams, we found a way to answer."

On Saturday, the Bruins were never challenged as they left no doubt as to their status as the Box State juggernaut after self-inflicted mistakes nearly ended their season in a 21-13 comeback win over Valor Christian last week. Cherry Creek raced to a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter as Ralston Valley had no answers on either side of the ball.

While scoring on its first three possessions, Cherry Creek featured its slick running back Jayden Fox, who got to the edge, trucked a Mustangs defender and then outraced the defense to the end zone for a 21-yard TD run to open the floodgates.

On the Bruins' next possession, Fox ripped off a 42-yard TD run on 4th and 2, cutting back an outside run, stepping out of a tackle and then breezing by the helpless RV defense as he celebrated with his hands up before crossing the goal line.

"We've started slow on this stage before, and all week, the discussion was (centered on) making sure that didn't happen again," Fox said. "We grabbed the momentum from the opening drive and never looked back."

Already up 14-0, Cherry Creek added on via Brady Vodicka's 18-yard TD pass to tight end Ty Goettsche to make it a three-TD game as the Ralston Valley crowd went completely silent. By the time Bruins linebacker Tate Matthews sacked Ralston Valley quarterback Zeke Andrews on the final play of the first quarter to force a punt, Ralston Valley's first three possessions managed just one first down and negative-4 total yards.

The Bruins then made it 28-0 after converting a 3rd and 26 with a 45-yard pass from Vodicka to Max Lovett, followed by a 12-yard TD pass to Zai Davis the very next play. The early aerial assault was part of a stellar evening by Vodicka, who earned the game's MVP.

The Louisiana Tech commit finished 18 of 22 for 291 yards and 4 TDs passing with a 252.9 QBR, plus 33 yards and a TD on the ground. It marked his fourth straight title game appearance as he emerged as a driving force in Cherry Creek's recent dominance years after getting pulled at halftime in the Bruins' title victory over Valor Christian as a freshman in 2022.

"I knew it was the best for the team that game (for me to get pulled), and that I was going to come back stronger," Vodicka said. "To get to this game all four years, and win the last two, I couldn't ask for anything else."

Ralson Valley's offense finally found life late in the first half, with Andrews' arm and legs sparking a pair of scoring drives that both culminated in TD runs by the dual-threat QB. But Cherry Creek scored again in-between, via the unguardable Goettsche's 44-yard TD catch, to keep the Bruins' lead at a safe distance.

"We knew we had to get another touchdown on that drive," Vodicka said. "I knew the matchup, saw the coverage, and we executed it."

In the second half, the game was briefly more even, but Ralston Valley had dug itself too big of a hole to climb out of in the program's first title appearance.

"We had a pretty bad start, but I'm proud of this team for continuing to fight and to have some positive things happen in the game," Ralston Valley head coach Jared Yannacito said. "It could've very easily been a running clock, but we made some plays.

"This is a process (for this program). We knocked down the door to get here. The stage was a little big for us, but now we've got experience here. This will help our future teams."

The Mustangs had an effective drive on its opening possession of the second half, but the Bruins forced a turnover on downs deep in Cherry Creek territory. After a Bruins punt, RV found the endzone thanks to Andrews' 3-yard TD pass to Brady Warren, cutting the score to 35-21 with 3:43 left in the frame.

But the Bruins responded with Vodicka's 12-yard TD run to again give them cushion at 42-21 late in the third. Cherry Creek then had a pick-six wiped off the board due to a penalty, but star defensive lineman T.I. Umu-Cais ended Ralston Valley's drive about a minute later with a thunderous fourth-down sack.

"We made two, three stops in the second half that were very key for us... that was one of them," Logan said.

Fox proceeded to rush for his third TD of the day, this time from 30 yards out. That pushed the UCLA signee over the 100-yard mark and made it 49-21 in the waning seconds of the third. Fox averaged 14.2 yards per carry in the game.

"That (TD run) was a sealer," Fox said.

