It was an afternoon of upsets in the Class 3A semifinals on Saturday.
No. 5 Mead pulled away as the game went on to win 38-21 over top-seeded Roosevelt. No. 3 Fort Morgan was able to clamp down on defense to win 23-21 over a high-scoring No. 2 Lutheran team. Next Saturday at the CSU-PUueblo Thunderbowl, Mead and Fort Morgan will square off for the 3A state championship.
(5) Mead 38, (1) Roosevelt 21
LONGMONT — From dominated to domination, Mead stunned top-seeded Roosevelt Saturday afternoon.
The fifth-seeded Mavericks used two breakaway touchdowns from Sean Medlock and a dominating second-half performance from their defense to oust the Roughriders in the Class 3A semifinals, 38-21.
“Just a lot of belief, a lot of courage, a lot of grit, a lot of toughness,” Mead coach Jason Klatt said. “Guys just made up their mind that we were going to do something special.”
Special.
And especially not expected.
Mead — punishing a team that had outscored opponents by an average of 38 this season and beat the Mavs 37-7 seven weeks ago — broke open a tied game by scoring 24 unanswered points before Roosevelt got a late score on Brock Saya’s second passing TD of the game.
Evan Morris and Gavin Garrettson also had rushing TDs for the Mavs and their defense held the Roughriders to just one first down in the second half before the final drive.
Among hugs and high-fives — somewhere lost in the orange masses following the final whistle was the team’s undersized hero, Medlock.
His team is headed to Pueblo to face Fort Morgan for the 3A title next weekend. The moment wasn’t lost on him.
“So last year we got kicked out because of COVID or whatever you want to say,” said Medlock, referring to the team having to forfeit the 2020 postseason due to virus exposure inside the program. “To carry on this legacy for last year’s seniors, it feels good.”
Medlock, listed at 5-foot-6 on the team’s MaxPreps roster, appeared at least 10 yards behind the defense when he caught Garrettson’s third pass attempt of the day, trotting into the endzone for a 40-yard score to even things at 14-all minutes before halftime.
Sprung loose again on the Mavs’ first possession in the third quarter, the junior stretched the line with an outside run on fourth-and-inches. He then turned up field, leaving two defenders behind en route to a 47-yard score to put them up for good.
“Sean’s been great for us all year,” Klatt said. “At one point in time, we said this guy is our most determined blocker and he’s all but 155 pounds. But it just speaks to Sean. Sean’s a team player. He’s all about giving the ball to somebody else. He’s about somebody else getting credit. He deserves that.”
Mead started the game much like it finished in its quarterfinals win.
Dripping away the final 8:33 in regulation last weekend in Durango, the clock-chewing Mavericks offense followed up that 17-play drive with 13 more, all on the ground, marching 80 yards on its opening possession. With the finishing touch, Corby Tecu slipped a hole to his left as his nine-yard finish came after the Mavs took 6:10 off the clock. It was Tecu’s seventh rushing TD of the season.
Roosevelt responded. Shut out in the first quarter for the first time in four games, the Roughriders scored a pair of touchdowns 1:52 apart in the second.
Coming into the day as just one of two teams in the classification averaging more than 200 yards in the air and on the ground, they scored on Cooper Walton’s 2-yard rush with 6:29 left in the half. Then, they got the ball back on a fumble and scored five plays later on a 24-yard connection from Brock Saya to Tucker Peterson on a fourth-and-19.
Mead pulled away from there.
It will now attempt to win the school’s second team title next weekend.
(3) Fort Morgan 23, (2) Lutheran 21
The No. 2 Lutheran Lions entered the Class 3A semifinals having scored 49 points in each of their first two postseason victories, but the Fort Morgan Mustangs were ready to counter with a stout defense that had allowed a total of 14 points in two playoff games.
It was defense that prevailed on Saturday.
Fort Morgan won 23-21, punching its ticket to the state championship game next weekend. It was also the first time all season the Lutheran offense was held below 35 points.
The Mustangs led 14-7 after the first quarter and with a field goal on the final play of the first half, they took a 17-7 advantage into halftime. A strong third quarter, however, gave Luthan a one-point lead going into the fourth. WIth 1 minute, 3 seconds left in the game, Fort Morgan’s Brandon Marguez, who made three field goals in the game, kicked a field goal to put the Mustangs back in the lead at 23-21. A potential comeback drive by Lutheran was haulted by a Frank Ortega interception that sealed the victory.
The Mustangs are back in the title game for the first time since 2008 when they lost 23-14 to Glenwood Springs.