FALCON — No. 1-seeded Pine Creek returned to the Class 4A football championship game with a 34-14 win over Falcon on Saturday.
Month: November 2014
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Photos: Valor Christian football beats Grandview in 5A semis
AURORA — No. 2-seeded Valor Christian beat No. 1 Grandview 14-7 in the Class 5A football semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
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Photos: Caliche captures 8-man football championship
GRANADA — Caliche won the 8-man football championship with a 34-32 win over Granada in the title game on Saturday.
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Cherry Creek football moves to 5A title game after beating Ralston Valley
Cherry Creek senior Milo Hall (5) breaks into the open on a 30-yard run in the second half Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. Ralston Valley senior Andrew Wingard, left, hurdles a teammate during the pursuit of Hall. The Bruin running back had 27 carries for 276 yards and three touchdowns in Creek’s 27-15 victory in the Class 5A state semifinal game. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss) ARVADA — Milo Hall had a good feeling heading back to the North Area Athletic Complex for the Class 5A football state semifinal game Friday night.
The Cherry Creek senior running back has had mixed results at the NAAC over his career. He rushed for 170 yards last season in a regular season win over Pomona, but also had to swallow a tough 5A state quarterfinal loss as a freshman playing for Mullen.
Milo Hall had an explosive night. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com) “I just had a feeling I was going to have a big game,” said Hall after rushing for 276 yards on 27 carries and scoring three touchdowns in the Bruins’ 27-15 victory over Ralston Valley. “I’m proud of the whole team. The defense played well. My line blocked. I’m proud of everyone.”
Creek (10-3) faces the winner of Valor Christian and Grandview in the 5A title game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Valor and Grandview square off in the other semifinal at 1 p.m. Saturday at Legacy Stadium in Aurora.
Hall scored a pair of first half touchdowns to give the Bruins a 17-7 halftime lead over previously undefeated Ralston Valley (12-1). A 47-yard run — his longest of the night — ended in the end zone midway through the second quarter to answer a 4-yard touchdown run minutes early by Ralston Valley junior Kyle Rush.
“I’ve been trying to recruit him (Hall) to go to Wyoming,” said Ralston Valley senior Andrew Wingard, who has already signed to play for the Cowboys next season. “He is slippery and bounces off tackles. It wasn’t all him. They have a great offensive line and then coach (Dave) Logan. He has a great track record and obviously knows what he is doing.”
Hall and Wingard have been two of the most dynamic players in the state this season. Hall went over the 2,000-yard mark for the season on the ground Friday and has 27 rushing touchdowns. While Wingard, a two-way player, had racked up more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 37 touchdowns this season for Ralston Valley.
Wingard was held to 85 yards on 19 carries Friday. For the first time all season Wingard was held out of the end zone.
“We needed to key off him (Wingard) and know where he was at all times,” Creek senior linebacker Desmond Marfizo said. “We wanted to make sure he didn’t get the edge on us and run free. He is pretty tough to stop, but we did it.”
The Mustangs could only muster up 223 yards of total offense. There wasn’t much doubt in Wingard’s mind of who will be hoisting the 5A state trophy next Saturday and Sports Authority Field.
“Cherry Creek is going to take it all with that defense,” Wingard said. “They played so well tonight. They just swarm the ball. They played great.”
Ralston Valley did close within two scores with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter on a 39-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Chase Heffley and two-point conversion run by Rush. However, Hall and DJ Luke were able to grind out a couple of first downs to milk the clock.
Cherry Creek senior Mike Morean intercepted Heffley with less than two minutes to play to seal the victory.
Mike Morean makes the game-sealing interception in the fourth quarter. More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com) “I’m really proud of the kids on both sides of the ball. Ralston Valley is a really good team,” Logan said. “We played as hard as we could possibly play. We knew we had to do that to come up here and get a win.”
Friday was the first meeting on the football field between Cherry Creek and Ralston Valley. The two programs have scrimmaged against each other during the past three years.
With Creek advancing to next week’s title game, Logan will have coached four different prep football programs — Arvada West, Chatfield, Mullen and Cherry Creek — to championship games in the highest classification since 1997. Coincidentally, Logan’s first coaching title at A-West in 1997 was a year after Cherry Creek’s last football title in 1996. The Bruins won eight football championships from 1982 to 1996.
“Honestly, it’s not about me. It’s about this program and this group of kids that have worked really hard,” Logan said of taking another different prep football program back to the title game. “They have continued to get better week-by-week. We played a killer schedule. We’ve been able to get a little better each week.”