Andrews had his third rushing TD early in the fourth, but it was too little, too late for the Mustangs. Ralston Valley's defeat ended the day on a down note for Jeffco Public Schools, which saw Pomona win the Class 3A crown on a dramatic walk-off field goal and then Dakota Ridge cruise to its first title in Class 4A.

Cherry Creek added on with tight end Anthony Betti's TD reception midway through the fourth to achieve the 50-burger. With the Bruins' 15th title, only small-town Limon has more football championships. The Badgers won their Colorado record 23rd title this fall.

Logan promised the Bruins wouldn't be resting on their laurels. Cherry Creek will again be the heavy championship favorite in 2026.

"You enjoy it for a while, go on Christmas break, and then when the underclassmen get back in January we get back in the weight room and go to work again," Logan said. "You appreciate what has been accomplished, but after the holiday season, it's time to move on."

A few days before his last high school game, his final chance to turn defenders into traffic cones, Cherry Creek’s standout running back is methodically explaining the importance of practice, of narrowing focus, of remaining grateful.

“The feeling of being with my teammates here, it is like a family,” Fox said. “As seniors, we want to win for each other. It will be emotional. Coming to Creek, it has such a good culture, and it means so much to have friends that have my back.”

Opponents recognize Fox by the back of his jersey. He is a red and blue vapor trail. He boasts 1,517 yards rushing on 106 attempts this season. That registers as a mouth-agape 14.3 yards per carry. Those are the kind of prep numbers associated with Baltimore Ravens bruiser Derrick Henry.

“He takes advantage of every play he gets,” Bruins quarterback and Louisiana Tech commit Brady Vodicka said. “No matter what, once he gets the ball, his goal is to score.”

Fox does that a lot. His 22 touchdowns lead a Bruins team seeking its sixth title in seven years, while outscoring opponents 571-134. He will be leaving soon, this walking first down, to play college football. It might be at UNLV or possibly even at UCLA, which means we should be able to see him on TV at some point soon.

But we won’t see many players like Jayden Fox again at the 5A level.

By every measure of what sports has become at the highest level of competition — me or we, personal brand over team — Fox should be talking in the third person as a first option for a school on a dynastic run.

Instead, here he is at the CHSAA state news conference, previewing the 5A title bout with Ralston Valley on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Canvas Stadium, hanging out, laughing, comfortable blending in when his statistics do not.

“He is a humble young guy. There were some games where he had 10 carries, and if I had run him 25 times, he could have been that guy saying, ‘I want that, want to lead the state in yards.’ But he’s a guy who understands the process,” Cherry Creek coach Dave Logan said. “He looks at what is best for the team, which is kind of unique these days in football.”

What is fascinating about Fox is that modesty might not be his best attribute. Despite his 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame, Fox’s toughness is on the same level as his character, if not better. He takes punishment, whether in game or practice, and always pops back up like a Rock’Em Sock ‘Em Robot.

“I watch it firsthand on the field. It feels like it takes four or five guys to bring him down. I have never seen a person get hit like him and stay out there,” said Bruins’ 6-foot-6, 305-pound right tackle Oliver Miller, who signed with Kansas State this week. “He is a playmaker who plays his heart out.”

For Fox, this week matters more than most. And not for the obvious reason you might think. He wants another title, of course. But he is also seeking to contribute in a more meaningful way than last season. He entered the state championship against Legend with a sprained right ankle and re-injured it on his first carry.

“When I got hurt I tried not to show it as much because I knew the opponent would attack it, which they should. I did my best to recover. It felt good going into the game. I played all the way until the third quarter before it gave out on me,” Fox said. “So, yeah, I am really excited and happy to be healthy for this game.”

Even on a team with more stars than a planetarium, Fox demands attention. Watch his , and what sticks out is his acceleration. He exhibits patience on handoffs out of the shotgun, allowed the freedom to pick his hole, and then shows uncommon burst. Once at the second level, a lonesome safety or linebacker gets put on skates, left in helpless pursuit after Fox makes a nasty cut or drops a hesitation step.

