Chatfield senior Ben Frenette (23) attempts to break through several Wheat Ridge tacklers Thursday. Frenette rushed for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns in the Chargers’ win. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
LAKEWOOD — It was the Ben Frenette Show on Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium.
Chatfield’s senior running back rushed 17 times for 228 yards and three touchdowns in the Chargers’ 52-7 win over Wheat Ridge. It was the first home game of the season for Chatfield (2-1 record), ranked No. 5 in the latest CHSAANow.com Class 4A football poll.
“He (Frenette) is a good back. We were down one of our better linemen tonight. I’m glad they all stepped up,” Chatfield coach Brett McGatlin said. “Ben bailed us out quite a bit in making some great runs. I was impressed with him.”
Frenette’s most striking run of the night came on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. The senior broke off a 75-yard touchdown run where he broke a number a tackles near the Chargers’ sideline before breaking into the open field and sprinting into the end zone.
Chatfield senior Ben Frenette (23) celebrates his first of three touchdowns. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
The longest of his three touchdown runs made the score 31-7 and was the first of four third-quarter touchdown for the Chargers.
“Honestly, I credit to my offensive line,” Frenette said. “I know that’s cliche, but they put in the hours. I can’t thank them enough.”
Chatfield ended the night with six touchdown runs. Senior Brandon Anderson had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs and senior Chandler Callejo broke off a 32-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
Back-up quarterback Zack Yanda tossed a 51-yard touchdown pass to senior Josh Cronin on the final play of the third quarter to give Chatfield a 45-point lead an induce a running clock for the rest of the game.
It was a big turnaround for Chatfield after being tied 7-7 through the first quarter of play.
“(Wheat Ridge) did a good job getting into the game. For us we were stunned a little bit,” McGatlin said of Wheat Ridge tying it up late in the first quarter. “I liked how we came out in the second half. We came out on fire in the third quarter.”
Wheat Ridge’s lone touchdown came late in the first quarter. Junior quarterback Anthony Tate connected with senior Naishon Thomas for a 16-yard touchdown pass late with 22 seconds left in the quarter to action tie things up 7-7.
Wheat Ridge quarterback Anthony Tate (4) gets a pass away. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Chatfield’s defense shutout the Farmers’ offense on Wheat Ridge’s final seven drives of the game with content pressure on Tate and bottling up senior running back Payton Dietrich, who rushed for 129 yards and three touchdowns in the Farmers’ 47-6 win two weeks ago against Palmer.
“Our team has been really good at being positive in situations like that,” Frenette said of the early struggles. “We’ve gotten really good at keeping our heads up and not worrying about the score. We just do what we have to do.”
Ahead for Chatfield is cross-town rival Columbine. The Chargers face the Rebels next Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. It should be one of the better 4A versus 5A non-league games in the state this season. Columbine is ranked No. 4 in 5A and play their homecoming game tomorrow (4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15) against Bear Creek at Jeffco Stadium.
“It’s always going to be physical when you play Columbine. We have a longer week and we’ll go watch (Columbine) play tomorrow,” said McGatlin, who was an assistant coach under Columbine coach Andy Lowry several years ago. “It’s a great week for our community. It’s a friendly rivalry and it will make us better no matter what.”
Frenette admits is will be “a different monster” facing Columbine next week.
After playing three 4A top-10 ranked teams to start the season, Wheat Ridge (1-3) has a bye week coming up. The Farmers return to action against Dakota Ridge on Thursday, Sept. 28, at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.
Chatfield’s Cole Ingersoll (2) breaks into the open field during a return against Wheat Ridge on Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)