Class 5A
No. 1 Cherry Creek beat No. 9 Erie, 34-14: Junior RB Jayden Fox ripped off touchdown runs of 70 and 35 yards, freshman Elijah Cromwell tacked on a 64-yard scoring run, and Cherry Creek (11-1) clinched its seventh straight trip to the 5A semifinals with a dominant defensive performance at Stutler Bowl. The Bruins took a 20-0 lead into the halftime break following a pair of Jolon Quintana field goals and TD runs from Fox and Cromwell. The lead ballooned to 34-0 early in the fourth quarter after junior QB Brady Vodicka hooked up with senior WR Jeremiah Hoffman for a TD pass, as Erie (10-3) saw its first season in 5A come to an end. Next week: Cherry Creek vs. Valor Christian-Columbine winner.
No. 5 Valor Christian beat No. 4 Columbine, 31-7: All-everything junior Cash Spence ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for another as Valor ended the defending 5A champion Rebels’ season in the quarterfinals for the third time in 11 years. Junior QB Dawson Olk found senior WR Ben Herbek for a 43-yard strike to give the Eagles (11-1) a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter, and Mason Walters’ 29-yard field goal put them ahead 17-0 going into the break. Columbine pulled within 10 after senior RB James Basinger broke free for a 44-yard touchdown with 9:09 left in the third quarter, but the Rebels (10-2) didn’t score again. Instead, Spence put the game away with a 32-yard scoring pass to Jackson Coleman with 5:47 to go, then tacked on a 2-yard scoring run to set up Valor’s fourth playoff showdown with Cherry Creek in five seasons. Next week: Valor Christian at Cherry Creek.
No. 7 Fairview beat No. 2 Mountain Vista, 49-45. It took two stadiums, 13 touchdowns, one field goal, two bus rides and one very long power outage, but Fairview pulled off a stunner in the south Metro to advance to the 5A semifinals for the first time in 11 years. After the Knights recovered an onside kick with 2:14 left, Ki Ellison threw a touchdown pass with 27.5 seconds to go to complete a Knights (12-0) rally from down two touchdowns and deny Mountain Vista (11-1) its first trip to the state semifinals.
Brock Kolstad scored twice, Jordan Rechel found the end zone three times and Davis came up with a pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter, including one in his own end zone, to help the Knights overcome record-breaking QB Austyn Modrzewski’s five passing TDs. Four of those five TDs came in the second quarter when Vista turned a 13-0 deficit into a 35-21 lead at halftime. That’s when the power went out at Halftime Help Stadium … and the game was eventually moved to EchoPark Stadium in Parker. Modrzewski’s fifth TD pass put Vista up 42-28 late in the third, but the Golden Eagles didn’t score another TD the rest of the way. Instead, Ellison threw two TD passes in the final three minutes sandwiched around a Ryder Villarreal onside kick recovery to escape the battle of unbeatens with an upset win. Next week: Fairview vs. Legend-Ralston Valley winner.
No. 6 Legend beat No. 3 Ralston Valley, 35-16: The Titans scored five touchdowns on the ground, including a 53-yarder from Carson Flowers on a fake punt, to emphatically punch their ticket to the 5A semifinals for the third time in five seasons. Legend (11-1) raced out to a 14-0 lead with scoring runs from senior QB Nick Farley and senior RB Champ Jones, but Ralston Valley (10-2) got a touchdown on Zeke Andrews’ 1-yard run and a field goal on both ends of the halftime break to pull with four. Flowers broke free for his long fake punt TD score not long after that, Jones punched in another score and Wyoming commit Jaden Lawrence put the game away with his own short scoring run to deny the Mustangs’ bid for a third straight semifinal trip. Next week: Legend vs. Fairview.
Class 4A
No. 1 Dakota Ridge beat No. 8 Ponderosa, 14-0: Troy McMullin returned an interception for a touchdown with less than four minutes left as Dakota Ridge survived an upset bid from league rival Ponderosa to advance to the 4A semifinals for the first time in four years. In a defensive slugfest that saw Ponderosa (8-4) deny Dakota Ridge (11-1) at the goal line near the end of a scoreless first half, junior QB Kellen Behrendsen finally broke the stalemate with a 28-yard TD strike to Trace Bratten with 11 minutes left in the third quarter. Neither offense scored after that, with Ponderosa even blocking a field goal attempt with 1:48 left in the third quarter. But the Mustangs offense couldn’t find an answer for the Dakota Ridge defense, which held Ponderosa to seven points over eight quarters in a pair of wins this season. Next week: Dakota Ridge vs. Broomfield.
