CLASS 5A SEMIFINALS
Colorado’s fab four consists of three Centennial League members and one from Jefferson County.
Not that many are shocked.
In the first round of a two-year alignment, it was obvious that the move to yank still struggling Smoky Hill from the Centennial and replace it with Valor Christian, and reunite all of the top Jeffco programs with Mullen was designed to give others improved chances at easier playoff advancement.
It didn’t work.
Instead, the obvious result is that it has made big schools’ best programs even better.
For this round, we have a rematch between Valor Christian and Grandview and a first-ever meeting between Cherry Creek and Ralston Valley.
Enjoy.
(1) Cherry Creek (9-3) at (1) Ralston Valley (12-0)
Friday, 7 p.m., North Area Athletic Complex []
The two programs have never met, although there have been scrimmages, including in preseason this year. … And what a rush it should be — the game pits Cherry Creek’s Milo Hall against Ralston Valley’s Andrew Wingard, probably the top meeting of the season between RBs. … Of the semifinalists, Cherry Creek clearly has come the longest way. The Bruins were 1-2 and way down after getting handled by Jordan, Utah. They also managed only six points against Grandview. However, the next week they were the first in-state team to beat Valor since the opening game of the 2012 season and have reeled off five victories in succession. … Last week, Cherry Creek scored 35 points in the middle quarters to thrash Regis Jesuit 49-21. It was the Bruins second victory over the Raiders on their home field in 2014. … Hall again was terrific. He had 150 yards and two TDs, and D.J. Luke turned in 73 yards and three TDs. It’s the kind of rushing attack coach Dave Logan had envisioned. … Logan’s career record? It’s 226-53, 25-10 with the Bruins. … QB Joe Caplis was an efficient 6-of-7 for an even 100 yards and a TD against Regis Jesuit, and the Cherry Creek front again performed. On defense, the Bruins showed that they are used to facing high-end offenses. … Ralston Valley is looking for its first finals appearance. The Mustangs also were in the semis in 2012 and lost to eventual state runner-up Cherokee Trail. … Wingard has been brilliant. He scored six TDs in last week’s 71-29 spanking of previously undefeated Fairview. And, no, there was no running up the score — the Mustangs were good, the Knights gambled and fizzled, and it simply worked out that way. Anyway, Wingard, pledged to Wyoming and a rare 3-sporter in 5A, improved his 2014 TD count to 37. … Ralston Valley’s offensive front will be tested by the Bruins, but it has proven sturdy all season. … Defensively, yes, the Mustangs have given up points in binges, but also stepped up when necessary. They had three sacks of 14-or-more yards last week, one for minus-16 and a safety by DE Collin Root, who also plays offense, place-kicks and rarely seems to leave the field.
(2) Valor Christian (9-3) at (1) Grandview (12-0)
Saturday, 1 p.m., Legacy Stadium []
In Week 9, the final round of the regular season, Grandview beat Valor 24-21 at Legacy. … Grandview won the Centennial, going 5-0; Valor took two hits, also losing to Cherry Creek, one of the other semifinalists. … The visiting Eagles, who struggled early in the season, suffered injuries and were manned mainly by inexperienced players, clearly have turned it around. They punished a good Pomona 56-34 last week. Sophomore QB Dylan McCaffrey, who has been offered by the University of Colorado, threw for 263 yards and three TDs, and ran for 73 yards and scored two TDs. Stone Watson (103 yards, one TD) and Danny Rambo (101 yards, two TDs) also had big rushing games. … Valor has now won 25 consecutive postseason games, one of the longest streaks on record. … Don’t be fooled — Valor’s defense played well last week, allowing only two scores when the game was in the balance. Pomona scored a late 20 points. … A Valor victory would make it six title games in a row — the past three in 5A, two in 4A and one in 3A. … Grandview, the 2007 5A champion, is bidding for its secondfinals appearance. … Defense, always relevant to the Wolves, is a big deal again — the touchdown and extra point they permitted last week are the only points allowed over 12 postseason quarters. … Leading rusher Chuk Obinnah went out early last week with a hip problem that has bothered him all season, but Ben Marshall and Austin Quarles helped to pick up the slack, as did Summers. Marshall went for 145 yards and a TD, Quarles ran for a TD, and Summers ran for one and threw for another. … A Grandview victory would mean a record under coach John Schultz, who has been in command for 11 seasons. It also would be his 99th. … Cameron Knight, Keifer Glau, DeAndre Shorts, Tilmon Gash and Keelan Poole are the Wolves’ top tacklers on a swarming defense.
