LOVELAND — Scott Weissman calmly led eighth-seeded Loveland to two fourth-quarter touchdowns Friday night at Ray Patterson Stadium, his 20-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Klein with 11 seconds left giving the Indians a 28-21 victory over visiting Fountain-Fort Carson in the Class 4A first-round game.
The ninth-seeded Trojans (8-3) spotted Loveland a 13-0 halftime lead, then scored three times to go ahead 21-13 with 9:58 left on Quinton Lawson’s 23-yard run.
Loveland (9-2), which missed the playoffs last season, tied the game at 21 on Andrew Eberle’s 18-yard run and a two-point conversion run by Connor Medbery with 2:32 remaining. Klein set up the scoring opportunity by snuffing out a fake punt and throwing punter General Lee for a 16-yard loss.
The Indians’ A.J. Steele then recovered a FFC lateral that went awry at the Trojans’ 44-yard line, setting up the game-winning drive.
Weissman finished with 14-of-20 passing for 133 yards and his lone touchdown. Medbery rushed 18 times for 104 yards and two TDs in the first half.
FFC took a 14-7 lead in the third quarter on touchdown runs of 2 and 5 yards by Chris Davis.
Monarch 34, Castle View 0
LAFAYETTE — The top-seeded Coyotes attempted just one pass and got all their yards on the ground in rolling over the 16th-seeded Sabercats, who were making their first playoff appearance.
Ryan Hamlin rushed 26 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns and Clay Chamberlin had 71 yards and a 39-yard touchdown run for Monarch (11-0), which had 296 yards rushing. Monarch held Castle View (7-4) to 174 yards and had two interceptions.
Heritage 28, Ralston Valley 6
LITTLETON — Mitch Griebel rushed for 174 yards and two TDs and passed for another as the fifth-seeded Eagles (10-1) pulled away in the second half to reach the 4A quarterfinals.
Heritage, which has won 10 in a row, led 7-6 at halftime, and Griebel made it 14-6 with a 16-yard scoring run in the third quarter. He then threw a 44-yard TD pass to Shane Opitz and finished the scoring with an 11-yard run in the fourth. Griebel was 6-of-11 passing for 68 yards, and Josh Meyers added 107 yards rushing on 24 carries. Ralston Valley (7-4), the No. 12 seed, got a 54-yard touchdown pass from James Robinson to Trevor Horn to pull within 7-6 in the second quarter.
Pine Creek 33, Durango 7
PINE CREEK — Josh Chance rushed for 80 yards and three TDs as the third- seeded Eagles, who reached last year’s semifinals, rolled over the 14th-seeded Demons.
Chance scored Pine Creek’s first three TDs on runs of 12, 7 and 21 yards. Shomari Cousar added 65 yards rushing on nine carries for the Eagles (11-0), who built a 33-0 lead before Durango (8-3) scored on a 21-yard run by Gus Barnes.
Class 5A
Arvada West 20, Mountain Vista 0
ARVADA — The snow and slush at the North Area Athletic Complex didn’t bother Wildcats quarterback Gavin Glanz, who threw for 144 yards and two TDs as fifth-seeded Arvada West advanced to the quarterfinals.
Glanz, who was 13-of-25 passing, hit Andrew Higgins for an 18-yard TD and a 10-0 lead in the second quarter, then threw a screen pass to Isaac Fairbairn for a 17-0 edge in the third quarter. Justin Castor added field goals of 25 and 42 yards for the Wildcats (10-1), who have won six straight. Fairbairn also rushed 14 times for 90 yards. Mountain Vista (7-4), which was seeded 12th, had won seven of its past eight games.
6-man
Idalia 42, Otis 6
IDALIA — It took Idalia a quarter to shake off the semifinal jitters. The top-seeded Wolves (11-0) scored 22 points in the second quarter to earn a trip to next Saturday’s championship game against the winner of today’s Hi-Plains/Eads game.
The Wolves’ Logan Ramseier rushed 17 times for 222 yards and four TDs. Quarterback Landon Shaffer was 9-for-11 passing for 122 yards with two TDs to Luke Terrell. Karson Kuntz finished with 139 yards on 41 carries for Otis (8-3).
Craig Harper, Special to The Denver Post
