Coaches told Sand Creek players after their victory Friday night that this is the new standard.

Now, they’re challenging them to maintain it.

Sand Creek erupted for its highest point total in two seasons and ended a three-game skid against Air Academy with a 40-27 victory.

The victory at Air Academy High School moved the Scorpions to 1-2 and dropped the Kadets to 0-2.

“This was an important win for us to get the season going,” said Ethan Mangrum. “We needed to get things off the ground and get that winning mentality.”

The Scorpions dropped a heartbreaker in their Week 2 matchup against Harrison and lost 14-13.

This week, though, Sand Creek put the clamps on the Kadets and found its offense in the second half.

The Scorpions took an 18-11 lead into the break and the Kadets threatened to score on their opening drive of the second half.

But the Kadets fumbled at the Scorpion 24 — one of four turnovers forced by the Scorpions — and Lawa Khoshnaw recovered the ball for Sand Creek to start the third.

Achilles Evans capped the following Scorpion drive with a 17-yard burst through the Kadets’ defense and Elijah Brotherns made an acrobatic one-handed grab in the end zone to score on the 2-point conversion and build a 26-11 lead with 6:58 left in the third.

“The reason I was able to run all over the place was because of my teammates,” Evans said. “They blocked and made holes for me to get through, and they’re the reason I got those yards.”

Both teams traded scores to make it 34-19 with 1:51 left in the third. The Kadets once again pushed the ball up field and looked ready to score.

Then Brotherns came down with his second interception of the night.

“We locked in,” Brotherns said. “We know they run the Wing-T triple option. And our practice this week revolved around that and we locked in and came out here and put that to work. Coach told us to go two safeties. I read the field and when I saw the quarterback drop back, I looked for whoever was open. I saw (Jerry Wolfert) was open. I ran behind him and the ball was too high for him to grab, so I jumped over him and caught it.”

The Kadets did manage to cut the lead to 34-27 in the fourth with 7:14 left in the game and needed a critical stop with the Scorpions at the Kadets 30.

On second and 4 from the 30, Mangrum dodged a fleet of Kadets and broke a couple of tackles as he danced his way into the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown to shutter any comeback hopes for the Kadets.

“Our lined opened up great holes for me all night and that was another case where they gave me a good opportunity for a good run,” Mangrum said. “I saw it and I took it. From there it was nothing but open grass.”

The Scorpions had dropped their previous three games against the Kadets and Air Academy outscored Sand Creek 115-30 in those contests.

Sand Creek’s 40-point outburst also marks its best output since October 2022, when the Scorpions put up 59 against Mitchell.

In the postgame huddle, coaches preached how this victory — which included a defensive score and several takeaways — can pave the way for the remainder of the year.

And the athletes believe it.

“This was big,” Brotherns said. “The same defense we had out there (Friday night) is the same one we need to bring the rest of the season. If we keep that same intensity that we had out there, then we’ll win the rest of these games.”