CLASS 4A SEMIFINALS
The 4A semifinal matchups features teams that are familiar with each other. Both Broomfield and Longmont, and Pine Creek and Falcon met earlier this season.
Pine Creek will look to make its third trip in four to the state championship, but they’ll have to get past the upstart Falcon squad. Broomfield and Longmont — no strangers to one another — will battle for the other spot in the championship game.
(1) Pine Creek (12-0) at (13) Falcon (8-4)
Saturday, 1 p.m., Falcon High School
Falcon may be a No. 13 seed, but the bad luck is being passed on to its opponents. The Falcons have upset No. 4 Denver South and No. 5 Pueblo South in the playoffs so far. … Junior RB Matt Bastian rushed for 201 yards and two TDs against Pueblo South last week. He leads the team in rushing with 1,267 yards and 16 TDs. … Defending champion Pine Creek relies heavily on its ground game. Senior RB Josh Odom has rushed for 1,854 yards and 33 TDs this season. … Junior Jojo Domann has been a beast on both sides of the ball for the Eagles. He’s caught 37 passes for 660 yards and seven TDs, and has six interceptions on defense. … When these two teams met earlier this season, Pine Creek came away with a 34-28 victory.
(11) Broomfield (9-3) at (7) Longmont (9-3)
Saturday, 1 p.m., Everly-Montgomery Field
Broomfield is coming off a 24-20 win over Montrose last Saturday, in which backup QB Jack Burgesser drove the Eagles 98 yards late in the fourth for the winning touchdown. … Eagles WR Nathan Lehnerz missed most of the season with a broken arm, but made his biggest splash of the year last week, pulling in eight catches for 120 yards and a TD. … Broomfield beat Longmont 29-11 when the teams met on Sept. 11. … Longmont held on to win 42-35 over previously undefeated Fort Collins to advance last week. … Trojans junior RB Conlan Berger has rushed for 1,137 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.
CLASS 3A SEMIFINALS
What a difference a year can make … none of this year’s semifinalists were here in 2013.
And consider it a diverse group — there are programs from the southern area, the deeper south, the Western Slope and the northeastern corner.
It’s the beauty of Colorado’s mid-range of 11-man.
(4) Pueblo East (9-3) at (1) Discovery Canyon (12-0)
Saturday, 1 p.m., District 20 Football Stadium
It’s a rematch — Discovery Canyon won 27-21 on Sept. 19 in nonleague. … Pueblo East has won six games in a row. Two of its losses were to rivals, Pueblo South and Pueblo West. … The Eagles won the 3A Southern. … Fresh from a good road victory, 28-14 at Palisade, the Eagles are led by two rushers who have surpassed 1,000 yards — Bryson Torres (1,158 yards and 17 TDs) and Daniel Martin (1,134 yards, 12 TDs). … Martin also has thrown for 1,677 yards and 10 TDs, but also has been picked off nine times. … WR Kevin Ribarich has 52 receptions, averaged 20.9 yards per catch and scored eight TDs. Ribarich also has picked off six passes. … Lalo Diaz-Alvarez and Josh Tellez lead the Eagles with four sacks apiece. … Discovery Canyon, champion of the 3A South Central, has given up only seven points in its two postseason games. The Thunder allowed seven points last week to Delta in a 40-point victory. … The balanced rushing continues for Discovery Canyon. RB Spencer Chambers (914 yards, 14 TDs), RB Blake Lewis (789 yards, eight TDs) and QB Andrew Hall 717 yards, 23 TDs) have been mainstays. Hall also has thrown for 10 TDs. … Dylan Draper and Alexis Sotomayer each have four interceptions. … Draper also has 16.5 sacks.
