Greeley West’s 13-0 halftime lead was plenty for a Max Morgan-led defense as the Spartans advanced Saturday with a 29-0 rout of Pueblo West in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
The Spartans meet Wheat Ridge in the quarterfinals. It will be a rematch of last season’s title game, dramatically won by the Farmers in the final moments.
Longmont 33, Liberty 18
The 11th- seeded Trojans scored on two 90-yard touchdowns against the No. 6 Lancers. Longmont trailed 12-0 but rallied with help from a 90-yard kickoff return by Dillon Parker and a 90-yard pass from Jake Johnson to Cameron Herbert.
Montrose 28, Standley Lake 0
The Indians spoiled the Gators’ first trip to the playoffs with a suffocating defense, led by Jordan Passehl and Corey Stewart.
Class 3A
Falcon 12, Conifer 7
A 25-yard TD pass from Joey Caron to Joe Vela with 1:49 remaining helped sixth-seeded Falcon survive a game in which it was statistically dominated.
Falcon (10-1) rushed for just 13 yards on 24 carries.
Delta 14, D’Evelyn 6
Delta removed D’Evelyn from its high-scoring ways by forcing seven turnovers, five of which were interceptions. • In other 3A games, Pueblo Central, Glenwood Springs and Mountain View held opponents to single-digit scoring.
Class 2A
The first round mostly went according to script, with the exception of 12th-seeded Brush upsetting No. 5 Florence 10-7 on a late field goal by Jesus Carenas. Ninth-seeded Aspen pulled off a 46-41 shootout win at No. 8 Pagosa Springs.
Class 1A
The ante is upped in the 1A playoffs as the top four seeds — Yuma, Akron, Rye and Lyons — advanced to the semifinals.
Yuma plays Lyons while unbeaten Rye will meet three-time defending champ Akron. Only Limon won by less than 10 on Saturday, edging Hotchkiss 35-28.
8-man
Two of three unbeaten teams survived the quarterfinals, with Merino and Norwood improving to 11-0. Antonito was not so fortunate, as Elbert (9-2) tripped up the Trojans 30-14 to set up a semifinal against Merino. Norwood and Dayspring Christian meet in the other semifinal.
6-man
Hi-Plains 59, Eads 47
The Patriots set up a rematch of last season’s championship game, in which they pummeled Idalia 74-24. Idalia (11-0), the preseason No. 1 team, pounded Otis 42-6 on Friday.
Paul Willis, Special to The Denver Post
