A solid running game and a stiff defense are a couple of main components for a successful football playoff run.
Bear Creek might have very well found both just in time.
The Bears (7-3 overall, 4-1 in the Class 5A Jeffco League) used a potent one-two running attack punch of senior Bobby Ellis and junior Riley Newcomer to go along with a stingy defense that has allowed more than 20 points only three times this season to defeat Arvada West 35-21 in both teams’ regular season finales Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
“I think it’s the most complete game we’ve played all year,” Bear Creek coach Tom Thenell said. “I think we’ve got the best defense in Jefferson County.”
That defense ripped away the No. 2 seed from Jeffco and an automatic playoff berth for A-West (6-4, 2-3). Early in the second quarter it appeared that the Wildcats were going to take a two-score lead, but Bear Creek junior linebacker Robert Cordero stripped the ball from A-West sophomore running back Chris Biren at the goal line.
Cordero came out of the pile with the football and the referees ruled it as a fumble, giving possession to the Bears.
“We practice that all the time,” Cordero said. “One grabs the runner and everyone else tries to strip the ball. It paid off today.”
Biren, who had to be the workhorse in the backfield because of a sprained ankle that starting running back Scott Sanchez suffered last week, believed that his forward momentum had already been stopped and the play should have been blown dead.
“Apparently the refs didn’t see it that way,” Biren said. “That is how it goes sometimes.”
The teams were locked in a 21-21 tie at halftime, but the Bears clinched the victory with two long rushing touchdowns by Newcomer and Ellis in the fourth quarter. Newcomer, who finished the night with 19 carries for 155 yards and three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving), scored on a 65-yard touchdown run to put the Bears ahead for good at 28-21 with 9:23 left in the fourth quarter.
Ellis scored on a 25-yard run with 3:32 left in the game to put the game on ice. The senior tailback had 19 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown.
“The offensive line did a great job,” Newcomer said. “The running lanes were there. We (Newcomer and Ellis) just saw them and had a big game.”
A-West had to go with its third-string quarterback, junior Jovan Mays, in the second half because of a concession suffered late in the first half by quarterback Tyler Thyfault. The Wildcats were already without their regular starting quarterback Sean McDougal for the remainder of the season because of an off-field injury.
“He (Thyfault) was dinged and just out of it,” A-West coach Casey Coons said. “We had to go with Jovan (Mays).”
Mays did a solid job guiding the Wildcats on a 65-yard scoring drive on A-West’s first possession of the second half. Bear Creek quickly adjusted to the new quarterback and didn’t allow A-West to score on its final four offensive touches.
Bear Creek senior Cahn Wadhams intercepted Mays twice in the fourth quarter, including on the final play of the game.
“I’m so proud of this team,” Thenell said. “We came into the game understanding that our playoffs started tonight. Maybe that’s an advantage for us because we played a playoff game tonight and we won. We know what that feels like and how to prepare.”
The Bears will get a tough first-round test against Cherry Creek (9-1). The game will be played at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12, at the Stutler Bowl.
“We feel confident, but we have to have a good week of practice,” Cordero said. “Or focus this week was just amazing.”
Coons thought the Wildcats had a good chance to make the playoffs through the wild-card system despite the loss. But when all the calculating was done in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s offices, A-West came out on the short end of the stick.
The Wildcats finished 0.3 wild-card points behind Fairview (6-4) for the final playoff spot.