Colorado players are two weeks away from becoming charter members of the Mile High schoolboy football club.
Two weekends of playoffs remain in the 2005 season, which will be capped with championship games Dec. 3 for classes 5A-4A at Invesco Field at Mile High and a home site for 3A.
Next weekend, 5A-3A will have semifinals and 2A-1A will have title games.
In 5A, defending state champion Mullen (10-2), which advanced to the semifinals for the third consecutive season under coach Dave Logan, will take on Arvada West (10-2), a semifinalist in three of the past four seasons, at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.
The other semifinal will involve programs with very different historical senses and in a final four for the first time. Surprising Douglas County (11-1), which began in 1897, will face Grandview (9-3), which began in the 1990s. They will play at Legacy Stadium in Aurora.
Defending 4A state champion ThunderRidge (12-0), which has won its past 21 games, will host Thompson Valley (10-2) at Shea Stadium in Highlands Ranch.
While it has been stated ThunderRidge is on a collision course with Grand Junction (12-0), the Tigers must first get past Arvada’s Ralston Valley (9-3), another member of the Mountain Plains League. The Tigers will host the Mustangs at Stocker Stadium.
It will be about mountain areas in 3A.
Defending state champion Rifle (8-4) will host the Steamboat Springs Sailors (10-2) in one semifinal and Florence (11-1) will be at Alamosa’s Mean Moose (9-3).
There are still shock waves of sorts in 2A, in which Holy Family (9-3) knocked off defending state champion, Metropolitan League rival and previously undefeated Faith Christian in the semifinals. The Tigers’ reward will be a home date with Buena Vista (12-0).
And in 1A, Limon remains the story and it will be against a familiar opponent. The Badgers (12-0), who are two-time defending Colorado champions, won their 38th consecutive game Saturday – 11th in succession in the playoffs – and will be at Akron, the team that had its own 38-game winning streak halted by the Badgers in the 2003 title game. The Rams won the 2001 and 2002 state titles.
All games are expected to be Saturday, 1 p.m.
On Dec. 3 at Mile High, the 4A game will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the 5A at 2:30 p.m. The 3A game at a home site usually begins at 1 p.m.
