COLORADO SPRINGS — Windsor football beat Palmer Ridge in overtime during the Class 4A quarterfinals on Saturday.

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The following information shows the designated home team for potential championship football on Saturday, Dec. 5. The formula for determining the home team is shown on page 54 of the football bulletin.

Sites are determined each week at the CHSAA office, one-and-a-half weeks prior to the next round. When possible, this will be live-streamed. View the archived video of this week’s coin flips here.
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Explanation

How the home sites are determined.

• For 5A, 4A, 3A, and 1A: The team with the fewest playoff home games will host. If equal, the higher seed will host. If seed is equal, a coin flip will be used. In 3A, the championship game will be at the higher seed regardless of the number of home games hosted.
• For 2A: The team with the fewest playoff home games will host. If equal, the higher seed will host. Exception: If playoff home games are equal, and the opponents are from the same conference, the school with the higher conference standing in the regular season shall be the host.
• For 8-man and 6-man: The team with the fewest playoff home games will host. If equal, a coin flip determines the home team.

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Future home sites

Key: Home games – Fewest home playoff games; Higher seed – The highest seeded team; Mileage – One-way mileage.

Class 5A (Championship)
Potential matchup		Home games	Higher seed	Designated Home Team
Columbine	Valor Christian	X		Valor Christian
Columbine	Cherry Creek		Coin flip	Cherry Creek
Pomona	Valor Christian		Higher seed	Valor Christian
Pomona	Cherry Creek		Higher seed	Cherry Creek

Class 4A (Championship)
Potential matchup		Home games	Higher seed	Designated Home Team
Pine Creek	Windsor	X		Windsor
Pine Creek	Longmont		X	Pine Creek
Loveland	Windsor	X		Windsor
Loveland	Longmont		X	Longmont

Class 3A (Championship)
Potential matchup		Home games	Higher seed	Home Team	Mileage
Pueblo East	Roosevelt		X	Pueblo East	160
Pueblo East	Delta		X	Pueblo East	248
Fort Morgan	Roosevelt		X	Roosevelt	68
Fort Morgan	Delta		X	Delta	353

COLORADO SPRINGS – Pine Creek’s hunt for a third-straight Class 4A football title continued Saturday as they beat Wheat Ridge 43-8 to advance to the semifinals.

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4A quarterfinals

• Updated bracket

Video of the game-winning TD run from @jakeshields20 #copreps pic.twitter.com/yD35ZJ3g2c

— Quentin Sickafoose (@QSickafoose) November 21, 2015

Video courtesy of Quentin Sickafoose/The Coloradoan

(3) Windsor 20, (11) Palmer Ridge 14 (OT)

For much of the afternoon, Palmer Ridge looked like it might pull off the upset. But Windsor quarterback Brad Peeples had a 52-yard run in the fourth quarter to tie the game.

The two teams went to overtime, where the Windsor defense forced a turnover and the offense secured the win on Jake Shields’ touchdown.

“After last year’s second-round loss, I told the boys, ‘The sun will come up tomorrow,'” Windsor coach Chris Jones told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show after the game. “And today’s speech was, ‘The sun came up. It’s tomorrow. It’s our moment.’ They just had faith that they were going to get it done no matter what.”

After Shields scored, “It was a great moment of euphoria for all of our fans, our players, our coaches,” Jones said.

Palmer Ridge led 14-7 at halftime, and it stayed that way until Peeples’ touchdown.

“We had a lot of ups and downs to overcome early in the game and in the third quarter,” Jones said. “It was a very gut-wrenching game there at the end there.”

The Wizards get a rematch with Longmont. The two teams played a tight defensive battle during the regular season, which ended in a Hail Mary score to give Longmont a win.

(2) Longmont 48, (10) Denver South 14

The Trojans absolutely rolled in the quarterfinals, to the tune of a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and 35-7 at the half.

Longmont’s Conlan Berger rushed for two touchdowns and also had a receiving score, while Eli Sullivan returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and also added a four-yard rushing score.

In addition, Ethan Gabrielle had a rushing TD, and David Speidel threw a touchdown.

View a photo gallery of the game here.

(13) Loveland 49, (5) Durango 21

The Cinderella of the 4A playoffs continued its run with a stunning upset of Durango.

Loveland went up 28-7 at halftime, and led 42-14 after three quarters.

Read a complete recap of the game here. View a photo gallery here.

(1) Pine Creek 43, (8) Wheat Ridge 8

Pine Creek cruised to its 37th-straight win, this one coming after yet another fast start. It was 36-0 at halftime.

Brock Domann passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another, while his brother JoJo had a rushing TD, and was on the receiving end of one of the passing score.

Joey Long scores two rushing touchdowns, and Kacin Nowlin had a receiving touchdown.

