The matchups for next week’s Class 2A state championship game are set.
At CSU-Pueblo’s Thunderbowl, it will be No. 1 Eaton facing No. 7 Brush in the Class 2A state championship game.
(1) Eaton 39, (12) University 24
EATON — Even during an afternoon in which the sun never really poked through the thick, gloomy clouds, Zac Grable routinely found daylight.
Grable — the Reds’ athletic 6-foot-3 junior receiver — found daylight on third-and-short. He found daylight on second-and-long.
He found daylight every time University seemed to be on the verge of turning the tide in its favor during a Class 2A state football semifinals game this afternoon.
In all, Grable found daylight on three separate occasions, as he hauled in deep passes from junior quarterback Walker Martin for three of Eaton’s six touchdowns during the top-seeded Reds 39-24 win against 12th-seeded University.
“Me and Walker have a good connection within the passing game,” said Grable, who had three receptions, all touchdowns, for 144 total yards. “We wanted to prove something big.”
With the win, the defending 2A champion Reds (12-0) advance to their second consecutive title game and will face No. 7 Brush (10-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl on the Colorado State University-Pueblo campus
While Eaton moves on in pursuit of its third state title in program history, University ended its historic season at 7-5.
Early in the postseason, the Bulldogs won their first playoff game since 1985. Today, they played in just the second semifinals game in program history, the first since 1964.
But even though University — in two meetings this season — proved to be more effective against the Reds’ brick-wall defense than any other offense has been, it was Eaton’s big plays in the passing game that assured the Bulldogs wouldn’t be celebrating their first trip to the state finals in program history.
The Reds struck on their first of many splashy offensive plays on the first play from scrimmage, with the Bulldogs perhaps expecting smash-mouth Eaton to attempt to get its talented running game in rhythm.
Instead, Martin dropped back and delivered a feathery pass up the middle to junior Austin Martinez, who took the pass 80 yards to give the Reds a 7-0 lead just 10 seconds into the game.
Undaunted, University — with 2A’s top passing game, powered by senior quarterback Greg Garza — promptly marched his team 82 yards on 11 plays to pull the Bulldogs within a point, 7-6, with 7:11 left in the first quarter.
These two offenses were just getting started, as Eaton scored three touchdowns in the first 10 minutes, while University scored two touchdowns in the first 8 minutes.
While the Bulldogs struggled with point-after kicks and conversions, the Reds slowly and methodically pulled away.
But, there was nothing slow and methodical about Eaton’s passing game.
Martin attempted just eight passes. Five of those passes went for touchdowns. And, each of those five touchdowns were 35 or more years — including touchdown catches of 64, 45 and 35 yards by Grable.
“Watching film, we knew that (University) didn’t have high safeties, se we wanted to really push the ball up the middle,” said Martin, who completed 5 of 8 passes for 261 yards. “And, Zac was great today. The first time we played (University), he didn’t have his best game. But, coming in to this game, he was the warrior of the week.”
(7) Brush 35, (6) Severance 18
The Brush Beetdiggers and Severance Silver Knights each pulled of an upset to reach the Class 2A quarterfinals so when they faced off against one another on Saturday, neither was truly an underdog nor the favorite.
On the strength of a 24-point second quarter, it was the Brush Beetdiggers who prevailed with a 35-18 victory. The win, which came against a Severance squad that won 20-7 in a regular-season matchup between the two teams, sends the historically successful Brush program back into the championship game.
“They were really conscientious of our inside game, so they were putting nine and ten people in the box,” Brush head coach Lance Schwindt told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “So, we started out running outside a little bit and loosened them up. They had eleven people close by so we were able to not hit a lot of passes but just enough to keep them honest. And then, our running game at the very end kind of wore them down.”
Brush will be making its 13th state championship game appearance. The Beetdiggers last won a football state championship in 2014.
In Friday’s championship game, the Beetdiggers will reassume their underdog role when they take on undefetaed defending champion Eaton.
“Coach Lemon, he does a great job,” Schwindt said. “Last year, we played them and they balnked us 28-0. They’ve got athletes all over the place. I was listening to another radio show and they were talking about, ‘Division-I athlete, Division-I athlete.’ God darn, we’re happy to get somebody to go to a small school and play. So, we’re really excited for the challenge still in front of us.”