FORT COLLINS – At least 10 Cherry Creek football players signed to play college football earlier this week, and up to six are leaving school early to enroll at those universities. So, Saturday night was truly a last hurrah for several of the Bruins, and they didn’t disappoint.
Cherry Creek’s prolific offense put on a clinic, piling up 520 yards to defeat Ralston Valley 56-28 at Canvas Stadium on the campus of Colorado State University. It’s the second consecutive state championship and sixth in the past seven years for the Bruins. It was the most dominant win in that span, eclipsing the 35-10 victory over Columbine in 2019 in terms of both point total and margin of victory, as well as the most points scored by the Bruins in their numerous state championship appearances.
Cherry Creek coach Dave Logan said it’s difficult to compare the many championship teams in the program’s history, but he conceded that the skill players are “unique.”
“I thought Brady (Vodicka) threw the ball exceptionally well and the receivers made some great catches,” Logan said. “Just all in all a great team win.”
Vodicka threw for 291 yards and four passing touchdowns, and the Louisiana Tech signee had no turnovers with only one sack. He added four carries for 33 yards and a score.
But first, it was the Jayden Fox show, with the UCLA commit capping a nine-play, 90-yard drive that ended in a 21-yard lightning strike up the right side of the field. Fox followed that up with what started as a run to the right side on 4th and short but ended with a sharp cutback to the left and a 37-yard score.
From there, the passing game took over, with Vodicka rolling left and finding Ty Goettsche in the flat. The tight end broke two tackles and forced his way into the end zone to make it 21-0 with 1:10 left in the first quarter. After a three-and-out for Ralston Valley, Vodicka ended another drive with a rollout, this time going to the right and lofting a 12-yard touchdown to Zai Davis over pressure.
Ralston Valley got on the board with a string of quarterback runs, the final of which was Zeke Andrew’s 16-yard option keeper for a touchdown, but it took the Bruins less than 90 seconds to answer. Vodicka threw a high-arching ball that dropped into Goettsche’s hands for a 44-yard score, capping the first-half surge for Creek.
The Mustangs struck first on the other side of the break with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Andrews to Brady Warren, making it the closest it had been since midway through the first quarter, but Vodicka doubled up Ralston Valley with a 12-yard rushing touchdown, then Fox went untouched for a 40-yard score late in the third.
Andrews added another rushing touchdown in the fourth, giving the 6-foot-6 senior a team-high 16 carries, 65 yards and three scores on the ground to go with 241 yards and one TD through the air.
Vodicka got on the board one last time in his four years starting with the Bruins, finding fellow senior and future Western State product Anthony Betti for a 9-yard score.
“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Vodicka said. “Being able to just give these guys the ball on a little bubble and watch them work for 20, 30 yards — this is just a great group of guys. They’re going to go so far in life and I’m just glad to be part of their journey.”