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3A quarterfinals

• Updated bracket

(4) Fort Morgan 21, (5) Palisade 0

Anthony Arroyo, Toby McBride and Tate Kembel each had rushing touchdowns as the Mustangs moved to the semifinals. It was 14-0 at halftime.

Fort Morgan is now 12-0 this season.

“We just didn’t give up the big plays,” Fort Morgan coach Harrison Chisum told the Scoreboard Show. “We were able to be aggressive yet disciplined on their counters. A lot of the end-arounds, we were able to set the edge.”

The Mustangs will play at defending champion Pueblo East in the semifinals.

(2) Roosevelt 42, (7) Evergreen 19

Roosevelt built a big lead early in cruising to the semifinals. The Roughriders led 14-0 after the first quarter and 28-6 at half. It was 42-6 after three.

Carlos Ortega had two rushing touchdowns, and a receiving score for Roosevelt. Cameron Hurtado added two passing touchdowns, and also rushed for one.

“Our guys showed up to play today, and I think the scoreboard shows it,” Roosevely coach Noland Eastin told the Scoreboard Show. “It doesn’t get any easier, but it’s a good way to end a good week of practice.”

Roosevelt will face Delta in the semifinals at home.

View a photo gallery of the game here.

(1) Pueblo East 28, (8) Discovery Canyon 10

Quarterback Daniel Martin had three rushing touchdowns, Bryson Torres also scored, and the defending champions returned to the semifinals.

The game was a rematch of a regular season game, also won by Pueblo East.

Pueblo East will be home in the semifinals.

(3) Delta 27, (6) The Classical Academy 14

Delta trailed 14-13 at halftime, but rallied to secure a spot in the semifinals.

Kole Roberts gave his team the lead for good with a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and then the quarterback found Tristan Brown for an insurance score in the fourth quarter.

Brown also had a rushing touchdown, while Jayce Hall returned a fumble for a score for Delta.

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2A semifinals

• Updated bracket

(1) Bayfield 47, (4) La Junta 7

This game was close at halftime — Bayfield led just 13-7 — but the Wolverines pulled away to move to the championship game.

Bayfield scored 34 unanswered points in the second half in winning.

“We knew that it was going to be a battle. It was 13-7 at the half. So we knew they were a tough team, that we just had to put our hats on,” coach Gary Heide told the Scoreboard Show.

Of the second half, Heide said, “We came out on defense, played well … and then we drove the ball down and scored. … When we scored, I knew that we were here to play the second half.”

Kelton McCoy threw four touchdowns and rushed for two more in leading Bayfield to the win. Brody McGhehey was on the receiving end of two of those scores.

Wyatt Freier and Taed Heydinger each had a receiving touchdown, while Zane Phelps scored on the ground.

Bayfield was last in a championship game in 2011, when it lost to Florence.

(3) Platte Valley 29, (2) Kent Denver 23

Platte Valley, down 17-0 in the second quarter and 23-7 at halftime, had a furious rally to reach the title game.

Read a complete roundup of the game here.

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1A semifinals

• Updated bracket

(3) Paonia 21, (2) Resurrection Christian 15

The Eagles rallied late to earn a chance at defending their championship yet again.

Paonia, which is a two-time defending champion, got a touchdown from Jeremiah Hillman with 3:06 to play, then got a late interception to seal the win.

“It was third down, and we just ran a little off-tackle play, and Jeremiah Hillman just buried it in,” Paonia coach Brent McRae told the Scoreboard Show.

The win sets up a rematch with Buena Vista for the 1A title. The championship game will be in Buena Vista.

“We’re pretty familiar with each other in the postseason,” McRae said. “It’s going to be very interesting, a very competitive ballgame.”

(1) Buena Vista 42, (5) Crowley County 0

The top seed rolled into the championship game, which it will host next weekend.

“The score doesn’t do the game justice. It was a pretty hard-fought battle. It was 14-0 at half,” Buena Vista coach Matt Flavin told the Scoreboard Show. “But we got the win, and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

Keenan Barr had two rushing touchdowns and a defensive score, and Keegan Wentz also scored twice on the ground.

Of the rematch with Paonia, Flavin said, “Those guys, the last few years, have just been the dominant team. … I hope we can rise to that occasion.”

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8-man semifinals

• Updated bracket

(1) Sedgwick County 50, (4) Sargent 8
The Cougars led 20-0 after the first quarter and 42-0 at halftime in rolling to the championship game.

“We got a couple of quick scores, and that always helps,” Sedgwick County coach Chris Michel told the Scoreboard Show.

This marks the first appearance in a title game for the Sedgwick County football co-op, which is comprised of Julesburg and Revere. Julesburg has won four titles in school history, and Revere has won nine. That program was last in a title game in 2004, when it lost to Hi-Plains for the 6-man championship.

