FROM BEN'S DESK: 12/7/21
- Benjamin Parris
- Dec 7, 2021
- 8 min read
Thank You, Football
If you haven't heard, Cherry Creek has won back-to-back-to-back state football championships. They've now become the 3rd program in state history to accomplish the feat of winning 3 titles in a row joining the 1994-1996 Bruins and Coach Logan's 2008-2010 Mullen Mustangs. Doing something three times in a row is nothing easy, in fact after 3-peating his first time from 1991-1993 Michael Jordan said, "Winning a third straight championship was the hardest thing I’ve ever done on the basketball court.”
Coach Logan told me after the game, "I don't think in 29 years of coaching we've had more injuries in a single season. I've never moved more kids from one position to another position, from offense to defense, from defense to offense. The kids bought into it."
Well it sure doesn't sound like winning a third straight football championship was particularly easy for Coach Logan and the Bruins, but after shutting out Valor Christian 21-0 for a second consecutive year, it sure seems like it. While the game was pretty similar to last year's game, in which Cherry Creek scored 21-points all in the first half, there was one crucial difference. The game was at Mile High, and the Cherry Creek community packed the stands.
Don't get me wrong, I had a very fun time in Pueblo for state last year, but I would much rather spend my day at Empower Field at Mile High. So that's exactly what I did.
Before sharing how much fun I got to have at Mile High, I want to take it back a week to Cherry Creek's semifinal game against Legend. For starters, it was undoubtedly the team's best game of the season. The offense was firing on all cylinders both in the air and on the ground, while the defense was containing one of the best running backs in the state in Legend's Bryce Vaz, while forcing two interceptions. I walked into the Stutler Bowl expecting the game to be much closer than 48-14.
I also walked into Stutler that morning somewhat emotional because I knew it would be the final time I walked in there for a football gameday. Our crew arrived at 8:00am that morning for the 1:00pm kickoff to film our pregame show before getting set for our live broadcast. I had the opportunity to take in Stutler by myself for one final time before a football broadcast.
As I'm sure many of you understand, football broadcasts are more special than any other sport. It's the highest level of production we produce at CCSN (we actually won a national Emmy for our football broadcasts on November 23rd), we get more viewership on those games than any other, and above all else there's no better feeling at Creek than football games on Friday nights (and Saturday afternoons).
What was nice about the semifinal game against Legend was that I knew it would be my final football broadcast because CCSN doesn't get the rights to football championship games. Regardless of the outcome, I would be signing off from a football broadcast for the final time. Most people don't have the luxury of knowing when their final game will be, but I'm so happy I was able to put on the headset knowing it would be my last time.
Another thing that was nice is that the game fell on Thanksgiving weekend, and my entire family was able to attend. I don't think both of my parents along with my siblings had ever sat together at a Cherry Creek football game, and it's pretty cool that for my last game they were able to. It was so special to have them come up into the broadcast booth to see my final sign off in person. It was very tough to say, "For the final time doing Cherry Creek football on the Cherry Creek Sports Network, I'm Benjamin Parris signing off from the Stutler Bowl."
The final sign off with fellow seniors Matthew Anderson and Jonathan Varghese
While the semifinal game may have been my final football broadcast, it was not my final football game to attend as a student. Cherry Creek's win over Legend meant I got to take not one, but TWO more trips to Mile High Stadium. Once for media day on Tuesday, then again on Saturday for the State Championship game.
Empower Field at Mile High (which to me will always be known as simply Mile High Stadium), is the coolest place I've ever got to do something CCSN related (we're still working on doing a sports broadcast from the moon). Just like how the players get to play on the same field the Denver Broncos do, I got to use the same media facilities and stand on the same sidelines as the media that covers the Broncos do.
Media day with Jonathan Varghese and Raegan Knobbe
When we arrived at around 9:15 on Saturday morning, it was straight up to the press box to film our pregame show, "CCSN Gameday Live." Raegan and I got to have the most spectacular backdrop as we broke down the state championship for viewers. It was pretty cool to get to create a show at Mile High Stadium just a few doors down from the NFL broadcast booth where some of my favorite announcers like Jim Nantz, Kevin Harlan, and Ian Eagle have called Broncos games over the years. What was even cooler was being just steps away from the 850 KOA broadcast where Dave Logan calls Broncos games. I sure hope I get to be in those boxes in my future to call some more football games.
Following the pregame show, we went down to field level for the conclusion of the 4A game, team arrivals, and warmups. Something really cool this year is that the busses pulled down into the tunnels instead of stopping outside of the stadium like previous years. It's always fun to see what players do with their outfits and how dialed in they are. It's pretty impressive to be walking right in front of an athlete with a camera in their face and for them to act like you're not there.
