FORT COLLINS — Facing a 10-0 deficit in the Class 5A title on Saturday at Canvas Stadium, Cherry Creek handed the ball to star running back Jayden Fox to get the Bruins going on the opening play of the second half.
Fox ripped off a 33-yard run to advance the Bruins to midfield, but was ankle-tackled at the end of the play. That aggravated the junior’s ankle injury from a few weeks earlier, and he limped off.
With Fox hobbled, Cherry Creek turned the keys over to Elijah Cromwell. The freshman sensation tallied two TDs and 102 yards rushing in the Bruins’ 13-10 comeback win en route to Most Outstanding Player honors.
“When I got hurt, I told Eli he has to put the team on his back, and he did it,” Jayden Fox said. “He played an amazing game and came through when we needed him. I’m proud of him.
“I saw during the summer that he never backed down from anyone. That (foreshadowed) him rising to the moment under the bright lights.”
Cromwell was a star in middle school, but to make an impact on varsity at Colorado’s largest high school is another matter.
Bruins head coach Dave Logan noticed several differentiators in Cromwell that allowed him to see the field early. Cherry Creek used him as a slot receiver to start the season before his carries escalated down the stretch.
Cromwell’s atypical strength and stature for a freshman (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) also contributed to his quick assimilation to the varsity level.
“The thing that struck me about him was he was competitive from Day 1,” Logan said. “Quiet, got in the playbook, got better with every rep, was a weight-room kid. For a ninth grader to come in with a really mature outlook, that struck me.”
Cromwell’s commitment ran right up to the championship game. Quarterback Brady Vodicka noted the freshman got in a predawn workout at the school on Friday.
As Cromwell tells it, that was just part of “trying to take advantage of every single opportunity that I got.” He also credited Fox’s tutelage.
“(Fox) encouraged me a lot,” Cromwell said. “This whole year, I watched the way he runs, the way he does things. I’m thankful for him. He helped prepare me for this moment.”
But the freshman wasn’t the only reason Cherry Creek won, despite the Bruins playing relatively poorly compared to their first three playoff games, which they won by an average of 24.3 points.
Vodicka’s steadiness was also key, as was the stout play of Cherry Creek’s defensive line, which helped shut out the Titans in the second half while limiting Legend star running back Jaden Lawrence to 24 yards on 12 carries.
Vodicka’s stat line wasn’t sexy — 11 of 20 for 110 yards — but his performance marked a redemptive big-game moment for the QB. He was pulled at half of the title game as a freshman. Then in last year’s championship loss to Columbine, the Bruins offense was shut out in three of the four quarters.
The QB’s two best throws went to Bruins senior wideout Jeremiah Hoffman. The first one was a dime that went through Hoffman’s hands near the goal line on a go route in the first half. The second one was a jump ball for Hoffman, who came down with it in double coverage for a 42-yard catch that set up Cromwell’s game-winning rushing TD late in the third quarter.
That’s why it was appropriate that Vodicka was in the center of the celebration scrum immediately after the game. The quarterback who has started since his freshman year finally had a defining moment as he raised the trophy while being mobbed by teammates.
“I used all of those experiences over the past couple years as a great learning experience, and I used it to fuel me,” said Vodicka, who has offers from Marshall, UNLV and Washington State.
“I knew the standard this program has, and I knew I had to keep working to match it. No matter what happened — if I got pulled in a title, if we lost it — it all helped me get to where we are right now.”
And while Vodicka and Cromwell shone on offense in the second half, Cherry Creek’s defensive line stifled the Titans’ run-heavy offense.
In addition to limiting Lawrence, Legend’s other tailback Ryken Banks was held to 30 yards on nine carries. The Titans finished with just 68 rushing yards overall, compared to Cherry Creek’s 193.
The Bruins’ defensive front was headlined by senior edge Keegan Perea, a Nevada commit, as well as junior lineman Tufanua Ionatana Umu-Cais. “TI” currently has 21 Division I offers, most of them from Power 4s, and anticipates making his college decision before his senior season. He played both ways for the Bruins this season while also starting at right guard.
In the second level, senior linebacker Ashton Shepardson led the Bruins with eight tackles.
“Me, TI and senior lineman Jack Francis feel like we’re definitely the leaders of the defense up front,” Perea said. “It starts with us up there, and we believed if we played well, we could bottle up their run. That paved the way to allowing our offense to come back.”
