In the final week of regular-season action around the state, here are the top area Class 5A and 4A football games to watch:
ThunderRidge (4-5) at No. 3 Columbine (7-2), Thursday, 7 p.m., Jeffco Stadium: Senior quarterback Vic Lavigne and the Grizzlies are ranked 18th in the latest RPI, so ThunderRidge needs to pull out a victory over senior quarterback Mikey Griebel and the Rebels’ physical trench play in order to qualify for the playoffs.
(6-3) at No. 5 Eaglecrest (9-0), Thursday, 7 p.m., Legacy Stadium: The Raptors can’t look past Arvada West in pursuit of a perfect regular-season record and the program’s first conference title since 1993. The Wildcats, led by senior running back/linebacker Joey Perez, are in desperate need of a signature win over junior quarterback Jalen Mergerson and the Raptors in order to give them an outside shot at making the playoffs.
Heritage (6-3) at No. 2 Chatfield (8-1), Friday, 4 p.m., Jeffco Stadium: The Chargers will lean on senior running back/linebacker Dalton Keene to lead them to an outright Plains League title, while Heritage needs some spark from do-everything junior Josh Martin in order to force a tiebreaker for the conference championship with Chatfield and .
(7-2) at Ponderosa (8-1), Saturday, 1 p.m., Echo Park Stadium: Both teams come into this game with a perfect 4-0 mark in Foothills League play, and the Colts will have their hands full containing junior quarterback Sterling Ostdahl, senior wideout Garrett Dunn and a Ponderosa offense that has outscored its conference foes 194-13.
