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More photos. (Matt Steele/Big Steele Creative Design)
COLORADO SPRINGS — Saturday afternoon at District 20 Stadium, the Colorado winter weather showed its ugly head with brisk temperatures and a lot of wind. However top-seeded Pine Creek was up for the challenge, rushing its way to a dominant 35-0 win over No. 5 Pueblo West in the Class 4A semifinals.
“With it being so windy, it’s just difficult — especially when you were going into the wind,” Pine Creek coach Todd Miller said postgame. “You always want to establish yourself in a physical manner, and I thought our kids did a real good job upfront of doing that. They were loading the box, they knew what was coming, but in the end, our physicality kind of wore them down later on in the game.”
Leading the physical attack in the backfield, senior David Moore III had his way all afternoon against the Cyclone defense. He carried the ball 31 times throughout the afternoon, and scampered to a 269-yard total behind his large, athletic offensive line.
“My offensive line is filled with some dogs,” Moore said after the game with a smile. “They work their butts off for me. They do it in practice, and it shows in the game.”
The Eagles’ defense played well, as well, allowing just 203 yards on 47 plays (4.3 yards per play) and pitching their third shutout of the season. Senior shutdown corners Max Lofy and Eddie Kyle set the tone for the other eight defenders that controlled the middle of the field — where Pueblo West struggled.
“They are out there by themselves on islands. That allows our front eight to run around and make plays,” Miller said. “It’s huge when you can do that, and those guys really allow us to use the abilities of our guys in the front eight with their ability to lock kids down on the outside.”
Pine Creek will play Broomfield in the 4A championship game on Dec. 7 at 11 a.m. The game will be a rematch of the 2016 final.
Pine Creek looks for its fourth state title under Miller. The high-powered matchup will be played at Empower Field at Mile High.
“It’s hard to get to this point,” Miller said. “They (Broomfield) have a great program and we are just going to try and get up to the challenge.
“I’m so excited. I’m glad I get to do this with my class because it has been an awesome experience,” Moore said. “I’ve been playing with them since the eighth grade and this is fun.”
The following information shows the designated home teams for potential matchups in the Class 3A, 4A and 5A state football championship games. The formula for determining the home team is shown in the football bulletin.
Sites are determined each week at the CHSAA office, one-and-a-half weeks prior to the next round.
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Explanation
How the home sites are determined.
For 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A: The team with the fewest playoff home games will host. If equal, the higher seed will 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; Coin Toss – A coin toss was used.
There was all kinds of playoff football action around the state on Saturday. The end result is that championship matchups are set in three classifications, and semifinals in three others.
The Grizzlies were able to tie the game at 12-12 just before halftime, and went up 14-12 with a two-point conversion attempt. Then, they added another touchdown in the final minute of the third quarter.
“They do some really nice things on defense that gave us some problems, and we finally got some things going and quit having some penalties,” Van Sickle said of turning things around. “The boys just kept plugging away.”
Of advancing to the championship game, the coach added, “It was one of our goals. I thought we had a pretty good group. … I think we’ve earned our shot at Sedgwick next week.
Hudson Grant scored two rushing touchdowns for Pikes Peak Christian.
(1) Sedgwick County 48, (5) Dayspring Christian 0
The four-time defending champs are headed back to a title game thanks to another dominating performance. The Cougars have not allowed a point in their past five games.
“I think our defense played pretty well,” coach Chris Michel told the Scoreboard Show. “We gave up some big plays at time, but really strapped it on when they got on our side of the field.”
Sedgwick County had four rushing touchdowns in the first half as they built at 28-0 lead. They added three more in the second half.
The Cougars are seeking to become the first 8-man team to ever win five state titles in a row.
“We haven’t really talked a whole lot about that throughout the season,” Michel said. “We talk about taking care of stuff day-to-day. We’ll go into it like it’s any other week.”
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Class 1A semifinals
(1) Strasburg 14, (5) Centauri 7
Trystan Graf rushed for two touchdowns — both in the second quarter — as Strasburg reached the 1A title game for the fourth year in a row.
“I tell you what, this game didn’t disappoint. It was a hard-fought win,” Strasburg coach Brian Brown told the Scoreboard Show.
After a scoreless first quarter, Strasburg went up 14-0 at the half. Centauri’s Eric Maez hit Mason Claunch for a 24-yard score with five minutes left, but Strasburg’s defense was able to seal the win.
“We are just such an aggressive group of young men,” Brown said. “Toward the end of the game, they just kind of owned the line of scrimmage.”
Of making a title game for the fourth-consecutive season, Brown said, “Like I tell the boys: I’m just the bus driver, they’re the ones that get on the bus, and they know the path. They just keep forging ahead.”
