The live event will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
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| Live games | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class | Game | Time | Watch | Alternate |
| 4A | Pine Creek vs. Longmont | 11 a.m. | Altitude TV | Radio | Stream (Outside of CO) |
| 3A | Pueblo East vs. Rifle | 1 p.m. | NFHS Network | Rifle radio | Pueblo radio |
| 5A | Cherry Creek vs. Valor Christian | 2:30 p.m. | Altitude TV | Radio | Stream (Outside of CO) |
PUEBLO — The combatants in the Class 3A state championship football game – Rife (12-1) and Pueblo East (10-3) – have vastly different playoff histories.
Rifle is playing in its fourth state championship since 2004 and has captured two state crowns outright in 2004 (Class 3A), and 1973 (Class AA) and shared the Class A title with Louisville in 1961 when the teams tied 6-6.
The Bears have played in six state championship football games, losing in the Class A finals in 1952, 3A finals in 2005, and most recently the Class 3A finals in 2012 to Silver Creek 32-15. This year’s 3A state title game begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo.
“Even though we have had the great fortune to be in four state championship games the last 11 years, to us we say every team has a one year lifespan,” Rifle coach Damon Wells said. “This state championship game (Saturday) is the time for this group of kids. We are preaching to them and trying to help them just embrace the experience and get every little detail of enjoyment out of it.”
East, meanwhile, is playing the school’s inaugural football state championship. The school opened in 1959. The Eagles best finish in football came in 2012 when they advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals before losing at home to Rifle 56-6.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” said veteran East coach David Ramirez about his team making its first state finals appearance. “It’s a big game and we have it here at Dutch Clark, but for us on the team we understand there is a job to do. It has been a focused week and we just want to be ready for Saturday.”
Rifle is paced offensively by senior quarterback Layton Stutsman (1,045 yards passing and 422 yards rushing). Bears’ running back Brock Clark, a fellow senior, has 1,364 yards rushing and scored 21 touchdowns.
Wells also pointed out seniors, linebacker/guard Austin Shepherd, linebacker/offensive lineman Alex Gould, and linebacker/tight end Cody Rice, plus junior center/defensive lineman Joe Kosht need to play well against the Eagles.
The Bears have won six games in a row after suffering their only loss of the season to Palisade (18-10) on Oct. 10.
The Eagles are riding seven-game winning streak, including playoff wins over Palisade (28-14) and top-ranked Discovery Canyon (39-21). East’s three losses are to rival Class 4A Pueblo South (34-20), Discovery Canyon (27-21) and 4A Pueblo West (27-21).
East’s offense is fueled by junior quarterback Danny Martin (1,870 yards passing and 1,217 yards rushing) and sophomore running back Bryson Torres (1,219 yards rushing). Senior Kevin Ribarich has a team-best 1,233 yards receiving.
“Rifle has system that works for them and they like to run the football and they are physical,” Ramirez said. “On offense we need to put together drives and those drives need to end with scores.”
The Eagles’ defense is spearheaded by linebackers, senior Sonny Arellano (77 total tackles) and junior Bruno DeRose (142 tackles).
“Sonny has done a great job all year long and he’s our defensive leader, but I also think we have leadership by committee,” Ramirez said. “We have a lot of great football players on our entire defensive unit.”
Arellano is thrilled to have the opportunity to clash for a state title against Rifle.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to this point,” the 6-foot, 210-pound Arellano said. “We just have to do our job. We all have individual assignments and we go 1-on-1 every play and if every person beats their person across the line scrimmage we will be victorious.”
Rifle and Pueblo East will play in the Class 3A football championship next Saturday after both teams won in the Class 3A semifinals on Saturday.
It will be Rifle’s second championship game appearance in three seasons, and seventh overall. The Bears lost to Silver Creek in 3A’s tilt in 2012. They last won a title in 2004.
Pueblo East, a No. 4 seed in the playoffs, has never been in a title game before. Now, the Eagles will get to host one after toppling No. 1-seeded Discovery Canyon 39-21 in the semifinals.
Discovery Canyon had leads of 7-0 and 14-7 but Pueblo East twice rallied to tie things. Then, the Eagles scored on a fake field goal just before the half to take a 19-14 lead. That lead grew to 31-14 before the third quarter ended, and Pueblo East cruised from there.
