LAKEWOOD — The tide turned in a hurry Friday night at Jeffco Stadium.
No. 2 Dakota Ridge appeared to be in control having scored 24 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead with 2:37 left in the third quarter against No. 7 Chatfield. Even Chargers’ coach Bret McGatlin likely figured the playoff run would come to an end in the Class 4A state quarterfinals and he would be heading to Florida for Thanksgiving Break.
Change of plans.
Chatfield scored five touchdowns from late in the third quarter through midway through the fourth quarter to take an unthinkable 42-31 victory against its south-Jeffco rival. The Chargers (9-3 record) will host Pine Creek (10-2) likely at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27, back at Jeffco Stadium.
The three minutes of offensive fury jumpstarted the comeback for Chatfield. Junior Mason Lowe had a 39-yard touchdown run. Senior Jake Marschall scored on a 3-yard touchdown run and Lowe threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to freshman Brock Narva to turn a 24-7 deficit into a 28-24 lead with 11:11 left in the fourth quarter.
“That went a lot better than last year I’ll say,” Lowe said of his halfback touchdown pass to Narva that put the Chargers ahead. “It was clutch. I’m glad Brock caught it. It really changed the momentum.”
After coming up empty on four straight offensive drives after Marschall’s 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, the Chargers kicked it into high-gear.
“That two-play drive gave us a little energy. Then the 3-and-out. Then another quick score. Then the turnover and another score,” McGatlin said of the three Chatfield touchdowns over 2 minutes and 44 second off the clock. “Just like that … I couldn’t believe we were in the lead right now. It was amazing.”
Dakota Ridge (11-1) had a 19-play, 70-yard scoring drive capped off with a 5-yard touchdown run by junior Noah Triplett to take a 17-point lead to start the second half.
“The wheels came off in a hurry right there,” Dakota Ridge coach Ron Woitalewicz said. “We had that great drive to start the third quarter to make it 24-7. Then all the sudden (Chatfield) scores three touchdowns in like two-and-a-half minutes. We just couldn’t figure out a way to get a stop on defense when we needed it.”
The Eagles did regain the lead 31-28 with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter with a 61-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Adam Graves to Connor Fitzhugh. However, Marschall answered with a 70-yard touchdown run less than 30 seconds later to give the Chargers the lead for good.
“It didn’t look great. I’m not going to lie,” Marschall said of the Chargers trailing 24-7 with 2:37 left in the third quarter. “This is what we train for, facing adversity. We knew what to do.”
Narva gave Chatfield’s its first 2-score lead of the game with a 53-yard touchdown run with 4:42 to make the final score 42-31.
“Our plan all the long was to get it to our athletes,” McGatlin said. “I know we have some special athletes and they did some amazing things.”
It will be Chatfield’s first trip back to the 4A state semifinals since 2016. Pine Creek actually defeated the Chargers 28-14.
“I knew this group was special,” said McGatlin of his team that had several injuries this year but has finally gotten healthy. “We just needed to get them together.”
Dakota Ridge was attempting to make its the third straight trip to the 4A state semifinals under longtime Coach Woitalewicz. Dakota Ridge was edged by eventual state champion Loveland in the semifinals in 2020 and lost on a last-second field goal by Broomfield in 2019.
“I’m proud of our kids,” Woitalewicz said. “To go 11-0 and be back-to-back league champs with everything these guys have been through these last two years. It didn’t end the way we wanted, but what a great game.”
Three weeks ago Chatfield and Dakota Ridge squared off in a game that decided the 4A Metro 1 League champion. The Chargers led 28-19 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Eagles rallied with 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take a 29-28 victory. Junior Landon Giebler kicked a 26-yard field goal with less than a minute to play for the game-winner.
Chatfield and Dakota Ridge both earned top-8 seeds and first-round byes for the opening round of the state tournament. The Chargers cruised past Ponderosa last week and the Eagles outscored Longmont to set up the south-Jeffco rivalry in the quarterfinals.
“Knowing that we are one of the last four teams left in it is the greatest feeling ever,” Marschall said. “I like Thanksgiving, but playing football makes it feel that much better.”