No. 2 Valor Christian (11-1) at No. 6 Cherokee Trail (10-2) 1 p.m. Saturday at Legacy Stadium
Cherokee Trail has been chomping at the bit for this one. By the time Saturday’s semifinal tilt with Valor Christian comes around, it will have been 357 days since the two teams met at Mile High in the 2012 Class 5A championship game.
That game, a 9-0 Valor Christian win, was actually a coming out party of sorts for Cherokee Trail. Most everyone expected the Eagles to roll the Cougars in the title game, seeing as how it was Cherokee Trail’s first appearance on the big stage. Instead, it was scoreless until 6:01 remained in the fourth quarter, and wasn’t over until Valor added a field goal with two minutes to go.
So when the 2013 season started, the prevailing thought was that Cherokee Trail was poised to join the state’s elite. Well, here’s the Cougars’ chance — facing Valor, a four-time defending champion across three classifications which has never lost in the postseason (20-0) in the short, but illustrious, history of the school. The Eagles have actually not lost (22-0) to an in-state team since their 2012 opener, and are 46-1 against Colorado teams since Oct. 2010.
So it will be a tall task when sixth-seeded Cherokee Trail hosts No. 2 Valor at 1 p.m. Saturday at Legacy Stadium.
“We’ve been waiting all year,” Cherokee Trail defensive back Izaiah Lottie said after his team’s win over Cherry Creek in the quarterfinals. “Almost 365 days, we’ve been waiting.”
Valor Christian senior Christian McCaffrey (5). (Dennis Pleuss)
“We really felt was that we were going to have to beat Creek and Valor to win it,” Cherokee Trail coach Monte Thelen said.
As usual, things will hinge on how Cherokee Trail’s defense handles Valor’s Christian McCaffrey. The senior is coming off a season-best 272 rushing yards in a quarterfinal win over Columbine. Despite being pulled in the third quarter of most games, he has 38 total touchdowns this season — a figure that is second in the state. Most telling, though, is that McCaffrey is averaging 12.82 yards per carry this season, which would be a big-school record.
Cherokee Trail will counter with junior Cameron Smith, who had 172 yards rushing and a score against Cherry Creek. He has 1,554 yards this season, and has scored 18 touchdowns in his team’s past eight games.
Its biggest asset on Saturday, though, will be its defense. That side of the ball forced six turnovers in the quarterfinals, and has the speed to contend with Valor Christian.
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No. 1 Fairview (11-0) at No. 5 ThunderRidge (11-1) 1 p.m. Saturday at Shea Stadium
Early this week, the focus of the other 5A semifinal matchup rested on the health of ThunderRidge quarterback Brody Westmoreland. The senior was hurt on the third play of his team’s quarterfinal win against Grandview — a blindside sack he didn’t see coming — and never returned.
Afterward, Westmoreland revealed it was a back injury which kept him from the field. At that time, it looked questionable that he would play against Fairview on Saturday.
However, X-rays and an MRI both came back clear, and he also passed concussion testing. So while Westmoreland does have a deep back bruise, he will play against the Knights.
That’s hugely important for the Grizzlies, as Westmoreland is the key cog in their offense. He has 16 passing and 12 rushing touchdowns this season. Perhaps more importantly, his presence forces defenses to account for both players on ThunderRidge’s read-option plays.
Fairview, meanwhile, has been 5A’s lone unbeaten team for a while now, and the Knights have amassed an impressive set of victories this season. Included: Overland, Ralston Valley, Douglas County and Pomona (twice).
Their strength rests in a senior class that includes quarterback Anders Hill and wide receivers Sam Martin and Cameron Frazier.
Prior to the playoffs, Fairview coach Tom McCartney said of his seniors, “We’ve seen this coming from this particular group. We knew this was a talented group.”
Hill has thrown for 3,321 yards this season. It’s the most in the state across any classification — and nearly 700 yards more than the next best. Martin recently set the state record for receiving yards in a season. He now has 1,604. Frazier, meanwhile, is a threat from everywhere. He has 11 receiving touchdowns, two rushing, and four more in the return game.