Daniel Martin had scoring runs of 11 and 30 yards, as well as two touchdown passes, for Pueblo East.
No. 6-seeded Rifle, meanwhile, beat No. 10 Fort Morgan 35-7.
Rifle’s Brock Clark had three touchdowns, and Layton Stutsman threw for one score and rushed for another.
The two teams will play at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo at 1 p.m. next Saturday.
The live event will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
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| 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 |
Football’s 2014 state playoff bracket for Class 3A.
2014 CHSAA State Football Playoffs CHSAA 3A Football Playoffs
AURORA — Pine Creek and Discovery Canyon were selected as the top seeds when the Class 4A and 3A playoff football brackets were announced on Sunday morning.
Both teams went unbeaten at 10-0 during the regular season, and were atop the final Wild Card points standings for their respective classifications.
Pine Creek is the defending 4A champion. The Eagles are riding a 21-game winning streak, the largest of any 11-man team. Their last loss came to 5A Columbine on Sept. 12 of last season. Pine Creek hasn’t lost to a 4A team since dropping a game to Ponderosa in Oct. 2012 — a span of 23 games.
The Eagles went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in CHSAANow.com’s rankings during the regular season. They own wins over five teams which made the playoff field.
Other top seeds, and those hosting first-round games, include: No. 2 Fort Collins, No. 3 Montrose, No. 4 Denver South, No. 5 Pueblo South, No. 6 Dakota Ridge, No. 7 Longmont and No. 8 Windsor.
Montrose was the runner-up in last year’s 4A title game. The Indians (9-1) have yet to lose to a 4A team this season, with the lone loss coming to 5A Lakewood.
Discovery Canyon, meanwhile, has been No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com poll and the Wild Card points for a few weeks now. The Thunder have a number of key wins, including on the road at Holy Family and over Pueblo East. They also beat Rampart, a 4A playoff team.
On Friday, Discovery Canyon held off an upset attempt by beating Canon City in overtime.
Other first-round hosts in 3A are No. 2 Evergreen, No. 3 Roosevelt, No. 4 Pueblo East, No. 5 Lutheran, No. 6 Rifle, No. 7 Holy Family and No. 8 Conifer.
One thing’s for sure: There will be a new champion in 3A. Coronado, which won last year’s title, moved up to 4A (and made the playoffs). Likewise, last year’s runner-up Silver Creek also moved up.
Find the entire 3A bracket here.
Classes 5A, 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man are already in the postseason. All five of those classification completed their first rounds this past weekend.
A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Week 10.
| Class 4A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pine Creek | 10-0 |
| Fri: W 48-14 at Palmer Ridge | ||
| 2 | Montrose | 9-1 |
| Fri: W 55-0 vs. Mesa Ridge | ||
| 3 | Fort Collins | 10-0 |
| Thurs: W 59-40 vs. Skyline | ||
| 4 | Denver South | 8-2 |
| Fri: W 39-20 vs. Wheat Ridge | ||
| 5 | Pueblo South | 9-1 |
| Fri: W 35-12 at Pueblo Centennial | ||
| 6 | Vista Ridge | 7-3 |
| Fri: L 60-18 at Falcon | ||
| 7 | Dakota Ridge | 8-2 |
| Fri: W 45-7 at Littleton | ||
| 8 | Longmont | 7-3 |
| Thurs: W 42-12 vs. Thompson Valley | ||
| 9 | Windsor | 7-3 |
| Fri: W 50-7 vs. Adams City | ||
| 10 | Greeley West | 8-2 |
| Fri: W 24-21 at Loveland | ||
| Class 3A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discovery Canyon | 10-0 |
| Fri: W 34-31 (OT) at (10) Canon City | ||
| 2 | Lutheran | 10-0 |
| Fri: W 54-7 at Skyview | ||
| 3 | Evergreen | 10-0 |
| Fri: W 44-22 vs. D’Evelyn | ||
| 4 | Roosevelt | 9-1 |
| Fri: W 28-14 vs. Berthoud | ||
| 5 | Pueblo East | 7-3 |
| Fri: W 47-6 at Sierra | ||
| 6 | Holy Family | 8-2 |
| Fri: W 66-28 vs. Northridge | ||
| 7 | Rifle | 9-1 |
| Fri: W 40-7 vs. Summit | ||
| 8 | Palisade | 7-3 |
| Fri: L 27-24 vs. Delta | ||
| 9 | Fort Morgan | 8-2 |
| Fri: W 49-0 at Fort Lupton | ||
| 10 | Canon City | 7-3 |
| Fri: L 34-31 (OT) vs. (1) Discovery Canyon | ||
Longmont and Windsor have joined CHSAANow.com’s Class 4A football rankings this week.
