Live coverage of Friday night’s playoff football games in 5A and 4A, where the quarterfinals are taking place.
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The live event will begin at the scheduled time on Friday.
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GREENWOOD VILLAGE — Myles Purchase didn’t need a receipt for any of his returns. The scoreboard was proof enough.
Purchase, a junior, had two crucial returns for a score in the second half — one on an interception, and another on a punt return — to help spark his Cherry Creek Bruins to a 42-28 win over Fairview in the Class 5A quarterfinals.
“He’s a playmaker and he’s dangerous with his hand on the ball,” said Cherry Creek coach Dave Logan. “Both plays were big. The punt return really gave us a shot of energy.”
The top-seeded Bruins rallied from a 20-7 hole in the second quarter to take a 21-20 lead at halftime, and then Purchase gave his team a 28-20 lead with a 20-yard interception return for a score early in the fourth quarter.
But Fairview, which went toe-to-toe with the top seed, rallied with a 18-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Liam O’Brien to David Howlett.
It was 28-28 with 6:28 to play in the third quarter. The teams traded punts — setting the stage, again, for Purchase.
The talented cornerback who is also a standout basketball player hauled in the punt at the 28-yard-line, made a great initial move, and then cut up the middle for a 72-yard score. That gave Cherry Creek a 35-28 lead with 9:05 remaining.
It was the third game this season where Purchase had both an interception return and kick return for a score.
“If I can make one move, I feel like I can score every time I get it,” Purchase said. “So me being a dynamic player, I saw a seam and I just hit it. And I scored.”
“It was very emotional, putting us up a score when we needed it,” he added.
The Bruins added another touchdown in the fourth quarter when bruising running back Jayle Stacks punched in a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down with 4:53 to play. Stacks finished with 185 yards and two touchdowns.
This is the fifth time in the past six seasons that the Bruins have advanced to the semifinals.
“I’m proud of our program,” Logan said. “I think the culture of the program is a credit to our kids and the staff.”
Fairview, the No. 8 seed, trailed Cherry Creek 7-0 but then reeled off 20 unanswered points in a wave of offense that was sparked by great defensive plays.
Twice, the Knights turned away two great Cherry Creek drives, including a fourth-down stop on the 5-yard-line. O’Brien, starting for the first time this season, threw three first-half touchdowns. (He finished with four, and 280 yards passing.)
Suddenly, Fairview was up two scores at 20-7.
But Cherry Creek stuck to its game plan: namely, give the ball to Stacks. His strong running twice drove the Bruins’ offense down the field — and twice, quarterback Julian Hammond III found Chase Penry for a touchdown. The second came with five seconds left in the half, and gave Cherry Creek a 21-20 lead.
“We’ve never been in that position before, but when adversity hits, we always know we have to deliver,” Purchase said of trailing by two scores. “And we ended up delivering when we needed to.”
Cherry Creek will face the winner of No. 4 Regis Jesuit and No. 5 Pomona in the semifinals. Those two teams play Saturday at noon.
HIGHLANDS RANCH — It’s often said that games are won in the fourth quarter. On a chilly Friday night, the Columbine Rebels opted to dominate the entire second half, just for good measure. They ran the ball efficiently and couldn’t be stopped. Defensively, they clamped down. When the last second ticked away, the win over Valor Christian means the Rebels survive to next week and, as a football family, they get to gather and practice on Thanksgiving.
The 37-30 win puts the Rebels into the Class 5A football semifinals where they’ll have a chance at redemption against Ralston Valley.
“We know each other pretty well,” coach Andy Lowry said. “We’ll be ready.”
Perhaps even more so after learning how to battle a tough opponent on the road and come away with a win.
The opening drive for Valor looked more like it came from the Columbine section of the store. The first play of the game went right to Gavin Sawchuck who ripped off 13 yards. The Eagles (10-2 overall) stayed mostly on the ground and deployed their split-quarterback system that has proven successful all year.
Jack Howell saw his share of action and when the ball hovered around the goal line on the Eagles’ first drive, he was the one punching it in the end zone to make it a 7-0 game.