(10) Fort Morgan (10-2) at (6) Rifle (11-1)
Saturday, 1 p.m., Bears Stadium
Since losing by 22-16 to undefeated Lutheran on Oct. 4, Fort Morgan has won six games in a row. … The Mustangs opened the preliminaries by winning at Holy Family, then last week knocked off Evergreen, which was 11-0. … Tate Kembel heads Fort Morgan with 1,182 yards and 21 TDs. Thirteen of his scores have come over the previous six weeks. … Austin Kosman has three interceptions and two fumble recoveries for the Mustangs. … Fort Morgan has a very interested observer — Joel Dreessen, the former Broncos and Mustangs TE who lives in Parker and does television analysis for Channel 4. … Rifle’s only hit taken was against Palisade. The Bears lost 18-10 on Oct. 10. … The Bears had to work last week. All of their points came in the fourth quarter at Roosevelt. They won 15-0 as Brock Clark ran for 130 yards and a TD; Blaine Vance contributed 149 yards; and Ty Leyba contributed 21 yards and a TD. It was also Rifle’s third shutout of the season. … Austin Shepherd was in on 13 tackles and had a fumble recovery.
CLASS 2A FINAL
The Class 2A state football championship is a rematch of the 1991 3A title game when Kent Denver beat Brush 20-16. Now 23 years later, the rosters feature players who weren’t even a twinkle in their parents’ eyes at that game.
Kent Denver will be searching for its fourth state title, while Brush will go for its fifth.
(2) Kent Denver (12-0) at (1) Brush (12-0)
Saturday, 1 p.m., Beetdigger Stadium
The key to Brush’s offense resides in QB Kyle Rosenbrock. The senior has passed for 1,041 yards and 15 TDs, and rushed for 1,313 yards and 18 more scores. He also leads the team in tackles (93), tackles for losses (11) and interceptions (3). … Kent Denver’s Jaden Franklin will finish his career as one of the best running backs to play in 2A. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior enters the game ranked sixth all-time in career rushing yards (6,566) and points (644), and fifth in touchdowns (107). … Down by 10 at halftime against Platte Valley last week, the Sun Devils used a 13-point second half to win 19-16. … The last time these two teams played, Kent Denver won 35-27 in 2012.
CLASS 1A FINAL
Separated by 170-plus miles, the 1A state final is a rematch between two schools that faced off in last year’s semifinal game.
(2) Buena Vista (12-0) at (1) Paonia (12-0)
Saturday, 1 p.m., Paonia High School
Buena Vista is averaging 280 rushing yards this season, led by junior Keegan Wentz (1,230), junior Keenan Barr (771) and senior Trevor Close (624). … The Demons have been ball hawks all season, snatching 19 interceptions. … Coach Matt Flavin has turned around the Buena Vista program since he took over in 2011. Since 2012, the team has won three league titles and compiled a 35-2 record. … Defending champion Paonia is on a 22-game winning streak. … Junior back Taylor Walters has been on a tear all season. He’s rushed for 2,146 yards and 33 TDs to lead the Eagles. He’s also thrown eight of the team’s 17 touchdown passes. … This is a rematch of last year’s state semifinal game. Paonia won 28-14.
CLASS A 8-MAN FINAL
More than four hours apart, Caliche and Granada will play for the 8-man state championship in the southeastern part of Colorado.
(3) Caliche (11-1) at (4) Granada (11-1)
Saturday, 1 p.m., Granada High School
Granada punched its ticket to the title game after beat No. 1-seed Dayspring Christian 22-6 last Saturday. It makes its first state championship appearance since 2006, when it finished the season a perfect 13-0. … The Bobcats have won three state titles in school history (1979, 1988, 2006). … Caliche is playing in its third title game since 2010. The Buffaloes lost the previous two times, including a 14-8 loss to Dayspring Christian last season. … Caliche has won one state football title, winning the 1994 1A championship.