The Trojans beat then-No. 7 Greeley West 23-14 last week. They are ranked No. 8 in the 4A poll.
Windsor, meanwhile, handled Thompson Valley 50-7. The Wizards are No. 9.
Pine Creek remained in the No. 1 spot, has it has since the preseason. In fact, the top six teams all stayed put — including No. 2 Montrose, No. 3 Fort Collins, No. 4 Denver South, No. 5 Pueblo South and No. 6 Vista Ridge.
Dakota Ridge moved up to No. 7, while Greeley West fell to No. 10
Canon City was the lone newcomer in the 3A poll, which continued to be led by Discovery Canyon.
It’s the final week of the regular season in 4A and 3A, meaning these will also be the final rankings of the season. Classes 5A, 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man all released playoff brackets on Sunday.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Complete rankings are below.
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Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
| Class 4A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Pine Creek (15) | 9-0 | 159 | 1 | W |
| 2 | Montrose | 8-1 | 134 | 2 | W |
| 3 | Fort Collins (1) | 9-0 | 133 | 3 | W |
| 4 | Denver South | 7-2 | 104 | 4 | W |
| 5 | Pueblo South | 8-1 | 103 | 5 | W |
| 6 | Vista Ridge | 7-2 | 64 | 6 | W |
| 7 | Dakota Ridge | 7-2 | 55 | 9 | W |
| 8 | Longmont | 6-3 | 52 | – | W |
| 9 | Windsor | 6-3 | 36 | – | W |
| 10 | Greeley West | 7-2 | 26 | 7 | L |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Pueblo Centennial 22, Broomfield 8, Falcon 7, Coronado 2, Greeley Central 1. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| Broomfield (8), Pueblo Centennial (10). | |||||
| Class 3A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Discovery Canyon (11) | 9-0 | 137 | 1 | W |
| 2 | Lutheran (3) | 9-0 | 109 | 2 | W |
| 3 | Evergreen | 9-0 | 102 | 3 | W |
| 4 | Roosevelt | 8-1 | 97 | 4 | W |
| 5 | Pueblo East | 6-3 | 83 | 7 | W |
| 6 | Holy Family | 7-2 | 80 | 5 | W |
| 7 | Rifle | 8-1 | 71 | 6 | W |
| 8 | Palisade | 7-2 | 35 | 10 | W |
| 9 | Fort Morgan | 7-2 | 20 | 8 | W |
| 10 | Canon City | 7-2 | 16 | – | W |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Berthoud 5, Conifer 5, Delta 3, D’Evelyn 2, Glenwood Springs 2, Northridge 2, Eagle Valley 1. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| Berthoud (9). | |||||
Fort Collins trailed Broomfield 21-10 at halftime, but rallied for a 30-21 win on Friday night.
“At halftime … it wasn’t really a matter of X’s and O’s and we kind of knew that from a coaching standpoint,” Fort Collins coach Eric Rice told Colorado Preps’ Scoreboard Show. “It was just more a matter of not finishing plays that we had the opportunity to.
“And so our very spirited message at halftime to the guys was, ‘Sometimes winning a football game is about playing with heart and just playing with a lot of courage.’ I really think that’s all it really took for us to get better in the second half.”
The third-ranked Lambkins actually led 10-7 with five minutes to play in the second quarter, but Broomfield struck for two quick touchdowns in a span of two-and-a-half minutes to take a 21-10 advantage into halftime.
Fort Collins responded with a touchdown on its opening drive of the second half — a 5-yard run from Kyler Sigsbee capped it.