The Rebels (10-2) weren’t just going to let their style of play dictate and stay behind for long. They went right to their well and put Tanner Hollens right in action. He drove Columbine right down the field and found the end zone in an 11-play 70-yard drive. The extra point was blocked, allowing the Eagles to hold a one-point lead.
Each side only saw one more drive the rest of the first half which each one resulting in a touchdown. A two-point conversion attempt for Columbine was no good as Jadon Holliday was stuffed at the goal line. But the setup for the second half was there. Possessions were going to be key and the more dominant running team was likely getting to practice on Thanksgiving day.
“We were calm,” Holliday said. “There was no need to be stressed at all. We came together as a team and knew that we had this.”
The Rebels marched right down the field on their opening drive with Hollens going for 45 yards on the first carry. He finished it off with a three-yard touchdown run and even though the conversion was no good, Rebels had their first lead of the night. And more importantly, they had momentum.
“We knew we had to go out there and do our assignments, punch them in the mouth and go right down the field,” Hollens said.
He finished the night with 31 carries for 218 yards and three touchdowns. His backfield mate, Adam Harrington rushed for 108 yards and matched Hollens’ three touchdowns.
With momentum suddenly in hand, the Rebels tightened up on defense as well. On second down, they finally contained an outside run by Howell, setting up 3rd and 9. Cole Bott’s throw the next play was long and for the first time all night, someone had to punt.
Columbine found the end zone again to take a 25-14 lead. The ensuing possession, a deep pass from Bott was intercepted by Holliday and Valor was more backed into a corner against an in-state opponent than it had been in two years.
Harrington and Hollens each added another touchdown. With just under five minutes remaining in the game, Valor got its first points of the second half on a Bott pass to Zain Zinicola for a 74-yard touchdown, but it was too little too late.
Bott would find Zinicola again for late score, but the Rebels’ ticket to the semifinals had been punched, and in a very big way.
“We’re going to have a lot of momentum going into Ralston Valley,” Hollens said. “Hopefully we’ll give it to them.”
ARVADA — It was another Friday night at the office for Ralston Valley.
The No. 2-seeded Mustangs cruised to a 42-14 victory over No. 10 Eaglecrest at the North Area Athletic Complex in the Class 5A football state quarterfinal game.
“It’s a business and we aren’t done with our job yet,” Ralston Valley senior JJ Galbreath said after the undefeated Mustangs punched their ticket to the 5A state semifinals. “We still have hopefully two more games. I believe in myself, my team and my coaches. I’m ready to come home with a ring this year.”
The victory set up an all-Jeffco semifinal either Friday night or Saturday next week at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood. No. 6 Columbine upset No. 3 Valor Christian 37-30 on Friday night to set up the rematch of the epic 24-23 victory for the Mustangs back on Oct. 18 at Jeffco Stadium.
“It’s going to be a hell of a game,” Galbreath said of the rematch. “Those guys are physical. That team is the most physical team I’ve ever played, but I’m excited. Let’s get after it again.”
Galbreath got after it late in the first half against Eaglecrest. Back-to-back touchdowns to close out the first half in the span of less than 40 seconds by Galbreath gave the Mustangs a nice 35-7 cushion.
Galbreath caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Walker Brickle with 37.2 seconds left in the second quarter. Galbreath was back in the end zone with a 50-yard pick-6 after crossing the goal-line with 0.6 seconds left before halftime to extend Ralston Valley’s lead to 35-7 over Eaglecrest.
“I think it went through my hands initially and hit me in the chest,” Galbreath said of his pick-6. “I kind of bobbled it, but I still got it.”
Eaglecrest (9-4 record) got on the board with an 8-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Max Marsh on the Raptors’ best drive on the half, but Ralston Valley answered with the back-to-back touchdowns by Galbreath to close out the first half.
“It’s just a backbreaker when you are trying to score before halftime and you end up giving up six points the other way,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd said of the second defensive score for the Mustangs in the first half. “That was huge for us.”
Ralston Valley started the scoring with a scoop-and-score by Ralston Valley sophomore Zach Friedman midway through the first quarter. A second-quarter 8-yard touchdown run by senior Chase Wilson and 59-yard touchdown catch by junior Devin McNearny pushed the Mustangs’ lead to 21-0.