: Senior RB Colin Torres found the end zone three times, the last on a game-clinching 20-yard run with 2:03 to go, to push Broomfield (11-1) into the 4A semifinals for the third year in a row. Junior RB Jackson Mabe had three scoring runs of his own for Palmer Ridge (10-2), which saw its bid to return to the championship game fall two wins short. Senior Elliott Less added a TD run, while senior QB Darien Jackson hooked up with Gio Toledo as the Eagles avenged last year’s loss to Palmer Ridge in the 4A semifinals. Next week: Broomfield at Dakota Ridge.
No. 2 Montrose beat No. 7 Mesa Ridge, 53-21: The Red Hawks are headed back to the 4A semifinals for the third time in four years after their ground-and-pound attack trod all over Mesa Ridge in a quarterfinal rout. Mesa Ridge (8-4) took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter after Trevon Salas’ touchdown run, but Montrose (12-0) scored four TDs and four two-point conversions over the next 12 minutes to take a 32-7 lead into halftime, and Mesa Ridge never recovered. Junior RB Elijah Womack ran in four TDs, senior RB Aidan Grijalva added two TDs and junior RB Chase Mehan had one to set up yet another rematch against Pueblo West in the semis. Next week: Montrose vs. Pueblo West.
No. 3 Pueblo West beat No. 11 Heritage, 42-28: Senior QB Gavin Lockett put on his own personal fireworks display, running in four touchdowns and throwing for another to Garrett O’Brien to push the Cyclones (11-1) into the 4A semifinals for the first time in five years. Heritage junior QB Jamison Seese put on a show of his own, tossing three TD passes — the last pulling the Eagles (7-6) to within six with 8:20 left. But Lockett answered with his fourth TD run of the day to put the game on ice, as Heritage was eliminated in the quarterfinals for the third straight year. Ryan Siebert added a touchdown run for Pueblo West. Next week: Pueblo West vs. at Montrose.
Class 3A
No. 1 Thompson Valley beat No. 8 Discovery Canyon, 30-7: The Thompson Valley defense turned in yet another dominant performance, coming within a minute of securing its sixth shutout of the season in a quarterfinal rout. Instead, the unbeaten Eagles (12-0) will just have to settle for their second straight trip to the 3A semifinals. Freshman QB Finley Lucas hooked up with senior tight end C.J. James on a pair of touchdown passes to help the Eagles build a 20-0 halftime lead, senior Eli Metzger drilled three field goals and senior RB Wes Bebo added a TD run to deny Discovery Canyon (9-3) its first semifinal trip since 2016. Next week: Thompson Valley vs. Green Mountain.
No. 5 Green Mountain beat No. 13 Severance, 35-20: New coach, same old result. Green Mountain clinched its third straight trip to the 3A semifinals, this time under Anthony Rankin, who replaced Jesse German after he left for Eaglecest. The Rams overwhelmed the Silver Knights with a shock-and-awe first quarter that set the tone from the start. Green Mountain put 21 points on the board in that opening quarter then, after Severance clawed back a TD in the second quarter, put things away in the third with a pair of passing TDs for a 35-6 lead. With the loss, Severance (5-7) fell one game shy of its second state semifinal bid in four seasons, while Green Mountain (9-3) moves a step closer to its first state title since 1999. Next week: Green Mountain at Thompson Valley.
No. 3 Pomona beat No. 6 Windsor, 27-23: Four different Panthers found the end zone, including a defensive score from senior DE Izaya Hawkins to open the game, as Pomona (9-3) topped Windsor in a wild back-and-forth affair that featured four lead changes and a down-to-the-wire finish. Senior WB Tripp Thomas scored three TDs for the Wizards (10-2), with his second from 54 yards out giving them a 17-13 lead with 9:54 left in the third quarter. Senior Noah Sanchez put the Panthers back on top with an 11-yard run on Pomona’s next drive, then senior RB Bauer Swazo gave Pomona its largest lead of the game at 27-17 with a 51-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Thomas found the end zone one last time with 8:42 to go, and the Wizards got the ball back with a chance to pull ahead. But Pomona’s defense came up with the game-clinching stop at midfield and now moves on to the state semifinals for the first time since 2020. Next week: Pomona at Mead.
No. 2 Mead beat No. 7 Pueblo Central, 34-23: Senior QB Christian Hiner threw a pair of TD passes, the last a 24-yarder to junior WR Brycen Gissel to take a 31-15 lead with a minute left in the third quarter, and the Mavericks held off Pueblo Central to return to the 3A semifinals for the second time in four seasons. After the two teams traded touchdowns to begin the game, the Mavericks (10-1) scored 17 straight to close out the first half, including a 54-yard catch-and-run from Hiner to Eli Davis, a 2-yard Ryan St. Aubin TD run and a 24-yard Davis field goal. Senior QB Genaro Pino nearly brought the Wildcats (9-3) back, running in one TD and throwing another to Amari Brown to close Mead’s lead to 31-23 with 11:16 to go. But the Mavs defense stood tall the rest of the way. Next week: Mead vs. Pomona.
