Cherry Creek football dynasty rolls on as Bruins blast Ralston Valley in Class 5A championship

FORT COLLINS Cherry Creek remains Colorado high school football s unreachable bar The Bruins blasted Ralston Valley - on Saturday in the Class A 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 th title and gave head coach Dave Logan his th crown The two marks padded Colorado big-school and coaching records respectively Quarterback Brady Vodicka of the Cherry Creek Bruins runs in a touchdown against Ralston Valley Mustangs during the A high school football state championship encounter on Saturday Dec at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins Colo Photo by Timothy Hurst The Denver Post In the Bruins span of consecutive championship games since Logan s squad is - 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 stated that although the Bruins made the path to another title look easy it wasn t consistently effortless as Cherry Creek answered the bell numerous times throughout the fall We beat a really good Florida group in Orlando we beat a good club 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 commented When you get so used to winning and you get the proverbial punch in the face how your organization answers is indicative of the character of the company When this unit has been challenged by good teams we ascertained 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 - comeback win over Valor Christian last week Cherry Creek raced to a - lead midway through the second quarter as Ralston Valley had no answers on either side of the ball Running back Jayden Fox of the Cherry Creek Bruins runs in a long touchdown during the A high school football state championship contest against the Ralston Valley Mustangs on Saturday Dec at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins Colo Photo by Timothy Hurst The Denver Post 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 -yard TD run to open the floodgates On the Bruins next possession Fox ripped off a -yard TD run on th and 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 transiting 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 declared We grabbed the momentum from the opening drive and never looked back Tight end Ty Goettsche of the Cherry Creek Bruins celebrates a touchdown reception against the Ralston Valley Mustangs during the A high school football state championship battle on Saturday Dec at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins Colo Photo by Timothy Hurst The Denver Post Already up - Cherry Creek added on via Brady Vodicka s -yard TD pass to tight end Ty Goettsche to make it a three-TD competition as the Ralston Valley crowd went entirely 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- total yards The Bruins then made it - after converting a rd and with a -yard pass from Vodicka to Max Lovett followed by a -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 contest s MVP The Louisiana Tech commit finished of for yards and TDs passing with a QBR plus yards and a TD on the ground It marked his fourth straight title event appearance as he emerged as a driving force in Cherry Creek s newest dominance years after getting pulled at halftime in the Bruins title success over Valor Christian as a freshman in I knew it was the best for the band that event for me to get pulled and that I was going to come back stronger Vodicka revealed To get to this match all four years and win the last two I couldn t ask for anything else Ralson Valley s offense absolutely unveiled 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 -yard TD catch to keep the Bruins lead at a safe distance We knew we had to get another touchdown on that drive Vodicka mentioned I knew the matchup saw the coverage and we executed it Defensive end Caden Holles of the Cherry Creek Bruins sacks quarterback Zeke Andrews of the Ralston Valley Mustangs during the A high school football state championship championship on Saturday Dec at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins Colo Photo by Timothy Hurst The Denver Post In the second half the contest was briefly more even but Ralston Valley had dug itself too big of a hole to climb out of in the scheme s first title appearance We had a pretty bad start but I m proud of this unit for continuing to fight and to have several positive things happen in the contest Ralston Valley head coach Jared Yannacito reported It could ve very easily been a running clock but we made a few plays This is a process for this activity 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 uncovered the endzone thanks to Andrews -yard TD pass to Brady Warren cutting the outcome to - with left in the frame But the Bruins responded with Vodicka s -yard TD run to again give them cushion at - 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 mentioned Fox proceeded to rush for his third TD of the day this time from yards out That pushed the UCLA signee over the -yard mark and made it - in the waning seconds of the third Fox averaged yards per carry in the competition That TD run was a sealer Fox commented 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 Constituents Schools which saw Pomona win the Class A crown on a dramatic walk-off field goal and then Dakota Ridge cruise to its first title in Class A Cherry Creek added on with tight end Anthony Betti s TD reception midway through the fourth to achieve the -burger With the Bruins th title only small-town Limon has more football championships The Badgers won their Colorado record rd title this fall Logan promised the Bruins wouldn t be resting on their laurels Cherry Creek will again be the heavy championship favorite in 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 stated You appreciate what has been accomplished but after the holiday season it s time to move on