“He has the unique ability to stop and start,”  Logan said, “and instantly be back at full speed.”

Fox atoned for a pair of fumbles in a semifinal victory over Valor Christian with two scores. His reaction to failure is why so many believe he will succeed at the next level.

“He loves adversity, embraces it. When something doesn’t go his way, there are times I will hear him next to me in the backfield saying, ‘This next play is mine. I’ve got this,’^” Vodicka said. “He has that motor. But he is also very resilient. He won’t stop until he gets it right.”

Pause comes at a pond. Fox explained that he and his teammates, many of whom have played together since grade school, like to chill out by fishing after workouts. And with winter arriving, they moved inside to the movie theatre.

“A couple of weeks ago we saw ‘Zootopia 2’ as a team. We like to do things together,” Fox said. “I know some people think we get everything given to us at Creek. We work really hard and we stay together. I feel like the bond with us is really strong.”

Fox has grown up in the Cherry Creek program, literally and figuratively. He arrived as a freshman weighing 140 pounds, leaving the coaching staff briefly envisioning him as a slot receiver or cornerback. But he rolled up his sleeves, added muscle, and became the heartbeat of a powerful run game, if not his team.

“Coach puts us in the best position to become our best as a player and a person,” Fox said. “He teaches you to play football, but also teaches you outside of football of how to be a man. He is like a second dad.”

Logan has watched proudly as Fox has developed. He has averaged 10 yards per carry in his career, collecting more than 4,000 yards. It is hard to find other Colorado prep players at the 5A level who have done this.

And it says so much about Fox that he will remembered for everything but that.

“He is a small back, but his mindset and physicality are that of a much bigger back,” Logan said. “I have just been so blessed to coach a player of his caliber who is so humble and unselfish when it comes to the team.”

In the non-conference, championship-mettle test the Mustangs and Eagles were locked in a tight battle at the start of the second half when the Ralston Valley QB ripped off a gutsy highlight play.

The Mustangs were on Valor Christian’s six-yard line, and Andrews dropped back to pass. He recognized a linebacker blitz off the edge, and juked him. Then Andrews zoomed past a defensive lineman in the pocket, hit the hole, trucked a different Eagles linebacker near the goal line and barreled into the end zone.

Andrews did a little flex while celebrating the TD with his teammates, and the game was never close after that. It’s moments like that one that enabled Andrews to steer the Mustangs into the Class 5A championship on Saturday in Fort Collins against behemoth Cherry Creek.

“When Zeke ran that linebacker over into the end zone, that play summarized the kind of work he’s put in over the last two years as a starter and the toughness that he has as our leader,” Ralston Valley head coach Jared Yannacito said. “It was a pretty decisive touchdown run, and it also (epitomized) our team mantra this year of ‘keep punching’ that’s got us to this point.”

With Andrews as a primary catalyst, the Mustangs broke through to the program’s first title game this season after agonizing finishes in each of Yannacito’s first three seasons at the helm.

With slinging the rock in 2022 and ’23, the Mustangs lost a pair of heartbreakers in the 5A semifinals. In ’22, Ralston Valley fell to Valor Christian 42-41 in double OT, with a late missed extra point the difference. And in ’23, Cherry Creek defeated the Mustangs 21-14 via a touchdown with about two minutes left.

The almost-there trend continued last season, Andrews’ first as a starter. The All-Colorado QB led the Mustangs to another league title, but they fell short of Canvas Stadium again in a quarterfinal defeat to eventual state runner-up Legend.

Hence, the “keep punching” motto this season. Now, Andrews is determined to finish what Madden started.

“All of us in the program, we heard that noise when Madden and that really talented senior class graduated, that Ralston Valley was going to have to rebuild after they left,” Andrews said. “But internally, there were never any doubts about what we could do. We really took pride in just being one of the underdogs, even though we knew we were going to be one of the best teams in the state again last year. We worked hard going into that season, and we worked even harder coming into this one.”

