Championship
(12) Platte Valley (10-2) vs. (11) Platte Canyon (10-2)
When: Saturday, 1 p.m., Bronco Stadium
What’s up? Connected by the South Platte River and divided over the 2A state title — Platte Canyon is in uncharted waters after reaching the state semis for the first time, while Platte Valley rode a similar wave to the championship game last season. The Platte Valley Broncos are riding high on confidence. The defense will play tough in the trenches or light it up with big plays in the secondary, and the offense is loaded with options. The first option is quarterback Parker Gutter- sen, and Everardo De La Cruz is the lightning to David Devitt’s thunder in the backfield. The Platte Canyon Huskies have recorded five defensive shutouts and only allowed one opponent more than two scores in the regular season. As they have been all season, running backs A.J. Melillo and Ben Wegener were tough to stop in an upset of Holy Family in the semifinals.
What’s next? For one team, celebration time. No matter who wins, it will be the first football title for either school. And no matter what, these bottom-feeder seeds shook up the 2A postseason. Brady Delander
