Centennial upsets Green Valley to reach 5A region final — PHOTOS
Centennial sophomore Nehemiah Dunlap-Myvett might have been making only his third varsity start at quarterback, but he didn’t show any nerves, dancing and smiling his way through pregame warmups Friday night.
He saved some of that fancy footwork for the game. And his arm wasn’t bad, either.
Dunlap-Myvett had a hand in five touchdowns as the Bulldogs rolled to a 55-26 road win over Green Valley in the Class 5A Southern Region semifinals.
“He’s dynamic, man. He’s so dynamic,” Centennial coach DJ Campbell said. “And he’s very selfless. Whatever the team needs. A few weeks ago I have him working out at corner, and he’s like ‘Coach, I don’t care.’ He’ll go to scout team offensive line if he needs to. But he’s justic selfless and he’s energetic and it’s just infectious.”
Dunlap-Myvett rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and used his feet to keep passing plays alive all night. He finished with 356 passing yards and three touchdowns.
“It’s really easy when you’ve got great weapons around you, guys like Jayden Thomas, Jordan Boston,” Dunlap-Myvett said. “We’ve got great guys around me, and they make it easy. My coaches make it easy on me. My line, shout to my line. My line is amazing. I was chilling back there.”
Dunlap-Myvett might have felt like he was chilling in the pocket, but the reality was that the 5-foot-6-inch, 140-pound sophomore often had to escape the pocket under pressure and look to extend plays.
But he didn’t always look to make the big play with his feet, often waiting for a receiver to get open and then looking to throw the ball to down the field.
“As a receiver by trade, he always knows that this is what’s happening,” Campbell said. “He knows when receivers are open, and he’s trying to extend just to get them the ball, because he’s been in their shoes and knows who’s open or whatever.
“He’s very selfless, and you see it with his legs. He can easily take off and run, but he doesn’t.”
He showed that ability off on Centennial’s first play from scrimmage. The Bulldogs returned the game’s opening kick for a touchdown, but Green Valley (6-5) drove 72 yards on 13 plays to cut the lead to 7-6.
Dunlap-Myvett and Thomas quickly gave the Bulldogs some cushion. Dunlap-Myvett rolled to his right to extend the play, then found Thomas cutting across the middle of the field. Thomas continued to the right sideline, then cut all the way back to the left, for a 78-yard TD reception and a 14-6 lead.
Dunlap-Myvett scored on an 18-yard run to make it 21-6 with 20 seconds left in the first quarter. He added a 52-yard scoring run with 42 seconds left in the third quarter.
Dunlap-Myvett completed 20 of 30 passes for 356 yards. He completed passes to seven receivers, and 11 Centennial players caught a pass.
Thomas had five catches for 120 yards. He added a leaping 15-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter. Bostick had five catches for 84 yards, and Adrean Montano caught an 18-yard TD pass from Dunlap-Myvett.
Brogan Church rushed for 99 yards on 13 carries, including a 45-yard TD run, for the Bulldogs, who play at Faith Lutheran for the 5A Southern Region title at 6 p.m. on Nov. 14.
Backup quarterback Oliver Bergstrom added a 26-yard scoring pass to Elliott Campbell in the fourth quarter for the Bulldogs, who were the No. 8 seed in the Class 5A Southern Region playoffs.
Centennial now has won three straight games, and the Bulldogs kept alive their hopes of finishing a third consecutive season with a state title. Centennial won the Class 4A title in 2023 and took the Class 5A Division III crown last fall.
“We just had to find it within ourselves,” Dunlap-Myvett said of the team’s late-season surge. “We had to talk as a team and find it within ourselves. How bad do we want it? We’ve got to care for the brother next to you. And that’s all we have to do.”
Green Valley’s Mike Lewis completed 16 of 25 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing score.
