Cherry Creek senior Milo Hall (5) breaks into the open on a 30-yard run in the second half Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. Ralston Valley senior Andrew Wingard, left, hurdles a teammate during the pursuit of Hall. The Bruin running back had 27 carries for 276 yards and three touchdowns in Creek’s 27-15 victory in the Class 5A state semifinal game. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Milo Hall had a good feeling heading back to the North Area Athletic Complex for the Class 5A football state semifinal game Friday night.
The Cherry Creek senior running back has had mixed results at the NAAC over his career. He rushed for 170 yards last season in a regular season win over Pomona, but also had to swallow a tough 5A state quarterfinal loss as a freshman playing for Mullen.
Milo Hall had an explosive night. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
“I just had a feeling I was going to have a big game,” said Hall after rushing for 276 yards on 27 carries and scoring three touchdowns in the Bruins’ 27-15 victory over Ralston Valley. “I’m proud of the whole team. The defense played well. My line blocked. I’m proud of everyone.”
Creek (10-3) faces the winner of Valor Christian and Grandview in the 5A title game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Valor and Grandview square off in the other semifinal at 1 p.m. Saturday at Legacy Stadium in Aurora.
Hall scored a pair of first half touchdowns to give the Bruins a 17-7 halftime lead over previously undefeated Ralston Valley (12-1). A 47-yard run — his longest of the night — ended in the end zone midway through the second quarter to answer a 4-yard touchdown run minutes early by Ralston Valley junior Kyle Rush.
“I’ve been trying to recruit him (Hall) to go to Wyoming,” said Ralston Valley senior Andrew Wingard, who has already signed to play for the Cowboys next season. “He is slippery and bounces off tackles. It wasn’t all him. They have a great offensive line and then coach (Dave) Logan. He has a great track record and obviously knows what he is doing.”
Hall and Wingard have been two of the most dynamic players in the state this season. Hall went over the 2,000-yard mark for the season on the ground Friday and has 27 rushing touchdowns. While Wingard, a two-way player, had racked up more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 37 touchdowns this season for Ralston Valley.
Wingard was held to 85 yards on 19 carries Friday. For the first time all season Wingard was held out of the end zone.
“We needed to key off him (Wingard) and know where he was at all times,” Creek senior linebacker Desmond Marfizo said. “We wanted to make sure he didn’t get the edge on us and run free. He is pretty tough to stop, but we did it.”
The Mustangs could only muster up 223 yards of total offense. There wasn’t much doubt in Wingard’s mind of who will be hoisting the 5A state trophy next Saturday and Sports Authority Field.
“Cherry Creek is going to take it all with that defense,” Wingard said. “They played so well tonight. They just swarm the ball. They played great.”
Ralston Valley did close within two scores with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter on a 39-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Chase Heffley and two-point conversion run by Rush. However, Hall and DJ Luke were able to grind out a couple of first downs to milk the clock.
Cherry Creek senior Mike Morean intercepted Heffley with less than two minutes to play to seal the victory.
Mike Morean makes the game-sealing interception in the fourth quarter. More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
“I’m really proud of the kids on both sides of the ball. Ralston Valley is a really good team,” Logan said. “We played as hard as we could possibly play. We knew we had to do that to come up here and get a win.”
Friday was the first meeting on the football field between Cherry Creek and Ralston Valley. The two programs have scrimmaged against each other during the past three years.
With Creek advancing to next week’s title game, Logan will have coached four different prep football programs — Arvada West, Chatfield, Mullen and Cherry Creek — to championship games in the highest classification since 1997. Coincidentally, Logan’s first coaching title at A-West in 1997 was a year after Cherry Creek’s last football title in 1996. The Bruins won eight football championships from 1982 to 1996.
“Honestly, it’s not about me. It’s about this program and this group of kids that have worked really hard,” Logan said of taking another different prep football program back to the title game. “They have continued to get better week-by-week. We played a killer schedule. We’ve been able to get a little better each week.”
The Bruins’ last trip to the championship game came in 2008 — a game in which Logan coached Mullen to a 20-16 victory against Cherry Creek. It was the second of four titles Mullen won during Logan’s tenure with the Mustangs.
Ralston Valley has come close to advancing to football championship games in both the 4A and 5A classifications since the Arvada-area school opened in 2000, but hasn’t been able to get past the semifinals.
Cherry Creek players celebrate winning the game on Friday night. More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)