“The boys are excited, the community is excited,” Michel said. “It should be a fun week.”

The championship against Akron will be a rematch of a 22-3 Sedgwick County win on Oct. 30.

“They say it’s always hard to beat a good team twice, and Akron’s a very good program,” Michel said. “They’ve got a good defense. We’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

(3) Akron 16, (2) Norwood 0

Akron’s defense pitched a shutout as the Rams advanced to a title game for the first time since 2009. That was the last appearance in a stretch of five-straight for the program.

“Our kids just showed up to play today and did a really good job,” Akron coach Jerome Weers told the Scoreboard Show. “Our kids definitely have a very good defensive mindset, and they like playing it. They’re going to have to play good next week against SedgCo.”

Akron will host the 8-man title game.

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6-man championship

• Updated bracket

(3) Eads 34, (4) Arickaree/Woodlin 12

Eads won the rematch of last season’s game.

Read a complete recap here. Find a photo gallery here.

ENGLEWOOD — Playoff football is a time for teams to put their regular season records behind them and focus on the opponent in front them. It’s even a time to make up for previous playoff losses.

Last year, the Kent Denver Sun Devils beat the Platte Valley Broncos in the semifinals in a tight matchup.

This time, in the Class 2A football semifinals, the matchup was much of the same, but Platte Valley came out on top with the win after trailing by 17 points in second quarter. Platte Valley beat Kent Denver 29-23, handing the Sun Devils their first loss of the season.

Broncos quarterback Tanner Schwindt threw an interception in the end zone, and a crucial interception that returned for a 60-yard touchdown earlier in the game. But Schwindt entered the second half completely forgetting about his mistakes. He had a rushing touchdown, and then threw the game-winning touchdown pass.

“The credit has to go to our defense and offensive line,” Schwindt said. “I played poorly in that first half. But they stuck by me. We knew if we came out here and played our football our game. We didn’t vary from anything. Our defense locked them down the second half like they been doing all year. They gave us just enough chances and we knew our offense was good enough to put it in there. We get one more week now.”

The Broncos defense held Kent Denver’s explosive offense to zero points in the second half.

Kent Denver had a good start to the game. On their second drive of the game, Sun Devils quarterback Rob Casey threw 76-yard pass to William Salder, who was stopped short at the goal line. Platte Valley’s defense stepped up and held Kent Denver to just a field goal for an early 3-0 lead.

Platte Valley looked like its was going to quickly respond. But Schwindt threw ball up for grabs deep in the corner of the end zone that was intercepted by Kent Denver defensive back Justin Schatz.

Kent Denver, with the momentum, let senior running back Wyllis McKissick do what he has been doing all year by controlling the ground game with a 22-yard run. That set up 58-yard pass from Casey to Charles McKissick for the touchdown pass and a 10-0 lead.

Shortly after that, Platte Valley turned the ball over with a fumble on Kent Denver’s 23-yard line. The Sun Devils capitalized on the turnover as Casey threw his second touchdown pass to Charles McKissick.

The Broncos responded with a 50-yard kick off return, and the Platte Valley offense made it the rest of the way with 12-yard touchdown run, giving them their first points of the game and cutting the lead to 17-7.

Before halftime, Schatz got his second interception of the game returned for a 60-yard touchdown that gave Sun Devils a comfortable 23-7 lead.

“I told the kids, ‘No scoreboard watching today,’” said Platte Valley head coach Troy Hoffman. “That was one of our goals. Can’t watch it. I didn’t know what it would be anyways. I knew Kent Denver was a really good team.”

In the second half, the Broncos came out strong and determined to get back into the game. Platte Valley was able to convert play after play, leading to a two-yard rushing touchdown from junior running back Drew Neuerburg.

The Broncos got the ball back after an interception thrown by Casey. Schwindt and offense took advantage of a much-needed turnover with quarterback sneak making it a 2-point game at 23-21.

“We needed something and I was glad I got to provide a play for my team,” said Schwindt. “I knew I gave a couple up in the first half. I needed to get my guys in positions to succeed.”

Kent Denver then turned the ball over again on Platte Valley’s 30. The Broncos had a chance to take the lead with ball on the 1-yard line, but were stopped short on fourth down.

Still, the Sun Devils’ offense struggled to get into any rhythm in second half.

Platte Valley’s offense kept on getting into position to take the lead but Kent Denver’s defense would always find a way to come up with a stop. Schwindt threw his third interception in the end zone with 5:50 left in the game.

On 4th-and-4, the Broncos converted the first down with a pass to senior Mathew Hoffman. Schwindt then threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Parker Gilliland for a 29-23 lead with 46 seconds left in the game.

Kent Denver tried to get in the end zone before the game ended, but Casey was sacked and fumbled the ball, sealing the game for Platte Valley.

