Idalia – Rarely do the big games live up to the hype.
Saturday’s Class A 6-man semifinal between Kit Carson and Idalia may have exceeded it.
With a trip to the state title game against Eads hanging in the balance, the visiting Wildcats had a chance to end Idalia’s seven-year home win streak within their reach. But with no timeouts and a swarming Wolves defense, Kit Carson was unable to summon any more magic, and watched its dream of a trip to its first title game since 1995 die 24-23 on a windy day on the Eastern plains.
“That was an amazing game, one of the best I’ve ever been around,” Idalia coach Tim Gribben said.
Idalia (10-0) will travel to Eads on Saturday to face an Eagles team (9-1) that advanced to its first title game since 1988 with a 48-30 victory Friday night against Peetz.
Idalia had avoided the mistakes and not turned the ball over all game. Driving for the score that would have made it a two-score game, and with Kit Carson out of timeouts, the Wolves’ Lucas Devlin turned the corner toward the end zone, but had the ball stripped by Wildcats defensive back Curt Connelley.
“I just made a mistake and didn’t hold onto the ball more carefully,” said Devlin, who rushed for 161 yards on 25 carries.
In a class in which scoring in bunches is the norm, Kit Carson’s task of driving 41 yards with the wind slightly at its back and 1:13 on the clock seemed quite doable.
Connelley was sacked on first down, then Gabe Ramseier got to Ty Trahern on second down to push the Wildcats back 3 more yards. Connelley spiked the ball on third down to give Kit Carson one last try with 25 seconds left. But Connelley’s pass to Josh Hammer was knocked away by Ramseier.
“That game lived up to the billing. It was a great game,” said Kit Carson coach Jim Trahern, who coached the boys basketball team to the 84-year-old school’s only state title in 2004. “Our kids battled hard for 40 minutes, their kids battled hard, we both had our chances. We just let ours get away, particularly in the first half.”
Kit Carson (8-2), which lost 32-18 in Week 1 to Idalia, opened the scoring on the second play from scrimmage. Andrew Maxcy reversed his field and went 70 yards for the score. Maxcy finished with 139 yards on 19 carries. Connelley completed 12-of-22 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
Idalia answered Maxcy’s run with a time-consuming, nine- play drive that covered 65 yards and was capped by Rodney Wade’s 1-yard run. A similar 10-play drive on Idalia’s next possession finished with a 9-yard run by Devlin and gave the Wolves the lead for good.
Kit Carson 7 0 8 8 – 23
Idalia 8 8 8 0 – 24
KC – Maxcy 70 run (Mitchell pass from Connelley). I – Wade 1 run (Jo. Castillo kick). I – Devlin 9 run (Jo. Castillo kick). KC – Hammer 21 pass from Connelley (Hammer kick). I – Devlin 8 pass from Jo. Castillo (Jo. Castillo kick). KC – Stephenson 38 pass from Connelley (Hammer kick).
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
