ARVADA — Instead of attacking the guy with the football, Chatfield senior Avery DeWeese got the opportunity to tote the rock Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound defensive end opened the scoring against Arvada West with a 5-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. It began a scoring binge for the Chargers that ended in a dominating 42-0 win in the Class 5A Jeffco League opener.
“The touchdown,” DeWeese said of his rushing score trumping his sacks on the night. “I have always wanted to score a touchdown. I haven’t played running back since my freshman year. It was just a special moment.”
Chatfield played the role of spoiler on homecoming night for A-West. The Chargers poured it on in the second half after grabbing a 14-0 lead a halftime with DeWeese’s touchdown run and a punt return for another score by senior Dagan Myers just before halftime.
Photo by Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
“Special teams is a big focus for this team,” Myers said of his 46-yard punt return for a score minutes after DeWeese’s touchdown. “All the blockers did great. I really didn’t need to make a play on it. It was all the blockers.”
Myers — son of former Colorado State University all-American safety Greg Myers, who played five years in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys — sprinted past the A-West sideline after fielding the short punt to continue the wave of touchdowns for Chatfield.
“That was a big momentum swing for us. We needed that,” Chatfield coach Kris Rosholt said of the punt return by Myers.
The Chargers’ offense got going in the second half with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to extend the lead to 28-0.
Chatfield quarterback Jake Jones hooked up with senior Drew Rohlman for a 33-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half. Rohlman had three touchdown catches the previous week in a 45-21 victory over rival Dakota Ridge.
Jones pushed it to a four-touchdown lead with 1:13 left in the third quarter on a 41-yard touchdown run. In the opening minute of the fourth quarter Chatfield senior Ben Weber intercepted A-West sophomore quarterback Logan Duhachek and returned it for a touchdown to make it a 35-0 advantage for the Chargers.
“The defense took what happened last week to heart. They felt like they didn’t play their best against Dakota,” Rosholt said of the Chargers giving up 21 points to Dakota Ridge. “They put together a really good week of practice and hats off to my defensive coaching staff for putting together a great game plan.”
The scoring ended and running clock started when junior running back Cory Bahl added his first rushing touchdown of the night from 14 yards out with just over 7 minutes to play. Bahl was the workhorse all night long in the Chargers’ running game.
Chatfield — No. 6 in the Class 5A CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index at the start of Friday night action — was riding a 2-game winning streak heading into conference play. The Chargers’ lone loss during non-league was a 34-17 loss to No. 1 ranked Cherry Creek (6-0) back on Sept. 8.
“We have had issues putting four quarters together and playing good in all three phases (offense, defense and special teams),” DeWeese admitted. “We did all three tonight and I think we got a little peek at what our potential can be as a team. I’m utterly pumped for the rest of the season.”
Chatfield is back home next Friday night. The Chargers host Pomona (0-6, 0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at Jeffco Stadium. The win Friday kept the Chargers up with conference favorites Columbine (6-0, 1-0) and Ralston Valley (5-1, 1-0) in the race in one of the toughest leagues in 5A.
“Prior to playing high school football I had no idea how good Jeffco football was,” DeWeese said. “I have a lot of respect for all of our teams in our conference.”
A-West will also be at Jeffco Stadium on Friday and will attempt to end its current 3-game losing streak. The Wildcats square off against Lakewood (0-6, 0-1) at 4 p.m. Oct. 6 at Jeffco Stadium.
