Tufanua Ionatana Umu-Cais had Pee Wee offensive linemen shaking in their cleats.
An enormous and physical athlete in his middle school days, Cherry Creek’s star defensive tackle demanded everyone’s attention.
UConn-bound running back Jayden Fox can still vividly recall being on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage from his now-high school teammate. Needless to say, it left an impression.
“I remember him always grunting on the line before we hiked the ball,” Fox recalled with a laugh. “My O-line was scared of him. Like petrified. We had to come up with a game plan to double-team him, or we’d run to the outside and avoid him on the inside. He was nearly impossible to block one-on-one.”
Not much has changed in the years since.
Umu-Cais is now the top-ranked prospect in Colorado’s Class of 2026, according to 24/7 Sports, and MaxPreps listed him as the best player in the state heading into this season.
A four-year impact player for powerhouse Cherry Creek, he is the defensive centerpiece of the Bruins’ hopes for an eighth straight Class 5A title game appearance and sixth championship since 2019.
Last year, when the Bruins edged Legend 13-10 at Canvas Stadium to reclaim the 5A title they lost to Columbine the year before, the only thing that had a chance at stopping Umu-Cais was sickness. The 6-foot-2, 295-pounder had come down with the flu the week leading up to the game, including a fever that peaked the day before.
He didn’t practice that week, but Umu-Cais got an IV on championship Saturday and rallied off the canvas, playing both ways at nose tackle and right guard. In Cherry Creek’s grind-it-out win, Umu-Cais helped the Bruins erase a 10-0 halftime deficit and control of the line of scrimmage over the final two quarters to win.
The performance underscored Umu-Cais’ ascension from a big kid with lots of potential to a coveted prospect with dozens of FBS scholarship offers.
“He’s a good technician. He reads O-line play really well. He’s a weight room kid,” Cherry Creek head coach Dave Logan explained. “As a freshman, you were impressed by his size. He was probably 260 pounds. We threw him in varsity games, and he held his own against teams with big, strong linemen, so that’s when we knew his potential.
“But then you have to develop it. You just don’t let him go for four years, and then all of a sudden you’ve got a great player. He worked at this. Our defensive line coaches, Jarvis Moss, a former Bronco, and Cedric Mauga, have done a terrific job with him.”
Known as “TI” by coaches and teammates, Umu-Cais committed to play for Washington in the Big Ten last month. He chose the Huskies over his other finalists in CU, North Carolina, UCLA and Oklahoma after racking up 180 tackles and 8.5 sacks over the past three seasons.
He cited the Huskies’ NFL track record as a significant factor in his decision. In 2024, UW tied program records with three players selected in the first round and 10 total players drafted, including a Colorado product in offensive lineman and Valor Christian alum Roger Rosengarten.
“I want to play in the league,” Umu-Cais said. “That, plus the environment up there, their track record of winning, it was all just kind of a perfect formula for me.”
Umu-Cais’ family roots and support system have also been a driving reason for his success.
He displays that pride through the dog tag that hangs from his necklace and the tattoos on his left arm. Umu-Cais’ ink is a combination of Filipino and Samoan tribal tattoos that make up an entire sleeve. The defensive tackle said he sees “football as a monumental opportunity to put on for my culture.”
The dog tag is engraved with a portrait of his late grandmother, Vevesi Umu, which he has worn since she died in 2018.
“My grandma pretty much raised me,” Umu-Cais said. “She’s the reason why I’m doing everything that I’m doing now. She’s the one who first signed me up for football.”
As dominant as Umu-Cais is, he’s just one of a vast array of stars dotting the Cherry Creek roster.
The Bruins start the season ranked No. 1 in both the Post Preps and CHSAANow preseason rankings and are again the favorites in top-heavy Class 5A.
Fox (UConn), quarterback Brady Vodicka (Louisiana Tech), wideout Maxwell Lovett (Kansas State), right tackle Oliver Miller (Kansas State), edge Cade Holles (Fresno State) and linebacker Braylon Hodge (Michigan State) are a few of the other senior headliners. And sophomore running back Elijah Cromwell (MVP of the ’24 title game) is the highlight of the Bruins’ young talent.
But from Logan’s point of view, another loaded roster doesn’t guarantee anything.
He’s approaching his 33rd year of coaching Colorado high school football like the Bruins are coming off a losing campaign. In his 32 seasons so far, Logan’s been to 17 title games and won a state-record 12 championships, including becoming the only football coach in the U.S. to win rings at four schools.
“We are starting from scratch this year,” Logan said. “Because every now and then, you’ve got to have the why. My why, and what I challenged the coaching staff with, was, ‘How much time would you guys spend if you were 3-7?’
“That was my mantra the entire offseason in terms of getting prepared and getting this team ready to go, so we come in with a hunger level that is significant.”
Of course, Umu-Cais and his teammates have never known a losing season during their time at Creek.
The Bruins have lost only four times since he enrolled in the Greenwood Village school back in 2022, and only two of those losses were to in-state programs. Still, Umu-Cais insists the hunger remains.
“Creek has been an outstanding program for forever, and having big dudes up front (like myself) last year really helped us,” he said. “But this year, during the summer, in addition to size, we had a lot of dudes who just really worked hard and I feel like we are capitalizing on that.
“That’s what will take us the farthest, being a team working together.”
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