Chatfield football edges Columbine in low-scoring affair at Jeffco Stadium

LAKEWOOD — Chatfield football ended a streak that has lasted nearly a decade.

The Chargers edged cross-town rival Columbine 7-3 on Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. Chatfield had lost its previous five meeting against the Rebels. The last win over Columbine was back in 2017.

“Columbine has had our number for a long, long, long time,” said Chatfield coach Kris Rosholt after his first victory over the Chargers since he took over the program in 2022. “Columbine is a tough, tough team. I’m just proud of my boys that they fought all the way to the end.”

After a scoreless first half, Chatfield (3-2, 2-0 in Class 5A Southwest Metro League) finally broke the ice with a 15-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Kai Hall to junior Van Miller with 7:57 left in the third quarter.

The biggest play of the drive that helped set up the touchdown was a 35-yard catch from Hall to junior Brigg Jones on a 3rd-and-12 play.

“I love our quarterback. Kai Hall is the truth,” Jones said. “We’ve been repping that play the whole week. We just had to execute it in the game and we did.”

Columbine (3-2, 1-1) did answer with its deepest drive of the game. The Rebels drove down to Chatfield’s 10-yard line, but couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone. Columbine had to settle for a 31-yard field goal by senior Connor Kaali-Nagy to cut Chatfield’s lead to 7-3 with 1:12 left in the third quarter.

The Rebels got the ball back after an interception by senior Andres Casas early in the fourth quarter, but Columbine couldn’t cash in the turnover. The 3-point output was the lowest for the Rebels this season.

“When we played them the last couple of years it has been that way,” Rosholt said of the low-scoring affair. “In the fourth quarter they had kind of worn us out. We knew if we could keep it tight, keep it close and finish we would close it out.”

Rosholt did something a little different this week. He had his starting offense run scout team to give his defense a more realistic look of what Columbine was throw at the Chargers. Chatfield also went full pads all week.

“We stopped (shutout) them at halftime, but we had to keep it going,” Jones said of holding Columbine to three points.

Columbine had one last chance in the final minute, but a fourth-down pass from Chatfield’s 37-yard fell incomplete.

“It is a great win. It’s the biggest win of my high school career,” Jones said. “We couldn’t let this streak hit a decade. We had to stop this streak. We won as a team.”

Columbine hits the road next week. The Rebels face ThunderRidge (4-1, 1-1) on Thursday, Oct. 1. The Grizzlies are coached by former Dakota Ridge and Pomona head football coach Jay Madden.

ThunderRidge defeated Arvada West 40-7 up at the North Area Athletic Complex on Friday night.

Chatfield also will be away from Jeffco Stadium next week. The Chargers face Rock Canyon (0-5, 0-2) on Friday, Oct. 2. Ralston Valley handed the Jaguars a 42-7 loss Thursday night.

Chatfield actually picked up its second victory when CHSAA officially announced that Cherry Creek had to forfeit its Zero Week victory against the Chargers. It was ruled that the Bruins played an ineligible player during Cherry Creek’s 28-15 win.

“When coach (Rosholt) told us at practice we were all so excited,” Jones said of hearing in news. “We knew that 2-2 was way better than 1-3. Now were are 3-2 and rolling to the end of the season.”

It was a tough week for Columbine’s football family with the sudden and unexpected passing of freshman football player Noah Vesich earlier in the week. Both Chatfield and Columbine teams lined the sidelines prior to kickoff to honor Vesich and have a moment of silence.