“Being a junior and starting for all those seniors I love these guys. I never want to let them down,” McNearny said. “To have an impact in a game like this felt great.”
Wilson ran in his second touchdown run of the night to extend the lead to 42-7 early in the fourth quarter. Brickle’s two touchdown passes put him at 32 touchdown passes on the season. Galbreath reached double-digit touchdown catches on the season with his 10th of the season.
“We came out wanting to run the ball tonight,” said Wilson, who has 14 rushing touchdown on the season. “We made some quick adjustments.”
The Mustangs (12-0 record) has mirrored their postseason run of 2014. Ralston Valley rambled to a 12-0 mark heading into the 5A state semifinals where they lost to eventual state champion Cherry Creek.
“This is not the goal. They want to go farther and farther. They are focused to do it,” Loyd said. “We are just happy to be moving on. Andy (Columbine coach Andy Lowry) does a great job and we’ll see what happens next week.”
In a tight contest, Cherry Creek football beat Fairview 42-28 in the 5A quarterfinals on Friday.
Dakota Ridge scored the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to play as the Eagles beat Heritage 38-34 in the Class 4A football quarterfinals.
Ralston Valley rolled to a 42-14 win over Eaglecrest in the quarterfinals of the 5A football playoffs on Friday.
Live coverage of Saturday’s playoff football games in all classes, including the 6-man championship game.
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The live event will begin at the scheduled time on Friday.
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STRATTON — On Sept. 21, 2018, the Fleming Wildcats had come off a painful 47-point loss to Prairie. Coach John King was out of ways to respond to the loss. Hard practices weren’t working it seemed like any idea he could muster up was ineffective.
So he talked with his boys. He asked them what they thought the top 10 teams in the state, whether it be Stratton/Liberty in 6-Man or Cherry Creek in Class 5A were doing. That was the start of their redemption. They went into every practice, every weightroom session, every game with a simple mentality.
Be a 10.
One year, two months and two days later, the Wildcats no longer had to try to Be a 10. They were now The One.
A thrilling 28-27 over Stratton/Liberty gave the Wildcats (13-0 overall) the 6-Man football championship. It concludes a remarkable road that started that with that loss to Prairie and culminated with much of the same group hoisting a championship trophy, the third in program history.
“I’ll probably never know what clicked for a whole team to click like that overnight,” King said. “It felt like it happened at the snap of a finger almost at some point there. I’ve never experienced, I’ve never even heard of anything like that.”
After holding the Knighted Eagles (11-2) on the first drive of the game, Fleming found the end zone on a 15-yard touchdown run from Brandon Williams. It wouldn’t be his first of the day, but it turned out that every little bit was going to count.
Stratton/Liberty answered with a 65-yard touchdown run from Jaret Lichty. He would go on to rush for 270 yards and four touchdowns for the game and at times, looked to be the deciding factor that wasn’t going to allow the first-place trophy to leave on I-70.
But until the clock had all zeroes on it, the Wildcats knew there was a chance.
“We never had any doubt that we were out of it,” Williams said. “Even when they scored and went up with three minutes left, we never had a doubt.”
A big stop on fourth down late in the fourth quarter gave the ball back to the Knighted Eagles. They drove down inside the five-yard line with a chance to get another touchdown on the board and put the game out of reach. But even after all the times that Lichty had broken free during the game, he was held one yard short of his intended mark of the goal line.
Two plays later, the Wildcats had given themselves some breathing room before Williams broke for a 70-yard score. The two-point kick after was blocked and Fleming still trailed by one with time running out.
The defense refused to let Lichty or anyone break free for three plays and Stratton/Liberty was forced to punt. And that’s when the Wildcats found the two points they needed. The snap sailed over the head of the Knighted Eagles’ punter and was kicked out of the end zone for a safety.
“I feel bad about how that happened,” King said. “I’ve felt like I’ve lost state championships because of an injury before and just little things. Those little things can make a huge difference.”
Stratton/Liberty was able to get the ball back to try get one more chance to regain the lead. But a 3rd down pass was intercepted by Eric Resendiz (who also had a touchdown reception in the game) and the Fleming celebration was one.