William Bridges then gave the Lambkins a 24-21 lead later in the third quarter, and Sigsbee added another touchdown, his third of the game, with 7:16 remaining in the game to seal things.
“Really, really proud of our kids for showing their true character that they’re bunch of fighters and they got a lot of heart and they got a lot of courage and found a way to get a win tonight,” Rice said. “I actually look at tonight, and being down at halftime, as a very positive thing for us in the long run, because we might find ourselves in the playoffs here in a couple of weeks down at halftime, and we’re going to be able to draw back on this experience and say, ‘We’ve been there before.’”
The win sealed the Class 4A Northern League title for the Lambkins.
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A back-and-forth game all night long, it was fitting that this one ended up in overtime.
The game featured seven ties or lead changes, but it was Ahjon White’s score on fourth-and-goal from the 2 and Austin Conway’s subsequent two-point conversion that proved to be the difference.
Overland had leads of 14-0, 22-14, 28-20 and 36-28. Each time, Cherokee Trail battled back. The Cougars actually took at 42-36 lead in the fourth quarter, but it was Overland’s turn to respond. Josh Wright’s 20-yard touchdown with 5:26 to play tied the game.
Overland had a chance to win it with 2.8 seconds to play, but missed a field goal and the teams went to overtime.
In OT, the Trailblazers got the ball first and White scored his fourth total touchdown of the night on the fourth-down try. Conway then got the conversion on a run. It was Overland’s fifth two-point attempt of the night; they ended up converting three of them.
Cherokee Trail also scored on a fourth-and-goal from the two, but couldn’t convert for two.
Conway finished 22-of-26 with 256 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 108 yards
Cherokee Trail’s Izaiah Lottie had a big night with three touchdowns.
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The Falcons cruised to an easy win over the Pirates.
“We played well and we played together and we were able to get a big victory against a league rival and a good team,” coach Kyle Forster told the Scoreboard Show after the game. “Our first four games were against four quality teams. Three of them are in the top-4. We learned a lot early, and we were able to put it together tonight.”
Centauri closed the regular season with five-straight wins.
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A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Week 9.
Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man | 6-man
| Class 5A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grandview | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 24-21 vs. (6) Valor Christian | ||
| 2 | Ralston Valley | 9-0 |
| Thurs: W 55-14 vs. Mullen | ||
| 3 | Fairview | 9-0 |
| Thurs: W 50-49 at Legacy | ||
| 4 | Pomona | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 49-42 vs. Chatfield | ||
| 5 | Cherry Creek | 6-3 |
| Fri: W 42-27 at Eaglecrest | ||
| 6 | Valor Christian | 6-3 |
| Fri: L 24-21 at (1) Grandview | ||
| 7 | Regis Jesuit | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 48-0 at Fruita Monument | ||
| 8 | Rocky Mountain | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 31-7 vs. Monarch | ||
| 9 | Mountain Vista | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 55-37 vs. Highlands Ranch | ||
| 10 | Doherty | 8-1 |
| Thurs: W 44-0 vs. Douglas County | ||
| Class 4A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pine Creek | 9-0 |
| Sat: W 42-10 vs. Rampart | ||
| 2 | Montrose | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 46-6 vs. Widefield | ||
| 3 | Fort Collins | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 30-21 at (8) Broomfield | ||
| 4 | Denver South | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 49-6 vs. Aurora Central | ||
| 5 | Pueblo South | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 28-21 at Pueblo West | ||
| 6 | Vista Ridge | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 48-26 vs. Sand Creek | ||
| 7 | Greeley West | 7-2 |
| Fri: L 23-14 vs. Longmont | ||
| 8 | Broomfield | 6-3 |
| Fri: L 30-21 vs. (3) Fort Collins | ||
| 9 | Dakota Ridge | 7-2 |
| Thurs: W 52-0 vs. Lincoln | ||