Making those statistics all the more impressive: Fairview had to cancel a game in the regular season during the flood week.
Fairview is in search of its first championship appearance since 2002. It also made the game in 2001, but lost in back-to-back years.
ThunderRidge last appeared in a title game in 2005, when it won 4A for the second year in a row and third time in five seasons. The Grizzlies have never been to the 5A game.
AURORA — Cherry Creek was marching down the field, poised to break Cherokee Trail’s heart again.
The Bruins, seeded third in these Class 5A football playoffs, had taken Cherokee Trail down in the regular season when the Cougars missed a late extra point. Friday night, in the quarterfinals, Cherokee Trail again missed an extra point in the fourth quarter. And so it was that the Bruins were down six with the ball near midfield, and with 1:58 to play — ready to play heart-breaker again.
But, this time, it was Izaiah Lottie breaking hearts. The Cherokee Trail junior stepped in front of a pass from Cherry Creek quarterback Cameron Brucker, tipped it, and hauled it in for a game-sealing interception, which he returned 48 yards for a score. Suddenly, that missed extra point was a footnote. Cherokee Trail was back in the semifinals with a 27-14 win over Cherry Creek, and its defense was the reason why.
“When he threw it, I knew it was the one,” Lottie said after the game. “I had to finish it off.”
It was Lottie’s second interception of the game. His first ended a Creek drive in the red zone just before halftime. By night’s end, the Cougars had intercepted Brucker five times, and also recovered a fumble.
And though Cherokee Trail surrendered 393 yards of total offense, Cherry Creek had just three plays gain more than 20 yards all night. One of those was a blazing 68-yard touchdown from All-American running back Nate Starks in which the senior broke away from everyone. The other two big plays came on drives that eventually ended in turnovers.
“I thought they played very well,” a subtle Cherokee Trail coach Monte Thelen said of his defense.
Cameron Smith rushed 24 times for 172 yards and a touchdown to lead Cherokee Trail offensively. His score, a 64-yard dash, ignited the Cougars late in the first quarter. Quarterback Aric Johnson had two scores on the ground.
Milo Hall led Cherry Creek with 135 yards and a touchdown. Starks finished with 80 and the score.
Friday’s performance was what most of the state expected from the Cougars heading into the season. Cherokee Trail was coming off an impressive appearance in the state championship game and returned a number of starters, including safety Evan White, a CU recruit. The Cougars opened the season at No. 2 in CHSAANow.com’s preseason ranking.
But Cherokee Trail dropped its opening game to Chatfield, and then lost to Cherry Creek a month later for a 4-2 start. They entered the playoffs as a No. 6 seed.
“We fell off the radar,” Lottie said. “Everybody thought we were going to be the big show, going to state last year, but we had to keep our heads, keep our composure, and come back strong.”
Said Thelen: “That was our fault. Once you get two losses, you deserve to be off the radar. But this is our fourth semifinal in the last seven years. I think we’re back on it.”
Cherokee Trail has now won six games in a row. Up next? A rematch with Valor Christian, which won last year’s 5A title over the Cougars with a 9-0 decision. The Cougars will host.
“We can’t wait,” Lottie said of facing the Eagles. “We’ve been waiting all year. Almost 365 days, we’ve been waiting.”
The seventh-seeded Rebels got three rushing touchdowns from Jeremy Aparicio and easily handled No. 10 Grand Junction, 41-7, in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Aparicio had scoring runs of 58, 4 and 1 yards, while Michael Tait passed for a score and rushed for another. Austin Norton had a 30-yard touchdown run and caught Tait’s 28-yard scoring toss.
The Rebels will play at No. 2 Valor Christian in the quarterfinals. The Eagles exploded for 28 second-quarter points in pulling away from No. 15 Ralston Valley. Up just 14-6 after the first quarter, Valor scored on the first play of the second frame and never looked back.
It was 42-6 at halftime and a 49-20 final.