The Mustangs (13-0) cleared several hurdles along the way to Saturday.

The first major blow was in their Week 1 win over Erie, when junior running back Colton Stratman went down with a season-ending knee injury. Then, on Oct. 16 against Columbine, Andrews suffered a lacerated kidney, which sidelined him for the next two games. And finally, there was the 14-0 first-quarter deficit the Mustangs faced in last week’s semifinal against Mountain Vista.

But after Stratman went down, junior Sawyer Blomquist stepped up to fill the role of RB1. When Andrews couldn’t play, junior QB Logan Gabler steered the offense to blowout wins over Denver East and rival Arvada West in the regular season finale as the team scored 97 points across those two games. And in the face of a poor first quarter against Mountain Vista, Ralston Valley rallied for by Landon Plichta. It was RV’s first close game all season.

Junior wideout Levi Rillos said Andrews’ vocal leadership has been a consistent driving force through all those speed bumps.

“He’s always been a role model to other players in the program with his actions, but now, he’s doing it with both his actions and his words,” Rillos said. “He’s using his voice to make sure we get into the right plays. He’s keeping the morale up on the sideline. He’s leading the right way.”

Rillos is one of several weapons at Andrews’ disposal. Ethan Shirazi paces the team with 1,027 receiving yards and 12 touchdown grabs, while fellow senior wideout Nico Benallo is the other part of Ralston Valley’s three-headed receiving monster.

Plus, Ralston Valley has formidable size on both sides of the line, and its defense is headlined by a trio of linebackers in junior Tyler Schneider (90 total tackles), senior Degan Gregory (84) and junior Jake Lester (75).

All that other talent aside, Cherry Creek head coach Dave Logan knows his path to a sixth crown over the Bruins’ eight straight title appearances starts and ends with containing the dual-threat Andrews. The Ralston Valley QB has thrown for 2,618 yards this season with 25 TDs to just three interceptions, while he’s also run for a team-high 749 yards and 13 TDs.

“He can throw it with accuracy, he’s an excellent athlete, he’s tough,” Logan said. “He makes that offense go. You can have him pinned in and he just steps out of the pocket and breaks contain on the sideline. So it all starts with him.

“… There’s not one thing about his game that I don’t like and don’t appreciate with the exception of, we’ve got to find a way to slow him down on Saturday.”

Andrews was committed to Colorado State, but In a call with Jim Mora, the new CSU head coach told Andrews that the 6-foot-6, 215-pound QB wouldn’t be the best fit for the Rams’ system and that Mora planned on bringing in other recruits at the position.

While Andrews now has to circle back to colleges that were previously interested in him to re-gauge his opportunities for the next level, his and his teammates’ sole focus this week has been playing spoiler to the Cherry Creek dynasty.

Only fellow Jefferson County program Columbine has beaten Cherry Creek in the title game since 2019, when the Rebels used their physicality and “junkyard dawg” mentality in a 28-14 upset. Ralston Valley is also planning on staying true to itself on Saturday, with Andrews leading the way.

“We just need to be who we are, and play how we’ve been playing to get here,” Rillos said. “We’re not going to change our identity.”

It was there that Logan, then coaching at Arvada West, first met Yannacito, then a seventh-grader. Logan’s mom Etha and Yannacito’s grandma, Violet Astuno, were close friends who lived right by each other in the same Applewood neighborhood.

“Our oven went on the (fritz), and my mom said, ‘Take this over to Vi and (Jared’s grandpa) Rocco’s house, and they’re going to cook it,” Logan said. “Their house from the house I grew up in was probably 100 steps. Jared was there that day, and we got a photo in the living room after his grandparents helped us by using their oven.”

Because of the relationship between Yannacito’s grandma and Logan’s mother, the Ralston Valley coach knew of Logan’s exploits from a young age. This Saturday, his late grandma and Logan’s late mother would no doubt be thrilled to see Yannacito’s Mustangs matched up against Logan’s Cherry Creek Bruins in the Class 5A championship at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins.

