(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — Three minutes was all it took for Valor Christian to break through.
That’s how quick a drastic turn of events in the Class 5A state championship game lasted on Saturday at Mile High Stadium, awakening the perennial powerhouse the Eagles’ football team has become in a profound 30-14 win over Pomona.
That turning point, which came late in the first quarter, set the tone for Valor’s seventh state title in eight years. Before it was sparked, Pomona was playing strong early on with hopes of avenging last year’s loss in the 2016 rematch.
“We just knew we had to get something going,” said Valor senior linebacker Christian Elliss, who played a key role in the game’s turning point. “Things all started going our way so fast after that. One big play led to another and we kept feeding off it.”
Down 7-0 and being forced to punt on their first two possessions, the Eagles finally found the spark Elliss was referring to. Valor’s defense started to come up big, getting things going from senior Jack Walley, who picked off Pomona quarterback Ryan Marquez to halt the Panthers’ drive that reached the Valor 35-yard line.
That set up the Eagles’ first strike as senior quarterback Dylan McCaffrey connected with Elliss on a 61-yard bomb to put their first points on the board just moments later.
“We’ve told (the players) all year long that you can’t play with fear, and that you’re going to need to overcome some great teams,” Valor coach Rod Sherman said. “We had a couple big plays there in that stretch that really helped us do that.”
The Eagles still trailed, however, due to a blocked extra-point attempt following their initial strike.
But Valor’s defense didn’t let up, forcing another turnover when Elliss came up with an interception of his own on the other side of the ball just three plays after his touchdown. The second turnover in as many possessions provided the Eagles with excellent field position, taking over at the Pomona 5-yard line.
Sure enough, Valor capitalized on the opportunity it created for itself in form of a 5-yard touchdown pass from Dylan McCaffrey to his younger brother, Luke, who got open in the corner of the south end zone for the go-ahead score.
From there, the Eagles were in cruise control.
The swing in momentum that started a 13-7 lead for Valor rapidly escalated into a scoring series that busted the game open to as big as 30-7. Pomona surrendered 30 unanswered points after having an early lead that wasn’t broken until a late Panthers touchdown in the fourth quarter.
But by then, it had already been too late.
“This (state championship) feels better than all the rest because I feel like I did everything I could to help my brothers,” said Elliss, who also finished with five tackles and a sack. “I wanted to leave everything I had out here on the field, and I’m going home with an amazing feeling knowing I did that.”