Valor quarterback A.J. Cecil was 19-of-23 for 278 yards and four touchdowns. Christian McCaffrey rushed 13 times for 121 yards and two scores and also caught six passes for 110 and two more touchdowns. The carries were the most McCaffrey has had since he rushed 11 times against Fountain-Fort Carson on Sept. 27.
Ralston Valley scored two late touchdowns after recovering three-consecutive onside kicks in the fourth quarter.
We’ll have at least two rematches in the 5A quarterfinals: No. 1 Fairview hosting No. 8 Pomona and No. 3 Cherry Creek hosting No. 6 Cherokee Trail.
Fairview topped No. 16 Douglas County 45-17 on Friday. Knights quarterback Anders Hill had five total touchdowns, four passing. He tossed scores to Steve D’Epagnier (twice), Cam Frazier and Sam Martin. Fairview also got a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown from Carlo Kemp.
Douglas County was in the game in the first half, trailing 14-10 after the first quarter, and 21-17 later in the second, but Fairview’s Jonathan Swartzwelter nailed a 47-yard field goal just before the half to give Fairview a spark heading to the locker room.
When the night ended, Fairview had scored the game’s final 24 points.
Cherry Creek, meanwhile, beat No. 19 Overland for the second time this season with a 49-14 victory Friday. The Bruins got 21 second-quarter points to make it a 35-7 halftime margin.
Cherry Creek plays Cherokee Trail in the quarterfinals. The two teams played a tight one on Oct. 4 — a 28-27 Creek win.
Cherokee Trail easily handled No. 11 Mountain Range, 41-7, on Friday. Quarterback Aric Johnson was 14-of-19 for 171 yards and two scores through the air. He also rushed for 84 yards and two more touchdowns.
Junior running back Cameron Smith had 163 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 5 ThunderRidge beat No. 12 Doherty, 56-35, on Friday. The Grizzlies could get a rematch, as well: No. 5 Regis Jesuit and No. 20 Grandview play Saturday. Should Regis win, it would give ThunderRidge a chance to avenge its only loss of the season, which came Sept. 27 to the Raiders.
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Class 4A
Fifth-seeded Pueblo South was in trouble heading into the fourth quarter against No. 12 Longmont.
The Colts trailed 27-17 following a 15-point outburst from Longmont in the third quarter, but rallied with 21 fourth-quarter points for a 38-27 win.
Trailing 27-24 with 5:34 to play, South converted a fourth-and-6 and went on to score the go-ahead touchdown. The Colts stopped Longmont on fourth-and-13 on their ensuring drive, and sealed the game with a score a few plays later.
In other 4A games, No. 3 Pine Creek beat No. 14 Pueblo West, 35-18, and No. 2 Monarch handled No. 15 Vista Ridge, 62-28.
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Class 3A
No. 7 The Classical Academy looked to be in control. But, late in the third quarter, a Conifer touchdown cut the Titans’ lead to 14-6. Then, with six minutes to play in the fourth, Conifer made it 14-12.
A stop of a two-point conversion attempt on the try gave TCA its first postseason victory in school history, 14-12, over the tenth-seeded Lobos.
In Friday’s other 3A game, No. 3 Roosevelt cruised past No. 14 Frederick, 47-13, to move to the quarterfinals.
Higher seeds were 13-0 in Friday night’s football playoffs.
Fairview is the No. 1 seed in 5A. (Courtesy photo)
The groundwork, as is so often the case, was laid four years ago. Tom McCartney saw it in his freshmen then. Those freshmen are now seniors, and that group has Fairview seeded No. 1 overall in the Class 5A football playoffs.
“We knew that it was a special group,” McCartney, Fairview’s coach, said Sunday morning. “We also knew that for them to do the things and reach some of the goals they’ve set, you’ve got to have junior compliments. You want to know that your juniors are also part of that.
“We’ve been kind of waiting on this group of seniors for a while, and a lot of them have gotten a lot of playing time as sophomores and juniors,” he continued. “When you get in those kinds of battles against teams like Pomona and Ralston Valley, and Legacy and Arvada West and Boulder — and Grandview in the playoffs last year, and Regis the year before — all of those experiences help. So, yes, to be honest with you, we’ve seen this coming from this particular group. We knew this was a talented group.”
