WINDSOR — A few blades of synthetic grass.
That’s all that separated the Frederick Warriors from scoring and taking control of a scoreless defensive battle in the third quarter Saturday in the Class 3A state football semifinals.
Instead, two consecutive penalties, a missed field goal and a blink of the eye later and Windsor was well on its way to a 19-0 triumph at Dudley Field and a berth in next weekend’s championship game.
Playing in the semifinals for the first time, the 16th-seeded Warriors’ postseason run ended after previous upset victories over No. 1 Cañon City and No. 8 D’Evelyn.
“It’s going to burn awhile, but we will,” Frederick coach Thad Lear said of his team appreciating its accomplishments this season. “The kids have no reason to hang their heads.”
No. 5 Windsor (12-1) advances to next Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. title game at Legacy Stadium to face No. 3 Silver Creek (12-1), the only team to beat WHS this fall.
Early in the third quarter Saturday, it appeared as though Frederick might make it an all-St. Vrain Valley School District final.
The Warriors recovered a fumble at the Windsor 45-yard line on the first play and had a first-and-goal at the 8 after a 34-yard pass from Jaron Balman to KC Rivera.
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Jordan King was stopped on a reverse just inches shy of the goal line on third down, setting up a big fourth-down play. But the Warriors were called for a false start to wipe out a QB sneak for a score, and then a delay of game backed them up 5 more yards. The ensuing 22-yard field goal attempt by Kevin Retchless was low, ending FHS’s best threat of the day.
Windsor wasted no time in capitalizing as quarterback Joe Sanger hit Aaron Schmidt for a 77-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0.
Windsor put the game away in the fourth quarter on an 81-yard touchdown run by Jordan Porterfield and an 11-yard TD run by Schmidt.
“We knew we had the capability to make some big plays, and that’s what we did,” Schmidt said.
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Frederick 0 0 0 0 — 0
Windsor 0 0 7 12 — 19
W — Schmidt 77 pass from Sanger (Elens kick). W — Porterfield 81 run (pass failed). W — Schmidt 11 run (kick failed).