Following arrivals, we hit the field for team warmups which is a cool opportunity to watch the sections of Cherry Creek fans fill in, while also taking a stroll around the turf at Mile High. The grass at Mile High is the best thing I've ever walked on, I have a feeling it would be the perfect place for a picnic.
While the team warmed up, I found myself warming up as well. I was informed the night before the game that I would have the honor of running the "CC" flag out with the team for the second time this season. The last thing I wanted to do was pull a quad or hamstring at Mile High and give the team some bad energy before the game even started. Thankfully, the Cherry Creek Poms let me stretch with them.
Just about 10 minutes prior to kickoff, Mr. Weiss put the flag in my hand and it all started to set in. "Enjoy the moment, and soak it all in," Mr. Weiss said. "You will probably never [run on an NFL field] again."
Well Mr. Weiss you are sure right. I will definitely never run on an NFL field for a football game again. So the one and only time I did it, is something I'll never forget. I once again will thank Riley Stewart (who placed 3rd at RunnningLane Nationals as an individual this weekend), for jumpstarting my running career earlier this fall.
Well now that the game is over and Cherry Creek has won the state title, I can now safely admit that for the first time while covering this team I had no idea what was going to happen in the game, and in my head there was a very good chance Valor could have on on Saturday. Valor came in at a perfect 13-0, they had one of the best running backs in the entire country in the backfield, and they wanted a slice of revenge after the 2020 championship game.
Well it turns out that I had absolutely nothing to worry about.
After Valor Christian went three-and-out on their first couple drives, I knew that the Bruins could hang with the Eagles and after scoring first, I knew that not only the Bruins could hang with Valor, but that they could very well win the game.
Now what I could not have guessed is that the game would end 21-0 as it did last year, and that all of the Bruins' points would come in the first half, as they did last year. That's something really funny about sports is that those ironic little stats and patterns pop up from time to time, and us sportscasters/journalists love to perseverate over them as much as we can.
What I love about this year's championship is that it was once again the epitome of the old saying, "Offense wins games, but defenses win championships." The Cherry Creek defense was responsible for a handful of interceptions, turnovers on downs, and neutralizing the threat of Gavin Sawchuk which included making him loose a fumble.
This championship wouldn't have been possible without Head Coach Dave Logan. Over the last three seasons, I've got to watch the man who's voice has been in my house for as long as I can remember coach on the sidelines of my high school. It is still so cool that a Colorado sports legend is the leader of the Bruins.
I've gotten to learn that Coach Logan is a football genius. He has to be among some of the greatest high school football coaches of all time. He is so calculated and analytical that is seems like he knows what the opposing team is going to do even before they do it. The best part about Coach Logan is that it doesn't stop there.
What's amazing about high school coaches is that they're teachers not only of the game but of life skills and lessons. College and professional coaches don't get to impact lives the same way high school coaches do.
Coach Logan is more than a coach because he a teacher not only of the game, but he puts his players on the right path to succeed both on and off the field. That's something almost every player I've talked to over the last few years has said when I've asked what it's like to play for him.
It's been an honor to cover Coach Logan's program and I'm so grateful he could be my interview on Saturday night.
There was no better way to end going to Cherry Creek football games as a student than getting to see the Bruins shutout a rival for the second year in a row to win a third title in a row. It's also incredible to think that in my four years of going to Cherry Creek I got to go to four state games, and the three I got to cover were all victories. That is an almost incomprehensible stretch of four years.
Some quick stats on my time covering football for CCSN:
Matthew and I never called a loss on a broadcast
The crew became the first known school in Colorado to win a student Emmy (on both the regional and national level)
We became the first (and still only) all student group to call a semifinal game, and did it three times
I did the first out-of-state broadcast in CCSN history when Cherry Creek traveled to Chandler during an audio-only broadcast on "CCSN Radio"
These accomplishments, among many more, would not have been possible without countless people who I want to thank. The success of Cherry Creek Bruins football broadcasts on the Cherry Creek Sports Network would not have been possible without:
Matt Weiss, CCSN Advisor
Ryan Silva, CCHS Principal
Jason Wilkins, CCHS Athletic Director
Brynn Thomas, CCHS Assistant Athletic Director
Dr. Krista Keogh, CCHS Activities Director
Larry Bull, CCSD Director of Athletics and Activities
And many many more people including every school we got to broadcast on the road, our partners at the NFHS Network for allowing us to do playoff broadcasts, and our good friends at CHSAA
Most importantly, I have to thank all of those who tuned into a Cherry Creek football game on CCSN for allowing us to bring the Bruins into your home. I will never forget the moments we spent together on CCSN. The great Vin Scully said on his final broadcast as the voice of the LA Dodgers, "I have needed you more than you have ever needed me."
I feel the exact same way. Thank you for letting me call Cherry Creek Bruins football.
Ben Parris
Comments