The Knights were the lone 5A team to finish the regular season unbeaten (9-0). They were ranked No. 2 in the CHSAANow.com football poll in recent weeks, but were No. 1 in Wild Card points during that stretch, and finished atop the final Wild Card standings released Sunday morning.
And so, when the 5A bracket was unveiled, it was Fairview in the No. 1 spot. (See the full bracket.)
“It feels awesome,” McCartney said. “It’s playoff football. We’re just going to prepare. We understand that if you win you move on, and if you don’t you’re done. We want to keep playing. The best way to keep playing is to be prepared and to improve.”
Fairview draws No. 32 Mountain Vista (3-6) in the first round. The two teams played in 2010 and 2011, both Mountain Vista wins.
“Our seniors, when they were freshmen, played them. And so we know a little bit about them,” McCartney said. “We’ve got a ton of respect for coach (Ric) Cash. His teams are always prepared. They’re always hard-nosed.”
Rounding out the top-5 seeds in 5A were No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Cherry Creek, No. 4 Regis Jesuit and No. 5 ThunderRidge.
The top 16 seeds host in the first round, meaning No. 6 Cherokee Trail, No. 7 Columbine, No. 8 Pomona, No. 9 Chatfield, No. 10 Grand Junction, No. 11 Mountain Range, No. 12 Doherty, No. 13 Prairie View, No. 14 Rangeview, No. 15 Ralston Valley and No. 16 Douglas County will get home games.
The 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man brackets were also released on Sunday.
Brush is 2A’s top seed. As the top-8 host in the first round, No. 2 Manitou Springs, No. 3 Platte Valley, No. 4 Faith Christian, No. 5 Gunnison, No. 6 Bennett, No. 7 Kent Denver and No. 8 Florence will all get home games.
Also qualifying in 2A were No. 9 Strasburg, No. 10 Lamar, No. 11 Olathe, No. 12 Fort Lupton, No. 13 Aspen, No. 14 Ridge View Academy, No. 15 Jefferson and No. 16 The Academy.
In 1A, Buena Vista got the top seed. No. 2 Limon, No. 3 Centauri, No. 4 Paonia, No. 5 Monte Vista, No. 6 Hotchkiss, No. 7 Yuma and No. 8 Platte Canyon will also host first-round games.
Additional 1A qualifiers were No. 9 Resurrection Christian, No. 10 Rye, No. 11 Burlington, No. 12 Cedaredge, No. 13 Colorado Springs Christian, No. 14 Wray, No. 15 Lyons and No. 16 Front Range Christian.
Hoehne is 8-man’s top seed. Also hosting in the first round will be No. 2 Dayspring Christian, No. 3 Norwood, No. 4 Simla, No. 5 Caliche, No. 6 Kiowa, No. 7 Sargent and No. 8 Dove Creek. Also qualifying were No. 9 Sanford, No. 10 Vail Christian, No. 11 Merino, No. 12 Walsh, No. 13 Akron, No. 14 West Grand, No. 15 Fowler and No. 16 Granada.
Liberty/Stratton grabbed 6-man’s top seed. Also qualifying were No. 2 Hi-Plains, No. 3 Eads, No. 4 Prairie, No. 5 Otis, No. 6 Peetz, No. 7 Hanover and No. 8 Flagler
Mountain Range is ranked 10th this week. (Pam Wagner)
Mountain Range, 7-1 this season, has joined this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll in Class 5A.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 10, are riding a four-game winning streak, including a 22-16 decision against Rocky Mountain last week. Their lone loss this season came at Grand Junction on Sept. 20.
Valor Christian remained atop the 5A ranking with 19 of the 22 first-place votes. Fairview, which got the other three first-place votes, stayed in the No. 2 spot following its big win over Pomona, and continued to be followed by No. 3 Regis Jesuit, No. 4 Cherry Creek and No. 5 ThunderRidge.