(3) Limon 15, (2) Holyoke 7
The defending-champion Badgers will return to the championship game after building a 15-0 lead and then relying on its defense to secure the win.
“It was a great football game between two really good teams,” coach Mike O’Dwyer told the Scoreboard Show. “Our kids just stepped up a little bit, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”
Limon went up 15-0 with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Holyoke’s Miles Sprague made it 15-7 with a four-yard rushing touchdown.
Later in the fourth quarter, Holyoke recovered a fumble, and also forced Limon to turn it over on downs, but Limon’s defense didn’t allow another score.
“It was a tremendous effort by our kids,” O’Dwyer said.
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Class 2A semifinals
(4) Delta 17, (9) Basalt 6
Nolan Bynum and Hunter Hughes connected for two touchdown passes to help the Panthers move to a title game.
Delta led 10-0 at the half. Basalt made it 10-6 in the third quarter, but Delta responded with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
“It was a real physical game. They did some really nice things, we were just able to get more points on the board to advance,” coach Ben Johnson told the Scoreboard Show.
“We got after their quarterback really well. I thought the D-line played really well, and we tackled really well.”
It is Delta’s first appearance in a title game since 1961.
“It’s been a while,” Johnson said. “The community’s really excited about it. We had great fan support here in Basalt today. They’re excited about this opportunity for Delta High School.”
(2) Sterling 21, (3) Resurrection Christian 14
Sterling is headed to a championship game for the first time since 2004.
The Tigers trailed 7-0 in the first quarter before reeling off 21 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to go ahead 21-7.
“It was a lot of fun out there today. It was a great atmosphere,” Sterling coach Rob Busmente told the Scoreboard Show. “It was nip-and-tuck going back and forth between us and them. We made some plays when we had to, and were fortunate to come out with the win.”
Resurrection Christian scored late in the third quarter, but Sterling didn’t allow them to do so again, and secured their spot in next week’s title game with a late interception.
“We got them to fourth down, and Peyton Rose was able to step in front of his guy, and got it back for us,” Busmente said. “It was just one of those things where we tell our kids, ‘If there’s time on the clock, we’ve got to play ball.’”
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Class 3A quarterfinals
(8) Green Mountain 30, (1) Mead 21
In the upset of the day, the Rams built a 17-7 halftime lead, and then answered every rally attempt Mead made in the second half to win.
“It was a heck of a game,” Green Mountain coach Jesse German told the Scoreboard Show. “It’s everything we’ve been preaching along the way. It took us awhile to get to a point where the kids have the unwavering belief … and total buy-in, but this is a special group.”
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Mead cut the lead to 17-14, but Green Mountain responded quickly with a rushing score on the ensuing drive. That made it 23-14.
Mead didn’t go away. The top-seeded Mavericks got a passing touchdown from which made it 23-21 with seven minutes left.
But another rushing touchdown from Green Mountain with three minutes left secured the win.
Frederick’s Jake Green found Blake Duran for a 78-yard touchdown with eight seconds left to lift the Warriors to the win.
“We could’ve taken it to overtime, I guess, but we didn’t want to do that again,” coach Travis Peeples told the Scoreboard Show. “I called timeout with 20 seconds or so left, and we drew up a little play, kind of Sandlot play. The kids wanted to do it, and it worked. It’s really a tribute to how bad they wanted to win this game.”
Green also scored a 1-yard rushing touchdown with three minutes left, and then Frederick converted on a two-point attempt to tie the game at 25. They forced a punt, and got the ball back with less than a minute to play. Then Green hit Duran for the winner.
Green finished with three passing touchdowns — two went to Brandon Horby — and also had a rushing score.
Now Frederick is headed to the semis for just the second time in school history.
“We’re not just trying to get to the semis, we’re trying to get past there,” Peeples said. “I think we’ve got a team that can do that.”
More photos. (Chris Fehrm/Chris Fehrm Photography)
(2) Pueblo South 21, (7) Durango 14
In a close game that mirrored their narrow regular season matchup, the Colts scored a late touchdown to advance.
“It was another wild game,” Pueblo South coach Ryan Goddard told the Scoreboard Show. “Two good teams going at it. I’m just proud of our kids and the way they played.”
The game always within a score for one team. Durango led 7-0 with a touchdown in the first quarter, and then South tied it up immediately with a kickoff return for a touchdown. Then, Durango went up 14-7 late in the first quarter, and South tied it at 14 with 34 seconds left in the half.
The Colts got the winning score on a 3-yard run from quarterback Logan Petit with 1:11 to play.
“Credit to our defense, because all afternoon they just came up with huge stops when we needed them the most,” Goddard said.
More photos. (Paul Shepardson/PaulShedardsonPhotography.com)
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.”
