Cherry Creek senior left tackle Oliver Miller is a 6-foot-7, 295-pound bulldozer. Valor Christian senior left tackle Kannon Smith is a 6-6, 295-pound tank. They are talented movers and shakers, emblematic of the trench battles expected to decide Saturday’s Class 5A semifinals at Stutler Bowl.
“The argument in the state goes, ‘Who’s got the better offensive line, Valor or Cherry Creek?’ ” Valor coach Mike Sanford said. “I know that I love my offensive line, but that crew over there is really big and good. It’s almost like that Spider-Man meme where two Spider-Men are pointing at each other. It’s pretty cool.”
No. 1 Cherry Creek (12-0) smashed the Eagles 42-17 in last year’s semifinals and is chasing its eighth consecutive championship game appearance. The Bruins have won five of the previous six big-school titles. No. 5 Valor (10-2) owns eight state titles but has not won since 2018.
The Eagles lost to the other semifinalists — No. 2 Ralston Valley and No. 3 Mountain Vista — earlier this season, but make no mistake, the Eagles are always gunning for Creek.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better matchup this week,” said junior right tackle Reis Russell, the son of legendary University of Colorado linebacker Matt Russell. “When the bracket was getting figured out, we wanted to be on Creek’s side. We are so fired up.”
Ditto, Sanford, who was pointing toward the Bruins even before Valor squeezed out a thrilling, 31-30 win over Legend in last Saturday’s quarterfinals.
“That could have backfired on me and our program, but that’s what I told the boys last week when we were getting ready to play Legend,” Sanford said. “Legend is one of the most talented teams in the state, but my whole thought process getting ready for the Legend game was that we wanted to beat Legend solely for the reason that we wanted to play Cherry.”
The feeling is mutual.
“Every week, I try to find something to hate about the team that we are playing, and that definitely isn’t hard this week,” Miller said. “I will be the most powerful and passionate player I can be on that field on Saturday.”
Miller is headed to Kansas State on a football scholarship, while Smith is headed to Southern California. They are just two of the next-level players who’ll lineup on Saturday.
“I think there will be, eventually, about 20 future Division I players on that field on Saturday,” Sanford said. “It’s unreal.”
According to 247 Sports, Creek has eight D-I players on its roster, including running back Jayden Fox (UNLV), quarterback Brady Vodicka (Louisiana Tech), tight end Ty Goettsche (BYU) and wide receiver Max Lovett (K-State).
That talent was on full display last week when the Bruins beat Fairview, 49-28, when Fox ran for 258 yards and four touchdowns on just 12 carries, and Vodicka completed 12 of 15 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns, including a 76-yard TD bomb to Lovett.
“(Fairview coach) Tom McCartney didn’t give me much intel other than to say, ‘Creek is the perfect high school football team; the best I have ever seen,’ ” Sanford said. “I said, ‘Gee, thanks, Tom.’ “
Despite the accolades and his program’s incredible success, Bruins coach Dave Logan knows his team had better be prepared for the Eagles.
“Valor’s a really talented team that is well-coached, and it’s a huge challenge for us,” Logan said. “In unison, it will be the best offensive line we have faced this year. They are playing their best football now. We are going to have to be at our best to beat them.”
Creek suffered a huge loss last week in its victory over Fairview. Junior guard Jackson Rober — who already has 20 colleges interested in him — went down on Creek’s first play from scrimmage, suffering a spiral fracture of the fibula and tibia in his left leg. Fortunately, he did not suffer ligament damage.
It will be up to longtime offensive line coach Det Betti to find someone to plug the hole and, perhaps, alter Creek’s blocking scheme.
Running backs, provided space by the big boys up front, generate the headlines in prep football. Fox, speedy and elusive, has rushed for 1,414 yards and 20 TDs. Valor counters with the senior tandem of Chase Hanosh (1,370 yards and 13 TDs) and Channing Fox (612 yards, 12 TDs).
Logan calls Fox the best running back in the state, and Creek is likely going to give him the ball often on Saturday — even though Valor is well aware of what’s coming.
“Jayden Fox is a great running back, but where he’s lethal is on the edge,” Sanford said. “They love running the toss play to him. They have a set of plays that is essentially ‘student body left, student body right,’ from the old days of USC football. If you don’t have an answer for it, it’s going to be a bloodbath.”
Creek’s Miller is confident his fellow offensive linemen will move mountains and advance to another state title game.
Said Miller: “I love what Coach Beatty always says. We are the type of team that, when everybody knows we are running the ball, we are still going to run the ball. It’s awesome. I remember last year, sealing the deal vs. Legend when he put together those winning drives in the second half, he said, ‘Everyone in the country knows we are going to run and we are still going to run that damn ball. So that’s exactly what we are planning to do.’ ”
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