When King gathered his boys and reminded them that the win was ignited by the fire of that big loss to Prairie over a year ago, it was a reminder for them to contemplate where they had been and what had gotten them to where they were.
“It’s not even the same team,” Williams said. “I’ll tell you what, we wanted it so bad. We were always underdogs. We were the underdogs all year, and we just worked our butt off over the summer and all throughout the whole season.”
They worked like they thought a top-10 team was supposed to work. Their reward was not being seen as a top-10 team at the end of the season. They received their state championship trophy and held up a single finger.
The One.
PARKER – In a span of less than three minutes Saturday afternoon, Pine Creek’s football team all but put its Class 4A quarterfinal game away.
The Eagles broke open a scoreless game with three touchdowns in two minutes and 38 seconds. A David Moore III touchdown run was followed by back-to-back interceptions that were returned for scores, sparking a 55-17 victory for the top-seeded Eagles over No. 9 Ponderosa at EchoPark Stadium.
“It was a good team effort by the defense,” said Eagles junior safety Beau Freyler, who had the first pick-six. “We did our jobs and made big plays when it counted.”
The victory moves Pine Creek (11-1) into the 4A state semifinals, where the Eagles will host No. 5 Pueblo West next weekend. It also helped erase some of the sting of the 2018 quarterfinals, when Pine Creek was the No. 1 seed but was upset by the No. 9 team in Skyline.
“It’s been a tradition to go throughout the playoffs at Pine Creek,” Eagles quarterback Gavin Herberg said. “We came into this game with a lot of anger due to last year. There was a lot of resemblance (to) last year, so we just wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again.”
Moore rushed for 183 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns, and Herberg passed for 95 yards and rushed for 46 more and a touchdown.
Ponderosa (8-4) came into the game riding a wave of defensive momentum, and the Mustangs maintained that by forcing Pine Creek to punt on its first two possessions. Ponderosa couldn’t get its own offense in sync though, and on the Eagles’ third possession, Herberg loosened the Mustangs’ defense up with a 33-yard completion to Nate Vasquez. Two plays later Moore broke off a 44-yard touchdown run, juking a handful of defenders along the way.
“It was just little adjustment we made to their defense,” Herberg said. “Luckily it worked out. We just kept doing that throughout the game.”
Ponderosa got the ball back, but three plays later Freyler intercepted Jack Hanenburg and returned the ball 34 yards for a touchdown.
“I just made a play on the ball,” Freyler said.
Four plays later it was Gavin Whetzal’s turn, as the sophomore intercepted a Hanenburg pass and ran it in from 37 yards out. Pine Creek added three points late in the quarter on a 37-yard field goal from Luke Wieland.
Wieland added a 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter, and Ponderosa lost Hanenburg to an injury on the first play of the next drive. After a long drive led by sophomore backup Karter Johnson stalled, a 42-yard Moore run set up a 15-yard Herberg touchdown run.
Ponderosa’s Cael Porter and Moore traded touchdowns just before the half. Moore scored his third touchdown early in the third quarter, and Pine Creek’s Eddie Kyle returned a blocked field goal 92 yards for the team’s final points.
Louie Casados added a late touchdown run for the Mustangs. Johnson threw for 101 yards but was intercepted by Freyler early in the third quarter to set up Moore’s third touchdown run. Porter rushed for 98 yards on 13 carries and the one score.
Pine Creek defeated Pueblo West 41-13 back on Sept. 27, but the players know that game doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The Cyclones (11-1) have won seven in a row since that meeting, including a 31-19 victory in Montrose on Saturday.
In 2017 the Eagles met the Cyclones in the semifinals as well, emerging with a 28-0 victory before falling to Pueblo South in the title game.
So what is the key this time around?
“Not getting overconfident because we beat them last time,” Herberg said. “The same thing happened two years ago. We ended up winning, but we can’t think about it. We take it one game at a time, and they’re a new team, so we’ve got to prepare for them.”
“I’m excited for next week,” Freyler added. “We’ve just to put the work in this week in practice and we’ll be good.”