The Bruins’ last trip to the championship game came in 2008 — a game in which Logan coached Mullen to a 20-16 victory against Cherry Creek. It was the second of four titles Mullen won during Logan’s tenure with the Mustangs.
Ralston Valley has come close to advancing to football championship games in both the 4A and 5A classifications since the Arvada-area school opened in 2000, but hasn’t been able to get past the semifinals.
Cherry Creek players celebrate winning the game on Friday night. More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com) -
Replay: Football championships and semifinals
Links
- Live scoreboard
- Playoff brackets: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man
- Full schedule & scoreboard | @ColoHSFootball
- Live game schedule
The live event will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
[divider]Live coverage
Live games Class Game Time Notes 1A (1) Paonia vs. (2) Buena Vista | Alternate 1 p.m. Video 8-man (4) Granada vs. (3) Caliche | Alternate 1 p.m. Video 2A (1) Brush vs. (2) Kent Denver 1 p.m. Video 4A (13) Falcon vs. (1) Pine Creek 1 p.m. Video 4A (11) Broomfield vs. (7) Longmont 1 p.m. Video 5A (1) Grandview vs. (2) Valor Christian 1 p.m. Video 3A (6) Rifle vs. (10) Fort Morgan 1 p.m. Audio -
Photos: Cherry Creek tops Ralston Valley in 5A football semifinals
ARVADA — No. 1-seeded Cherry Creek beat fellow No. 1 Ralston Valley 27-15 in the Class 5A football semifinals on Friday night. The Bruins now move to the 5A title game.
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Pine Creek football cruises by Falcon for a chance to defend its 4A state title
More photos. (Mark Adams) FALCON — As Pine Creek head coach Todd Miller looked at his players in full celebration over their 34-14 Class 4A semifinal win, he couldn’t help but let his emotions show.
In the last several years, Miller had seen many of his players battling through adversity. Whether it be not making the field of 16 in 2012 or watching their community endure the wrath of the Black Forest fire, it had been a rough few years for the Eagles.
But today, Miller and his boys stand one win away from a second consecutive 4A state championship. All that stands between them and the perception of a dynasty are the Longmont Trojans.
“These kids deserve it, we’re a community,” Miller said while choking back tears. “I guess the work you put into get to this point… your family has to give, these kids’ families give and these coaches give a lot. This game is so great, but it takes a lot from you.”
More photos. (Mark Adams) The Eagles weren’t going to advance without a fight from Falcon. The Falcons took Pine Creek to overtime earlier in the year and felt that they had a chance to win that game. That mentality gave them the confidence that anyone needs when stepping on the field with a defending champion.
The game plan for the Falcons appeared to be very cut and dry early. They wanted to keep the ball on the ground and eat up as much clock as possible.
They also had no problem throwing caution to the wind early.
Facing an early fourth down, the Falcons went for it, converting on a Wyatt Aaberg run. The overall plan worked well as their opening drive took 6:12 off the clock before Kennieth Lester punched into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run.
“We thought defensively it was the two best teams in the state” Falcons co-head coach Brian Green said. “We knew defensively they would be tough so it was important to score some early points.”
Not only did they score early points, but they kept the Eagles’ offense off the field for more than half of the first quarter. The unit appeared to out of sync after spending so much time on the bench. They drove for an early first down, but Eagles quarterback Tommy Lazzaro was flagged for intentional grounding then sacked on the next play.
In fact, the Eagles couldn’t gain any traction until 4:04 remaining in the first half. Lazzaro connected with running back JoJo Domann for a 20-yard touchdown pass, finally getting the Eagles on the board.
“We just kept fighting and we didn’t get frustrated,” Lazzaro said. “The offensive line kept giving us some good looks and once we settled down we were able to find the end zone.”
The first touchdown for the Eagles came off a blocked field goal attempt for the Falcons. While playing like they had nothing to lose early, they suddenly went conservative.
“Our thinking was to get a two-score lead,” Green said. “We had a chance to get up by two and we had confidence in our kicker so we gave him a shot.”
The Eagles found the end zone with less than a minute remaining in the half, taking a 14-7 lead.
After forcing a turnover in the opening minutes of the second half, the Falcons’ offense appeared to be stuck in neutral. The Eagles defense proved to be two much and two more touchdown runs by Lazzaro gave Pine Creek a 28-7 lead in the fourth quarter.
Each team would add a late touchdown, but when the final horn sounded, the Eagles were given a chance to defend their state title win from a year ago.
“We didn’t panic,” Miller said. “You get down in a lot of games like this and you panic, but we have a lot of experience here. It wasn’t our first time. We just kept playing and stuck to the plan.”
