Jesse Lewis’ fourth touchdown Saturday, a 1-yard run in overtime, lifted Loveland over host and previously undefeated Greeley West 28-21 in the Class 4A semifinals.
The Indians will face Wheat Ridge on Saturday at 11:30 a.m., at Invesco Field at Mile High for the championship. Loveland is 10-3. Greeley West, which won the earlier Northern League meeting against the Indians, ended 12-1.
Lewis, who led Loveland with 75 yards rushing on 15 carries, scored his first touchdown on a 1-yarder in the second quarter that tied the game at 7.
He caught a 60-yard pass from Collin Klein in the third quarter and had a 16-yard scoring run in the fourth with 3:30 to play.
Greeley West had tied the game at 21 on a Rex Morgan 4-yard run with 35 seconds remaining in regulation.
Klein completed 6-of-8 passes for 129 yards.
For Greeley West, Blake Morgan ran 26 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and caught four passes for 59 yards. Rex Morgan was 7-of-15 passing for 102 yards.
In 3A, it will be another rematch of South Metro League teams.
In the semifinals, Pueblo County rolled previously undefeated Summit 34-7 and top-seeded and undefeated Alamosa overcame Florence 21-20.
Alamosa and Florence met in Week 10 in a 21-0 victory. Alamosa defeated Pueblo County 21-20 in Week 8 in which the Mean Moose had to stop a two-point conversion attempt by the Hornets in the final seconds. They will play at Alamosa on Saturday with an expected starting time is 1 p.m.
Pueblo County, known for its physical play, had no trouble with the Tigers. Two touchdowns each by Myles and Zach Martinez propelled the Hornets to a 34-0 lead.
Myles Martinez ran 10 times for 120 yards and Zach Martinez had 81 on 14 carries.
In all, Pueblo County romped to 375 yards rushing, 474 yards of offense for the game.
Joe Pullara’s 45-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter completed Pueblo County’s scoring.
Summit, which finally got on the board in the fourth quarter on a 15-yard return of a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Drew Crangle, had only 149 yards of offense, 118 rushing.
The Hornets were just too strong up front. Crangle’s 29 yards rushing on 11 attempts helped pace Summit.
Pueblo County will take an 11-2 record into the final.
Summit ended 12-1.
As for Alamosa, it improved to 13-0 as Clay Garcia threw three touchdown passes.
The senior’s 7-yarder to Jason Espinoza in the fourth quarter, then Espinoza’s conversion kick were the difference in erasing a 20-14 deficit.
Earlier, Garcia, who finished with 315 yards passing, threw touchdown passes to Dustin Bolt, a 44-yarder, and Sonny Yohn, an 80-yarder in the third quarter.
Florence (10-3) got a 9-yard touchdown run by Frank Morelli and a 9-yard pass from Bryce Buderus to Todd Mair for a touchdown.
Buderus, who was held to 30 yards rushing on 22 attempts but completed 11-of-18 passes for 216 yards, had given the Huskies a 20-14 lead on a 4-yard scoring run.
Alamosa had only 4 yards rushing on 13 attempts.
Loveland will be playing for its sixth title. The Indians most recently won in 2000.
Alamosa has two titles (1949 and 2001) and Pueblo County is chasing its first.
