On the opening night of the high school football season in Colorado, there was nearly a monumental upset.

Cherry Creek, the two-time defending Class 5A state champions and the No. 1 ranked team in the High School On SI Colorado preseason Top 25 poll, found itself trailing, 15-14, through three quarters in Thursday night’s season opener against Chatfield. But the Bruins survived the scare with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to get past the Chargers, 28-15, at Lakewood’s Jeffco Stadium.

Here are five things we learned from Cherry Creek’s season-opening win.

1. 28 For 28

Cherry Creek’s point output matched its current winning streak, which is now 28 games.

The Bruins haven’t lost a game since the 2024 season opener, a loss against Skyridge (Utah). Their last in-state loss came in the 2023 Class 5A championship game, a 28-14 defeat to Columbine, the only season Cherry Creek hasn’t ended with a title trophy dating to 2019.

2. A Youth Movement

The Bruins had to replace 36 seniors from their second straight 5A title squad, and at times, the inexperience showed in Thursday’s season opener.

Cherry Creek coach Dave Logan, the former NFL receiver who is also the current radio play-by-play voice of the Denver Broncos, brought up his team’s youth in a postgame interview with ColoradoPreps.com.

“We are a young team,” Logan said. “It’s a brand new year. There were plenty of times we made a ton of youthful and inexperienced mistakes. We’ve got a lot to get cleaned up.”

3. Defense Delivers

Along with the proverbial championship mettle, Cherry Creek’s defense also came up with some huge plays to save its season opener.

The Bruins’ first TD came on defense, as junior linebacker Jeriah Barnes recovered a fumble on a botched quarterback/tailback exchange and dashed into the end zone on the final play of the first quarter.

Then late in the third quarter, with Chatfield hanging on to its one-point lead and the Chargers having the ball past midfield, they threw an interception. That set up the Bruins’ go-ahead score, a 1-yard TD run from junior tailback Elijah Cromwell with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Cherry Creek was able to preserve that lead by forcing a punt and a turnover on downs on Chatfield’s next two offensive possessions.

4. Unruh Unfazed

Thursday’s game also marked the debut of Cherry Creek’s new quarterback, Bentley Unruh. The junior transferred to Cherry Creek from Valor Christian over the offseason.

Unruh engineered a 79-yard scoring drive late in the first half that broke a 7-all score, capped by a TD pass to senior Alijah Landrum-Hamilton.

Then after the Bruins regained the lead in the fourth quarter, they put the game on ice as Unruh faked a handoff and took off around the right side, going in from 11 yards out with 4:30 remaining.

5. Charging Forward

Despite the loss, Chatfield’s performance had to be an encouraging sign for the Chargers, who went 4-7 a season ago.

A key reason the Chargers were able to hang in with the two-time defending 5A champs was the play of senior quarterback Cash Williams, who has thrown for more than 3,500 yards and 39 TDs over the past two seasons.

After Cherry Creek’s defensive TD to open the scoring, Chatfield responded in the second quarter, tying the score at 7-all on a 10-yard TD pass from Williams to junior Brigg Jones.

Then in the third quarter, after Chatfield picked up a safety on a bad snap during a punt attempt, the Chargers used a little trickery to take the lead. Junior Devon Fleming threw a halfback pass to Williams, who made the catch to complete the 9-yard scoring play, putting Chatfield up 15-14.

Up Next

Cherry Creek (1-0) has a bye next week before returning home on Sept. 4 to take on Ralston Valley, a rematch of last season’s 5A state championship game won by the Bruins.

Chatfield (0-1) will be making a trip into New Mexico next week to take on Cleveland, which is set for Aug. 28.