“My grandma would always let me know like, ‘Well, Dave Logan’s got another team in the state championship,'” Yannacito said. “Because of her relationship (with Etha Logan), this Saturday is kind of a full-circle moment for both families.”

Logan went to Wheat Ridge with several Yannacitos in the early 1970s. And since Yannacito entered the Colorado coaching ranks after starring at tailback at Pomona — he began as an assistant for Boulder in 2009, coached at Pomona from 2010-16, got his first head job at Golden in 2017, and has been RV’s boss since 2022 — the two coaches have developed a friendship.

The Denver Post����ap 2025 Gold Helmet Award nomination form

For Logan, who is looking to extend a Colorado record with a 13th state title Saturday, the Cherry Creek head coach sees similarities in Ralston Valley's rise to his own dynasty with the Bruins.

"(Yannacito's) done a really good job in terms of the way he's structured his program," Logan said. "You've got to be intentional with how you build it, and he's done that. There's a discipline to his teams. There's a toughness to his teams. And I think there's an internal belief they're going to win.

"... We texted on Saturday night after (we both won semifinal) games, and I just told him, 'Hey, congratulations. But I'm not surprised.'"

Yannacito's Mustangs are making their first championship appearance in school history, after deep playoff runs in the prior three seasons came up just short of the title game. They are slight underdogs to Cherry Creek, making its eighth straight championship appearance and seeking its sixth title in that span.

But Ralston Valley is 13-0 (just like the Bruins are) for good reason. Up until rallying from an early deficit to beat Mountain Vista on a last-second field goal in the semifinal, no one had come within two touchdowns of the Mustangs this season.

Yannacito will be coaching in his third state title game, as he was Pomona's offensive coordinator when the Panthers lost the Class 5A crown to Valor Christian in 2015 and 2016. The coach cut his teeth to get to this point during his five-year tenure with Golden.

"They were arguably the worst team in 4A when I took over and my first year we were able to make the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, and then we also won a playoff game for the first time in (over 20 years)," Yannacito said. "More than anything, it really made me learn how to work with the players that we had, how to strategize and scheme properly for your opponent, and how to get our players to play confident and believe."

Whatever happens Saturday, Logan believes the fresh-faced middle schooler he first met that Thanksgiving day 26 years ago will be contending for titles for a long time.

While Logan, 70, is nearing the end of his career — there is no set timetable for his retirement, but he vowed not to be a coach who "everybody is worried about keeling over and dying on the field" — the 38-year-old Yannacito has decades on the sideline in front of him. Yannacito's currently in a sweet spot, too. Ralson Valley has asserted itself as a power in the northwest quadrant of the metro, capable of retaining neighborhood talent and attracting premier Jefferson County players via open enrollment as well.

"Jared is one of those really bright, young coaches where if he decides to (continue coaching) at this level, he's going to be around for a long time, and his programs are going to be able to sustain this kind of success," Logan said. "I don't mean he's going to get to the state championship every single year, but I'll promise you this: They will be in contention every single year."

Saturday's kickoff at Canvas Stadium is at 5 p.m.

“The argument in the state goes, ‘Who’s got the better offensive line, Valor or Cherry Creek?’ ” Valor coach Mike Sanford said. “I know that I love my offensive line, but that crew over there is really big and good. It’s almost like that Spider-Man meme where two Spider-Men are pointing at each other. It’s pretty cool.”

No. 1 Cherry Creek (12-0) smashed the Eagles 42-17 in last year’s semifinals and is chasing its eighth consecutive championship game appearance. The Bruins have won five of the previous six big-school titles. No. 5 Valor (10-2) owns eight state titles but has not won since 2018.