| 10 | Pueblo Centennial | 6-3 |
| Fri: L 26-21 vs. Palmer | ||
| Class 3A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discovery Canyon | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 45-14 vs. Lewis-Palmer | ||
| 2 | Lutheran | 9-0 |
| Sat: W 49-8 vs. Weld Central | ||
| 3 | Evergreen | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 45-0 at Centaurus | ||
| 4 | Roosevelt | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 41-8 at Erie | ||
| 5 | Holy Family | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 56-14 at Mead | ||
| 6 | Rifle | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 20-13 at Glenwood Springs | ||
| 7 | Pueblo East | 6-3 |
| Fri: W 47-0 vs. Pueblo County | ||
| 8 | Fort Morgan | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 42-7 vs. Elizabeth | ||
| 9 | Berthoud | 7-2 |
| Fri: L 32-20 vs. Northridge | ||
| 10 | Palisade | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 26-14 vs. Eagle Valley | ||
| Class 2A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brush | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 43-29 at (10) Eaton | ||
| 2 | Kent Denver | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 54-6 vs. Alameda | ||
| 3 | Strasburg | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 55-6 vs. Sheridan | ||
| 4 | Lamar | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 34-7 vs. Florence | ||
| 5 | Gunnison | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 40-8 at Olathe | ||
| 6 | Platte Valley | 6-3 |
| Fri: W 50-26 at Sterling | ||
| 7 | Montezuma-Cortez | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 45-12 vs. Alamosa | ||
| 8 | Faith Christian | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 41-0 vs. Denver West | ||
| 9 | St. Mary’s | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 28-18 vs. Manitou Springs | ||
| 10 | Eaton | 6-3 |
| Fri: L 43-29 vs. (1) Brush | ||
| Class 1A | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paonia | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 42-21 at Cedaredge | ||
| 2 | Buena Vista | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 42-0 at Salida | ||
| 3 | Resurrection Christian | 8-1 |
| Sat: W 61-14 at Front Range Christian | ||
| 4 | Meeker | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 40-7 at Hotchkiss | ||
| 5 | Platte Canyon | 7-1 |
| Fri: W 51-3 at Estes Park | ||
| 6 | Monte Vista | 6-3 |
| Fri: L 42-6 vs. (8) Centauri | ||
| 7 | Burlington | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 53-20 at Holyoke | ||
| 8 | Centauri | 6-3 |
| Fri: W 42-6 at (6) Monte Vista | ||
| 9 | Rye | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 41-0 vs. Dolores Huerta | ||
| 10 | Crowley County | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 55-7 vs. Calhan | ||
| Class 8-man | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dayspring Christian | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 48-0 at Haxtun | ||
| 2 | Caliche | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 37-14 vs. (5) Merino | ||
| 3 | Norwood | 9-0 |
| Off this week. | ||
| 4 | Akron | 7-2 |
| Fri: W 60-21 at (10) Sedgwick County | ||
| 5 | Merino | 6-3 |
| Fri: L 37-14 at (2) Caliche | ||
| 6 | Springfield | 7-1 |
| Fri: L 28-12 vs. (7) Granada | ||
| 7 | Granada | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 28-12 at (6) Springfield | ||
| 8 | Simla | 7-2 |
| Sat: W 66-12 vs. Cripple Creek-Victor | ||
| 9 | Sangre de Cristo | 9-0 |
| Sat: W 61-12 vs. Sanford | ||
| 10 | Sedgwick County | 5-4 |
| Fri: L 60-21 vs. (4) Akron | ||
| Class 6-man | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arickaree/Woodlin | 9-0 |
| Fri: W 66-0 vs. Miami-Yoder | ||
| 2 | Eads | 9-0 |
| Sat: W 80-16 vs. Genoa-Hugo | ||
| 3 | Peetz | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 79-32 vs. Stratton/Liberty | ||
| 4 | Fleming | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 48-6 vs. Otis | ||
| 5 | Walsh | 8-1 |
| Fri: W 83-32 vs. Flagler | ||
| 6 | Hanover | 9-0 |
| Sat: W 56-39 vs. Cheyenne Wells | ||
| 7 | Kit Carson | 7-2 |
| Sat: W 40-20 vs. (8) Pawnee | ||
| 8 | Pawnee | 5-4 |
| Sat: L 40-20 at (7) Kit Carson | ||
| 9 | North Park | 6-3 |
| Sat: W 52-13 at (10) Mountain Valley | ||
| 10 | Mountain Valley | 7-2 |
| Sat: L 52-13 vs. (9) North Park | ||