Bruins, Cougars building intense rivalry

CHERRY CREEK 28, CHER. TRAIL 27

aurora » Since the advent of the Centennial League in the 1960s — the suburban grouping that once reached fromBoulder to Castle Rock and into Aurora and Littleton — the right side of the metropolitan area has heightened and developed fabled rivalries.

Boulder vs. Fairview. Cherry Creek vs. Fairview. Arapahoe vs. Heritage and so on. Add another: Cherry Creek vs. Cherokee Trail.

On Friday night at a quite cold Legacy Stadium, Cherry Creek outlasted the Cougars 28-27 in a wildly entertainingly league nailbiter. There were a combined eight turnovers — four by each side — in the Class 5A top-10 matchup, and fans who vacated the stands already were talking about the twomeeting again, as in the playoffs.

It came down to a missed conversion try with less than 30 seconds to play. Cherry Creek, No. 8 in theCHSAANow.com5A poll, is 5-1 overall, 2-0 in the Centennial. It’s the second year in a row the Bruins beat No. 4 Cherokee Trail (4-2, 1-1), the 2012 state runner-up and defending league champion.

“You now what? We have great respect for Cherokee Trail,” Bruins coach Dave Logan said. “(The Cougars) have a really, really good team. Butwe did our best to give it away; there were touchdowns called back. So itwas one of those games that was hard-fought and physical from the start. Those are the kind we have to show up for.”

The two combined for seven turnovers after halftime. The Cougars’ Cameron Smith scored his third touchdown in the final minute to bring them within a point, but Jerden Daniels’ extrapoint try went wide left. Smith paced Cherokee Trail with 154 yards and the three scores.

For the Bruins, junior D.J. Luke compiled 109 yards rushing and three touchowns.