The Eagles lost to the other semifinalists — No. 2 Ralston Valley and No. 3 Mountain Vista — earlier this season, but make no mistake, the Eagles are always gunning for Creek.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better matchup this week,” said junior right tackle Reis Russell, the son of legendary University of Colorado linebacker Matt Russell. “When the bracket was getting figured out, we wanted to be on Creek’s side. We are so fired up.”

Ditto, Sanford, who was pointing toward the Bruins even before Valor squeezed out a thrilling, 31-30 win over Legend in last Saturday’s quarterfinals.

“That could have backfired on me and our program, but that’s what I told the boys last week when we were getting ready to play Legend,” Sanford said. “Legend is one of the most talented teams in the state, but my whole thought process getting ready for the Legend game was that we wanted to beat Legend solely for the reason that we wanted to play Cherry.”

The feeling is mutual.

“Every week, I try to find something to hate about the team that we are playing, and that definitely isn’t hard this week,” Miller said. “I will be the most powerful and passionate player I can be on that field on Saturday.”

Miller is headed to Kansas State on a football scholarship, while Smith is headed to Southern California. They are just two of the next-level players who’ll lineup on Saturday.

“I think there will be, eventually, about 20 future Division I players on that field on Saturday,” Sanford said. “It’s unreal.”

Creek has eight D-I players on its roster, including running back Jayden Fox (UNLV), quarterback Brady Vodicka (Louisiana Tech), tight end Ty Goettsche (BYU) and wide receiver Max Lovett (K-State).

That talent was on full display last week when the Bruins beat Fairview, 49-28, when Fox ran for 258 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries, and Vodicka completed 12 of 15 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns, including a 76-yard TD bomb to Lovett.

“(Fairview coach) Tom McCartney didn’t give me much intel other than to say, ‘Creek is the perfect high school football team; the best I have ever seen,’ ” Sanford said. “I said, ‘Gee, thanks, Tom.’ “

Despite the accolades and his program’s incredible success, Bruins coach Dave Logan knows his team had better be prepared for the Eagles.

“Valor’s a really talented team that is well-coached, and it’s a huge challenge for us,” Logan said. “In unison, it will be the best offensive line we have faced this year. They are playing their best football now. We are going to have to be at our best to beat them.”

Creek suffered a huge loss last week in its victory over Fairview. Junior guard Jackson Rober — who already has 20 colleges interested in him — went down on Creek’s first play from scrimmage, suffering a spiral fracture of the fibula and tibia in his left leg. Fortunately, he did not suffer ligament damage.

It will be up to longtime offensive line coach Det Betti to find someone to plug the hole and, perhaps, alter Creek’s blocking scheme.

Running backs, provided space by the big boys up front, generate the headlines in prep football. Fox, speedy and elusive, has rushed for 1,414 yards and 20 TDs. Valor counters with the senior tandem of Chase Hanosh (1,370 yards and 13 TDs) and Channing Fox (612 yards, 12 TDs).

Logan calls Fox the best running back in the state, and Creek is likely going to give him the ball often on Saturday — even though Valor is well aware of what’s coming.

“Jayden Fox is a great running back, but where he’s lethal is on the edge,” Sanford said. “They love running the toss play to him. They have a set of plays that is essentially ‘student body left, student body right,’ from the old days of USC football. If you don’t have an answer for it, it’s going to be a bloodbath.”

Creek’s Miller is confident his fellow offensive linemen will move mountains and advance to another state title game.

Said Miller: “I love what Coach Beatty always says. We are the type of team that, when everybody knows we are running the ball, we are still going to run the ball. It’s awesome. I remember last year, sealing the deal vs. Legend when he put together those winning drives in the second half, he said, ‘Everyone in the country knows we are going to run and we are still going to run that damn ball. So that’s exactly what we are planning to do.’ ”

When the 3-hour, 28-minute craziness ended, top-ranked and undefeated Creek was still standing, riding the exquisite talents of senior running back Jayden Fox to a 49-28 victory in the Class 5A quarterfinals.

