Legend rallies to edge Arapahoe in Class 5A playoff thriller behind Jaden Lawrence’s late touchdown

PARKER — Legend came in as a heavy favorite in Friday’s second-round Class 5A playoff game, but the Titans were met with some stiff black-and-gold resistance.

No. 11 Arapahoe gave the No. 6 Titans all they could handle before Legend eked by the Warriors 24-20 at EchoPark Stadium. Arapahoe held the lead for much of the game, and then late, but senior running back Jaden Lawrence’s track speed was the differentiator.

The Wyoming commit’s 21-yard touchdown run capped the Titans’ final scoring drive as they had their back to the ropes, down three points with under five minutes to play.

“This was a character check,” Legend head coach Monte Thelen said. “You’ve always got to overcome adversity in games, in seasons, and we definitely had to overcome some tonight. I thought Jaden Lawrence looked like a million bucks on that deciding drive. We have a lot of respect for Arapahoe, and we feel fortunate to advance.”

Arapahoe came out swinging on the opening drive, with star senior Andrew Smart’s receiver pass propelling the Warriors into Legend territory. But as the visitors were knocking on the door of the red zone, a strip sack turned the ball over to Legend.

After the Warriors’ defense forced a three-and-out, Arapahoe took the lead late in the first quarter on senior quarterback Mitchell Price’s 10-yard TD pass to Smart. It marked Smart’s 14th TD catch of the season after he torched Douglas County for three scores and 118 yards in last week’s playoff opener.

Arapahoe head coach Tyler Brayton called Smart “one of the best receivers in the state of Colorado.”

“He’s flying under the (recruiting) radar for whatever reason,” Brayton said. “It didn’t seem like they were specifically double-covering him, and as long as they did that, we were going to keep going to him.”

Legend responded on its next possession, marching the field for a score. The drive was capped by senior quarterback Nick Farley’s 23-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Kellen Marchand to make it 7-7 with 18 seconds left in the first quarter.

Senior kicker Lincoln Peterson then gave Arapahoe the lead again, with a 31-yard field goal midway through the second quarter. That made it 10-7 entering the locker room as Arapahoe snuffed out the Titans’ drive in the waning minutes of the half.

“We needed to play with a more physical effort than we did in the opening quarters,” Legend senior center Isaac Schmitz said. “We thought the energy was low in the first half, so at halftime, we focused on bringing that energy back up.”

The Titans finally got momentum on their side on the opening drive of the second half.

Senior Champ Jones jumped over the line of scrimmage, full Superman, for a 1-yard TD run. It marked Legend’s first lead of the game at 7:47 in the third quarter on a drive highlighted by several strong runs by Lawrence.

But the Warriors responded with another scoring drive. Smart’s 32-yard catch put Arapahoe into Legend territory. A flea-flicker by Smart gave the Warriors 20 more yards, and eventually led to Peterson’s 37-yard field goal with 3:55 left in the third quarter to cut Legend’s lead to 14-13.

After Arapahoe stopped Legend on the next drive, Smart muffed a punt and the Titans recovered at Arapahoe’s 47-yard line. That led to senior kicker Carson Flowers’ 27-yard field goal to extend the Titans’ advantage to 17-13 with 9:45 remaining in the game.

But the Warriors didn’t quit. They marched down the field with a steady mix of run and pass, converted a 4th and 5 in Legend territory, and then the next play Price found senior wideout Tyson Watson for a 24-yard touchdown pass. With 4:26 left, Arapahoe re-took the lead at 20-17.

“We were feeling good at that point, but there was also a little more time on the clock than I would’ve liked there to have been,” Brayton said.

Arapahoe just needed one final stop to seal the upset, but they couldn’t get it. A long pass set the Titans up in plus territory before Lawrence ripped off his game-changing run on an inside zone to the left that he bounced the other way.

“I bounced it out left, saw three guys there,” Lawrence said. “I cut to the right, then bounced it out and saw no one there and I knew I could beat them with that track speed.”

Lawrence’s track speed, an X-factor on Friday, also opened the door for his college recruiting earlier in the year.

After doing track for the Titans as a freshman, he took his sophomore year off from the sport before going back out last spring. That jump-started his offer list, which also included Air Force and a couple of FCS schools, after Lawrence set school records in the 100-meters (10.71 seconds) and the 200-meters (21.3) while finishing third at the Class 5A state meet in the former.

“Everyone saw me as the fast kid on the football team,” Lawrence said. “But then track brought that speed to a whole different level. Once I got onto the track and showed what I could do in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, it really showed recruiters what my top speed could be on the football field. It allowed college coaches to see that I wasn’t just football fast. Track speed is in my repertoire as a football player, too.”

For the Warriors (8-4), despite the defeat, Friday marked an impressive performance under their third-year boss Brayton, whose squad faced a significant size disadvantage in the trenches. Brayton, a former first-round draft pick by the Raiders in 2003, played at CU and then nine years in the NFL as a defensive end with Oakland, Carolina and Indianapolis.

“We’re used to playing against big lines — Grandview, Cherry Creek, Cherokee Trail,” Brayton said. “We knew how to use our quickness and speed up front, so it wasn’t a big concern heading into the game.”

“… We’re headed in the right direction as a program after tonight’s game, but by no means are we satisfied.”

The Titans (10-1) now face the winner of No. 3 Ralston Valley and No. 14 Arvada West, who play Saturday at the NAAC, in next week’s quarterfinals.

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