Loveland raced its way up and down Broncos Stadium at Mile High Saturday for eight rushing touchdowns, including five from senior quarterback Riley Kinney, en route to winning the Colorado Class 4A state championship. The second-seeded Indians blasted No. 9 Skyline, 62-14, to cap the program’s most dominant season in recent memory.
The state title is Loveland’s seventh overall and first since 2003 and its first under coach Wayne McGinn.
Saturday, the Indians dominated every phase. They took a 7-0 lead just 10 seconds into the game after recovering their own squib kickoff, and following that up with Kinney’s 25-yard touchdown run. On Skyline’s first drive, Loveland corner Cody Rakowsky picked off Chase Silva’s first pass to set up a 17-yard touchdown run by Kinney.
Less than a minute in the Indians were up 14-0.
“I came in here knowing we were going to win,” McGinn said. “I usually don’t. I usually do all of these superstitious things. This year, I haven’t done any of it because I know we’re going to win.”
Loveland scored on all but one of its 11 drives, threw only when needed and rode its dominant run game to victory.
Its defense was once again sound in the trenches and in man-to-man press coverage, limiting the well-respected Skyline passing game to just 135 yards and 14 points, which tied a season low. Loveland finished its 14-game season with just 83 points allowed, an average of 5.9 per game.
“They go out there and try to rip people’s heads off,” Kinney said of the Indians’ defense.
In a rematch from a Nov. 2 game that Loveland won, 42-14, Skyline again struggled to keep pace. The Falcons answered the 14-0 deficit with a 12-play, 74-yard scoring drive capped with a slant from Silva to tight end Nathan McGregor — a catch in which McGregor’s helmet was knocked off and flew out of the end zone. But four interceptions thrown by Silva, including one that went for a pick-six from Loveland cornerback Isaiah Meyers, were far too much to overcome.
Loveland forced the game into a running clock scenario (when any team is up by more than 40 points) late in the third, essentially putting the game out of reach. Its 62 points marked a season high, and it outscored opponents 192-35 during their four-game playoff run. The combined score tied the previous record for the most points in a 4A title game, set by the 66-10 mark when Valor Christian defeated Pine Creek in 2011.
Loveland last played for the 4A crown in 2015 when it was as the No. 13 seed before bowing to Windsor in the final. Kinney recalled being in the bleachers as a freshman.
“I remember the very first play of the game, we had a pretty big kick return and my friend actually ripped my sweatshirt off,” Kinney said. “Itap a lot of built up anger and aggression, but we got it all out today.”
Skyline wrapped up another successful season under head coach Mike Silva. Before the Skyline alumnus took over in 2015, the Falcons had won just 20 games over their previous 10 seasons. Their 10 wins this season marked their most under Silva, and their hallmark victory came against top-seeded Pine Creek in the 4A quarterfinals.
