FORT COLLINS — Cherry Creek is often a team that must shake off its nerves.

Or maybe the Bruins had to shake off Legend’s best punch.

The Bruins got knocked down, dusted themselves off and fought their way to the Class 5A football championship with a 13-10 win over the Titans at Canvas Stadium Saturday.

It’s the 14th football championship for Cherry Creek, which remains the second-most in state history behind Limon. It’s also the 12th career title for Cherry Creek coach Dave Logan, who stands alone at No. 1.

“I knew this would be a difficult game,” Logan said. “(Legend) is a really good football team. We had some things go not our way in the first half and I just told our guys (at halftime) that we committed to playing 48 minutes and we’ve only played 24.”

Those first 24 minutes were nerve-racking for a lot of Cherry Creek players and even more so for the Cherry Creek fans.

Legend held the Bruins (13-1) to a three-and-out possession to open the game. The Titans then scored on their first drive with a 34-yard field goal from Carson Flowers.

Each team stalled until midway through the second quarter when the Titans (12-2) extended their lead to 10-0 on a Nicholas Farley pass to Ryken Banks for a 33-yard touchdown.

To make matters more complicated for Creek, the Titans maintained an aggressive pass-rush game to keep the offense off schedule and out of sync.

“Our defensive ends and our strong safeties are real good athletes,” Legend coach Monte Thelen said. “They’re strong and they’re quick and we’ve been able to do that for much of the year.”

But history and experience said a Cherry Creek shutout was unlikely. The Bruins got on the board with an Elijah Cromwell 2-yard touchdown run with just under 5 minutes left in the third quarter.

“I had to set the momentum,” Cromwell said. “Nothing was really going. At halftime, we were arguing with each other, and I had to tell everyone to calm down and we have things to work on.”

An ankle injury to running back Jayden Fox gave Cromwell the bulk of the carries in the second half. It turned out to be a winning formula.

After the Bruins muffed a punt and turned the ball over, they forced a Legend fumble on the next play with Ashton Shepardson recovering the ball.

That drive ended with another Cromwell score as he punched in a second touchdown, this one from 9 yards to give the Bruins their first lead of the game.

Cromwell rushed for 100 yards and two scores to win the game’s Most Outstanding Player award.

Penalties marred the fourth quarter for both teams, consistently getting each behind the sticks, leading to stalled drives for both offenses. A Farley fourth-down pass to Kellen Marchand fell incomplete, giving the Bruins the ball with under 4 minutes to go. One first down helped them run out the clock and start the celebratory journey home on Interstate 25.

“I’m proud of my kids for finding a way to come back and hang in the game and then find a way to win the game,” Logan said.

Cherry Creek made its seventh consecutive Class 5A title game appearance dating back to 2018. In that span, the Bruins have only two losses — to Valor Christian in 2018 at Empower Field at Mile High and to Columbine last year, the first time championship games were played at Canvas Stadium.