Pine Creek and Longmont will be the first game of a state championship double-header at Sports Authority Field on Saturday. It is Pine Creek’s third state championship game since 2011. Kickoff is set at 11 a.m.
More photos. (Mark Adams) -
Valor Christian escapes Grandview in 5A football semifinals
AURORA — Eric Lee Jr. literally grabbed Valor Christian’s ticket to the Class 5A state football championship game out of the thin Colorado air on the final play Saturday at Legacy Stadium.
Lee intercepted Grandview senior quarterback Cody Summers’ pass intended for senior Brandon Brooks in the end zone as time expired in the 5A semifinal game. The future University of Nebraska Cornhusker made a leaping one-handed grab on a fourth-down play to preserve a 14-7 victory for Valor over Grandview.
“I just saw the quarterback scrambling and tried to stay with my guy (Brooks),” Lee said. “I didn’t want to lose him because then it would be an easy touchdown. I saw the ball in the air and just attacked it at the highest point.”
Valor (10-3) heads to Sports Authority Field at Mile High to play in the 5A championship game scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday, Nov. 29. The Eagles face Centennial League foe Cherry Creek in the title game. The Bruins defeated the Eagles 33-17 in the conference battle back in October.
Valor Christian senior Stone Watson (28) works his way up the field during Saturday’s Class 5A state semifinal against Grandview. Watson rushed for a team-high 61 yards and had a key fourth-quarter interception to help the Eagles’ to a 14-7 victory. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss) “I like playing a team a second time. It makes it fun. It’s part of the chess match,” Valor coach Rod Sherman said facing Creek again. “We really take a lot of pride in the fact that it’s a Centennial League matchup for the state championship.”
Grandview (12-1) — the Centennial League champions — gave Valor everything it wanted in the semifinal. The Wolves’ final three drives that could very well have ended in a game-tying touchdown were snuffed out by the Eagles’ defense.
Late in the third quarter Grandview went for it on fourth down from Valor’s 28-yard line, but Summers’ pass fell incomplete. The Wolves drove down to the Eagles’ 22-yard line with just more than nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, but on another fourth-down play Valor senior Stone Watson intercepted Summers in the end zone.
“We really felt like our defensive secondary has been real strong all year,” Sherman said. “We are really proud of what they did today.”
Grandview’s last-ditch effort started from its own 6-yard line with 6:32 left on the clock. It took the Wolves 19 plays to drive inside Valor’s 10-yard line, but Lee ended Grandview’s hopes to either force overtime or win the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion on the 20th play of the drive.
“He (Lee) has been catching balls like that all season,” Valor sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey said of Lee, a two-way player. “The ball went up, there was a sense of calm and then he snagged it with one hand. We went crazy. It was awesome.”
Grandview actually took an early 7-0 lead after senior Gabe Hill intercepted McCaffrey on the first drive of the game. The Wolves took advantage of the short field starting on Valor’s 34-yard line. Summers hit senior Morgan Smith for a 4-yard touchdown for the Wolves’ lone points.
Valor tied the game at after a big punt return by senior Danny Rambo set up the Eagles at Grandview’s 1-yard line. McCaffrey’s quarterback sneak tied the game at 7-7 with 9:56 left in the second quarter.
The final touchdown of the game came just before halftime. Valor had a 15-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass from McCaffrey to Lee.
“That was a really good drive for us,” Sherman said.
The drive came after it looked like Grandview might have actually taken the lead.
Grandview senior Nathan Nguyen recovered the ball in the end zone after a punt by the Wolves to Valor. However, officials ruled the punt returner never had complete possession of the football before begin hit and the ball rolling into the end zone. It was a ruled a touchback with Valor taking over on it’s own 20-yard line.
Grandview quarterback Cody Summers (18) looks for some running room as Valor’s Turner Henington (94) and Bubba Watkins (25) zero in on Summers. The Eagles’ defense stopped the Wolves’ three times on potential game-tying drives that ended deep in Valor territory. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss) Looking ahead to the championship game against Creek, the focus right away moves to stopping Bruin senior Milo Hall. The running back rushed for a trio of touchdowns in the Bruins’ 27-15 semifinal victory over Ralston Valley on Friday night. Hall nearly ran for 200 yards in the victory against Valor earlier in the year.
“One of the things our coaches will definitely emphasize is tackling,” Lee said. “We know Milo Hall is a slippery back and with DJ Luke they have a dynamic duo. I’m looking forward to having the opportunity of playing them again.”
