(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — If there is a way to beat someone, Jacob Burr is going to find it. The Grandview quarterback was elusive on the ground and opportunistic through the air to help Class 5A No. 4 Grandview football beat No. 7 Eaglecrest 14-11.
With each win, the Wolves are further staking their claim as a legitimate contender for the 5A championship.
Thursday night was the latest example. Against an undefeated cross-town rival, the Wolves (5-0 overall, 1-0 Metro East) had to battle a little tougher than they’ve been forced to all year. But it was a battle they were willing to take on.
“That’s a big game,” Burr said. “It’s our first league game, it’s a rivalry game and we got the victory.”
From the very start of the game, it looked like it was going to be Grandview’s night. The Raptors (5-1, 0-1) tried to knock Grandview off its feet with a deep pass on the first play of the game.
Max Marsh’s pass was intercepted by Kahden Rullo. But that’s not where Grandview started causing damage. The first quarter ended with neither team finding points and it looked for a while as though scoring overall was going to be difficult.
Two red zone trips for the Wolves resulted in zero points as a field goal was missed wide left, then another sailed wide right.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
That’s when Burr decided enough was enough. He started utilizing his feet, gaining 101 yards on the ground in the first half. That single yard over the century mark came on a one-yard touchdown run to put the Wolves up 7-0 heading into halftime.
“That was big for momentum going into the locker room,” Burr said. “We didn’t want to in there at 0-0. We wanted to go in on top and that’s what we did.”
To start the second half, it was Eaglecrest forcing the early turnover as the Wolves fumbled on the second play of their drive putting the Raptors on offense. But without wide receiver Ty Robinson, who left the game in the first half with an apparent leg injury, Eaglecrest had problems moving down the field. Their first points of the game came on a 39-yard field goal from AJ Heber.
Burr responded with just two passing plays, a 41-yard strike to Evan Johnson followed by a 33-yard touchdown pass to Noah Salazar.
“We had that one drive in the second half where we threw a little bit,” coach John Schultz said. “We just weren’t accurate enough to keep doing it.”
Staying committed to the run was the plan, but Eaglecrest was up to the task. Aside from Burr’s performance in the first half there was little give on the ground for the Raptors and it’s something that coach Shawn Marsh was happy to see.
“I was very happy from a defensive standpoint,” he said. “We’ve struggled a bit and we’ve battled through so many injuries and those kids tonight went out and battled.
The Raptors finally found the end zone on a six-yard pass from Marsh to David Creal. The two-point conversion was good, but the Raptors couldn’t recover the onside kick and with no timeouts could no longer stop the clock.
The way the game played out will leave each team chomping at the bit to see each other again, much like they did a year ago. But for now, the Wolves will happily the win with them as they prepare to hang with the top teams in the state for the remainder of the year.
With just three points deciding this one, it turned out to be the game the two rivals thought they would have all along.
“Just another Grandview/Eaglecrest football game,” Schultz said. “Down to the last second.”