Blanked in their home opener

They didn’t like it, but it was one of those games.

In their home opener on Friday night at a crowded Brother Bernard Kinneavy Field at De La Salle Stadium, Mullen’s Mustangs welcomed longtime-rival Cherry Creek, a renewal of what used to be the premier matchup among big schools. Look it up – the parochial-public thing was real for the two programs from historic Centennial League matchups to memorable postseason head-to-heads.

However, the Mustangs, who had enjoyed a span of 11 victories in 12 games against the Bruins, lost their fourth straight in the rivalry, 35-0 in nonleague.

Mullen dropped to 2-1, all in nonleague, and the Bruins advanced to 3-0.

It also was Mullen's first shutout loss at home since a 43-0 setback to Ralston Valley in the 2013 season opener. 

Head coach Stanley Richardson didn’t foresee this coming from his Mustangs and they could do nothing to stop it.

“We’re young,” he said, “and it’s their first time in a big game, and they had some challenges.”

Mullen had issues up front on both sides and didn’t fare well tackling. Plus, Bruins sophomore quarterback Julian Hammond threw for five touchdowns, all over the first three quarters.

And penalties ruined possibilities for scoring drives that had anything going, reverting back to self-generated problems that laced their opener.

“We were sluggish all night,” Richardson said. “We get a couple things going and we shoot ourselves in the foot.”

Twice the Mustangs managed turnovers to possibly change the game’s momentum, but twice they gave them back. One came on the game’s opening drive, when Cherry Creek muffed a Wilson Yee punt – it was recovered by Jaxon Heil -- on the fourth snap, only to punt six plays later and suffer a 14-play, 80-yard drive to make it 7-0. The other was an interception off Hammond by Vincent Difeo four plays into the second half, but a bad snap two plays gave it right back to Cherry Creek.

Cherry Creek made it 28-0 five plays later.

“We weren’t clicking on all aspects, especially offensively,” Mullen senior wide receiver Ben Marcoux said. “The passing game wasn’t rolling like we like it to.”

Mullen managed only 125 yards of offense to Cherry Creek’s 316. And despite the Bruins seemingly having the ball for extended periods, they held only a 61-56 edge in offensive snaps.

Richardson remained undaunted afterward, saying “we have to stay committed to the cause, keep working hard, keep staying strong and let the process take over.”

Said Marcoux: “We’ll bounce back.”

The Mustangs will be at parochial-rival Regis Jesuit in Aurora in a week. The Raiders beat Highlands Ranch 49-14 on Friday.

“We striggled on both sides of the ball, mainly on offense, but if our guys do what they’re supposed to do, we might see (the Bruins) again.

“We’re not 35 points worse than that team. We’re better than what we showed. It’s disappointing, but we’ll bounce back.”

 

CC – Chase Penry 5 pass from Julian Hammond (Alexi Sanchez-Ventura kick), 2:14.

CC – Gunnar Helm 11 pass from Hammond (Sanchez-Ventura kick), 10:57.

CC – Helm 12 pass from Hammond (Sanchez-Ventura kick), 0:48.7.

CC – Jayle Stacks 7 pass from Hammond (Sanchez-Ventura kick), 6:47.

CC – Penry 9 pass from Hammond (Sanchez-Ventura kick), 1:54.