Hoffman found a way to keep his team composed in their comeback win.

“We came out and scored,” he said. “We got the stop and couple of turnovers. You start to feel it and the kids start to believe. I told the kids they have to reach down inside: ‘You’re going to remember how you overcame this good or bad. You’re going to remember this for the rest of your lives and you’re going to learn something.’ I can’t be more proud of my team.”

Platte Valley will host Bayfield in the 2A championship next Saturday.

LOVELAND — To say the Loveland Indians have confidence is an understatement.

After starting the season with a 2-4 record, Loveland (7-5) continued its incredible turnaround with a 49-21 drubbing of fifth-seeded Durango (10-2) in the Class 4A quarterfinals on Saturday at Ray Patterson Stadium in Loveland. They will host Pine Creek (12-0), the two-time defending 4A state champions, in the semifinals next Saturday at 1 p.m.

One week after going down to Colorado Springs and running over the fourth-seeded Vista Ridge Wolves 30-14 in the first round of the playoffs, the 13th-seeded Indians once again played with a swagger that 5-5 regular season teams don’t typically possess.

Loveland feels the postseason, in a lot of ways, started back when they were 3-5 with Adams City and Greeley West left on the schedule.

“I think we gelled as a team toward the middle of the season,” Loveland coach Wayne McGinn said. “We had to win the last two games to have a chance at getting into the playoffs, and we did that. We basically are two games ahead of everybody else in playoff experience. That’s the way I look at it.”

Loveland trounced Adams City 49-15. Then, after going down 14-7 at the half at Greeley West in a win-and-you’re-in playoff situation, the Indians overcame the Spartans 29-21 to seal a postseason spot. Now, Loveland is competing with a nothing to lose attitude.

“They play their hearts out,” McGinn said. “We’re one family and we’re playing like one family right now.”

After a defensive smothering of Vista Ridge in a game in which Loveland held the Wolves to zero points through three quarters, the Indians’ triumph over Durango was more about offense—as in offensive fireworks.

On Saturday, the Indians took a 7-0 lead on the first possession of the game as 225-pound bruising back Charles Dunkelman plunged in from four yards out. Loveland then used some trickery for their next touchdown. After a 48-yard run by senior quarterback Ayden Eberhardt to the Durango 32 yard line, the Indians faced a 4th and 11 situation from the 31.

Eberhardt dropped back, threw a lateral to wide receiver Aidan McQuade, who then tossed to a wide open Ryan Svendsen for a touchdown. The play pushed Loveland’s lead to 14-0 with 9:10 to go in the first half.

Here and there, Durango answered back. Gavin Mestas bobbled and then caught a 6-yard touchdown from Terrence Trujillo to pull within 14-7, but Eberhardt came back with a 46-yard scamper for the score and LHS had a two-point conversion to go up 22-7.

At the break, it was 28-7 after a 44-yard touchdown catch by the speedy Calvin Kelley.

The highlight-reel plays continued for the Indians in the second half as Eberhardt threw a beautiful 25-yard touchdown to McQuade in the back of the end zone to make it 35-7. Trujillo then ripped off a 72-yard touchdown run, but Eberhardt found Svendsen for a 79-yard rumbling, tumbling touchdown to go up 42-14.

While Durango made some plays throughout, especially while going to the air, Loveland was opportunistic in stopping the Demons on several 4th down attempts. The Indians also intercepted Trujillo, who entered the game with 25 touchdown passes, four times. Svendsen accounted for two, Kaden Morin had one off an athletic tip from McQuade, and then McQuade had one of his own.

Eberhardt, who finished with 169 yards rushing and one touchdown, threw for 199 yards and three scores, as well. He also had a 61 yard punt from the back of the end zone right before halftime. The dual-threat quarterback credited his line for the scoring outburst.

“With all the highlight plays, honestly the line stepped up,” Eberhardt said. “They were working their butts off. They made every play happen. Cohesive offense is what we have right now and that’s awesome to see.”

Loveland will now host Pine Creek, winners of 37 consecutive games and the heaviest of favorites to, once again, claim the state championship. While the LHS players and coaches alike know the enormous challenge of going against the 4A powerhouse, the Indians will enter another week with the confidence that has gotten them to this point.

“All we wanted was a shot at Pine Creek and that’s what we got,” Eberhardt said. “We’re blessed with an opportunity to be able to play them.”

DENVER — Longmont beat Denver South 48-14 in the Class 4A football quarterfinals on Saturday.

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EADS — Eads won the 6-man football championship with a victory over Arickaree/Woodlin on Saturday.

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JOHNSTOWN — Roosevelt beat Evergreen 42-19 in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A football playoffs on Saturday.

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LOVELAND — Loveland, the No. 13 seed, upset No. 5 Durango 49-21 in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A football playoffs on Saturday.

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