The Bruins (12-0) will host rival Valor (10-2) in next week’s semifinals (Nov. 29, 1 p.m.). Fifth-seeded Valor escaped with a 31-30 victory over No. 4 Legend on Saturday.

Fox, who’s headed to UNLV after decommitting from UConn, ran for 258 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries — an average of 21.5 yards per carry. He also caught three passes for 77 yards. Never mind that Fox had two touchdowns called back because of penalties. After his first four touches, Fox had 103 yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s an absolute blessing to be on his team and be able to hand the ball off to him for these last four years,” said senior quarterback and Louisiana Tech commit Brady Vodicka. “Every time I hand off to him, it seems like he makes an incredible play. People think he’s small (5-foot-11, 178 pounds) and that he can’t do all of this, but he proves people wrong. He’s got a dog mentality and doesn’t let anything stop him. He’s a fighter.”

Fox’s most brilliant run came with just under 9 minutes left in the second quarter. On his 64-yard TD jaunt, he pulled off two 360-degree spins and stiff-armed a would-be tackler to the turf.

“He’s been in this offense for four years, and he came in about 145 pounds,” Creek coach Dave Logan said. “But you could tell, even back then, that he was special. He’s got great vision, he’s got great acceleration, and he’s tough. To me, he’s the best back in our state. We ride him.”

Vodicka put on a show of his own, completing 12 of 15 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns, including a 76-yard TD bomb to senior wide receiver Max Lovett to put the Bruins ahead 14-7 late in the first quarter. Lovett finished with three catches for 142 yards and two TDs.

Creek needed every bit of its firepower because Fairview’s explosive offense was rarely contained. Elusive junior quarterback Ki Ellison was sensational, and his scrambling and ability to throw on the run left Creek’s big defensive linemen gasping for breath in the second half.

Ellison’s main target was senior wide receiver Toray Davis. The duo connected for eight catches and 179 yards. The most stunning was Davis’ diving, 45-yard catch at Creek’s 1-yard line to set up a TD plunge by senior Peyton Pacheco to pull Fairview within a touchdown midway through the second half.

“Listen, that’s as good a passing attack as we’ve seen in this state in a long, long time,” Logan said. “Their quarterback is a phenomenal player. And (Davis) is every bit the guy who’s going to visit the University of Texas this weekend. Fairview has got some dudes, so we knew it would be this kind of game. I’m proud of our team.”

Plus, the Knights converted three onside kicks — subsequently converting two into touchdown drives — leaving Logan to admit that his team “must clean things up.”

“We need to be so much better in so many different areas,” Logan said. “They onside kicked three times and got all three. That’s not good. I saw it last year in Dallas, and it almost cost us a win against Highland Park. That’s something we have to get fixed, and we will.”

Cherry Creek put the game away for good in the middle of the fourth quarter. Senior defensive back Jake Kim picked off a Davis pass at the Knights’ 33-yard line, and two plays later, Vodicka hooked up with senior tight end Ty Goettsche for a 29-yard TD pass down the sidelines.

“I knew it was a one-on-one matchup, so I pressed on the coverage and once the ball was in the air, I knew it was mine,” Kim said of this pick. “But man, their quarterback is a dog. Our D-line has been known all season for getting pressure, but this was the longest I had to guard (receivers).”

Fairview came out throwing haymakers, dazing the Bruins in the early going. The Knights opened the game with a seven-play, 80-yard drive, highlighted by Ellison’s slant pass to Davis that turned into a 44-yard gain. One play later, Ellison threw a strike to senior Sabi Ruttgers in the back of the end zone.

Fairview shocked Creek with a subsequent onside kick, which Tommy Bauer recovered at the Creek 35. Fairview should have been up 14-0, but Ellison’s pass to a wide-open receiver was dropped in the end zone.

Despite all the talent and acrobatic plays on the field, the game was marred by overzealous officiating. There were 26 penalty flags thrown and four touchdowns wiped out, three for Cherry Creek and one for Fairview.