Valor has won five straight football championships across the 3A, 4A and 5A classifications since 2009. The Eagles have never lost a playoff game in the program’s history (26-0).
Grandview, which opened in 1998, has one boys team title in the school’s history. The Wolves won the 5A football title game in overtime against Douglas County in 2007. Grandview’s last trip to the semifinals ended with a loss to eventual state championship Columbine in 2011.
It has been a strong fall season for the Wolves with the softball and volleyball programs claiming 5A state titles already.
Valor Christian senior Brandon O’Donnell (19) attempts to elude Grandview defenders DeAndre Shorts (31), Keifer Glau (5), Brett Putzstuck (9) and Marcus Lawrence (15) after a catch during the first half Saturday at Legacy Stadium. The Eagles took a 14-7 victory to advance to next Saturday’s 5A state championship game against Cherry Creek. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss) 
Valor Christian sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey (12) fires a pass during the first quarterback Saturday against Grandview. McCaffrey ran for a touchdown and threw a score in the Eagles’ 14-7 win at Legacy Stadium. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss) -
Monarch hockey looking to break through after back-to-back runner-up finishes
Monarch hockey has lost in hockey’s championship game — to Ralston Valley — two consecutive seasons. (Matt Matthewes/MVPSportsPics.com) [dropcap]T[/dropcap]wo years, two excellent seasons, and two disappointing endings.
That’s the recent history of Monarch hockey, which has fallen just short of capturing its first ever state title in each of the past two seasons, losing in the championship game to Ralston Valley both times.
Being a perennial runner-up has proved to be a tough pill to swallow amid sky-high expectations for Monarch head coach Jimmy Dexter.
“We’ve had a couple disappointing seasons,” said Dexter on Thursday. “You know, the past three years we’ve only lost to Ralston Valley.”
The two teams know each other intimately — both compete in the Foothills Conference, and Ralston Valley defeated Monarch 5-1 in 2013’s championship game and 4-1 in 2014’s title affair.
Now, though, Monarch and Dexter have a new set of challenges to confront as they try to bust through an icy ceiling and final clinch that elusive state title.
“We’ve lost 16 kids from last year,” said Dexter. “But we do have a lot of young talent. So I’m excited and I think we’ll be right in it again this year.”
An exodus of that many players is always difficult to rebound from quickly. Fortunately for Monarch, Dexter’s new wave of talent has already spent some time together. Dexter coaches the a midget team in the offseason, and he likes what he’s seen from his young group, many of whom will appear for Monarch this season.
“We have a lot of young kids, a lot of ’98 birth years. But we’re going well in midget season, and I didn’t think we were going to compete that well,” said Dexter. “All of those kids that are playing, we just had try-outs, and all those kids are moving to the Monarch team.
“I’m pretty excited with what we have. I know we lost a lot but with the kids that are coming back and the new kids that are going to be on the team I think we’ll still be pretty strong.”
Walker Harris (9) is back for Monarch. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com) Monarch returns senior Walker Harris, the lone first-team player back from CHSAANow.com’s all-state team in 2013.
Harris may just be the top player in the state this season. He scored 17 goals and had 25 assists last season to lead the Foothills Conference with 42 points during the regular season, then added another seven points in the playoffs.
Dexter also highlighted the talents of sophomore Blake Bride, who Dexter said will be one of the team’s top players, as well as defenseman Justin White.
And as for Ralston Valley, Monarch’s biggest foil and the team that’s stood between them and their first state hockey championship? Dexter says there’s a definite rivalry there, and his new-look group is looking forward to taking another crack at the two-time defending champions.
“Definitely,” said Dexter, when asked if there was a budding rivalry between the two squads. “They lost a ton of kids, too. I was thinking that they weren’t going to be as good as usual, but looking at their midget team coming into the season, they’re going to be a strong team.
“We’re looking forward to playing them again and having another shot.”
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Hockey preview
Defending Champion: Ralston Valley
Returning all-state players: Harris (1st); Joe Morgan, G, Mountain Vista (2nd); John Tower, D, Resurrection Christian (2nd).
Regular season begins: December 1
Playoffs begin: February 21
Championship: March 7 at the Budweiser Event Center (Loveland)
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Replay: Ralston Valley, Cherry Creek play in 5A football semis
Links
- Live scoreboard
- Playoff brackets: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man
- Full schedule & scoreboard | @ColoHSFootball
- Live game schedule
The live event will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
[divider]Live coverage
Live games Class Game Time Notes 5A (1) Ralston Valley vs. (1) Cherry Creek 7 p.m. Video