Columbine stayed in sixth this week, while Cherokee Trail bumped up two spots to seventh. Pomona remained in eighth and Grand Junction moved up to ninth after beating 4A No. 1 Montrose.
Despite the loss, Montrose remained atop the 4A ranking. Pine Creek moved up to No. 2, jumping Monarch, which fell to No. 3.
Coronado is now atop the 3A poll after Palisade’s loss to Delta. Discovery Canyon is second and Palisade dropped to third.
Delta joined the ranking at No. 7, as did Roosevelt (No. 9) following its win over then-No. 3 Silver Creek. Silver Creek dropped to No. 8 this week.
Grand Junction is ranked No. 10 this week. (Courtesy photo)
Grand Junction was idle last week. No matter, the Tigers have rejoined this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll in Class 5A.
Grand Junction (5-2), last ranked Sept. 9, is No. 10 in the poll. The Tigers took the spot vacated by Arapahoe after the Warriors were upset by Lakewood last week. Up next for GJ: Unbeaten Montrose, which is No. 1 in 4A.
Valor Christian continued to lead the 5A poll, and received 22 of the 23 first-place votes. Fairview remained in second, and Regis Jesuit in third. Cherry Creek is fourth and ThunderRidge fifth after the two schools swapped places.
Columbine (No. 6) and Chatfield (No. 7) also stayed put, while Pomona moved up to No. 8. The Panthers, coming off a win over rival Ralston Valley, have a big showdown with Fairview on Friday afternoon.
Montrose is a unanimous pick atop 4A, and Monarch remained in that poll’s No. 2 spot. Pine Creek bumped up to No. 3, Falcon is fourth and Pueblo South rounds out the top 5.
Conifer joined the 3A poll. The Lobos are No. 9 following consecutive wins over ranked opponents Lutheran, D’Evelyn and Rifle. Rifle, No. 3 last week, dropped to No. 10 this week.
Gunnison (No. 10) is the lone newcomer to 2A, while 1A added Yuma (No. 9) and Platte Canyon (No. 10). 8-man added Sargent at No. 10, and 6-man added Otis (No. 5).
Lakewood quarterback Casey Nicholls, pictured during a game against Fairview earlier this season.
Eighth-ranked Arapahoe was poised to escape with another slim win. Only, no one told Lakewood.
The Tigers’ Anthony Brown returned a punt 48 yards to Arapahoe’s 7-yard-line with under two minutes to play. Quarterback Casey Nicholls scored what turned out to be the winning touchdown on a sneak two plays later in a 46-39 upset.
Arapahoe needed overtime to beat Mullen last week. This week, the Warriors rallied from a 32-23 halftime deficit to take a 39-32 lead. But Lakewood dialed up a wide receiver pass to Tevin Lucas on third-and-17 to tie the game at 39 with 6:50 to play. The Tigers forced Arapahoe to punt on the ensuing drive, setting up Brown’s big return.
Lakewood improves to 2-5 this season, while Arapahoe falls to 5-2.
Elsewhere in 5A, No. 10 Cherokee Trail shook off some first-half rust to rally and beat Grandview 21-7. The Cougars trailed 7-0 at the break.
“We’re happy with how we played in second half,”coach Monte Thelen told ColoradoPreps.com’s Built Ford Tough Scoreboard Show on Friday night. “Beating Grandview at any time is a great achievement for us, so we feel good about our performance, especially in the second half tonight.”
Cameron Smith rushed 22 times for 132 yards and two scores for Cherokee Trail. Quarterback Aric Johnson was 9-of-18 with 121 yards passing.
Cherokee Trail turned the ball over three times in the first half, and also had a touchdown called back due to a penalty.
“We’re really happy with how our defense played the entire game to be honest with you, because we put them in a number of negative situations in the first half,” Thelen said. “They were able to come through. We just felt like if we could calm down and play our game in the second half that we could definitely get back into the game. We were fortunate to be able to do that.”
In 4A, No. 6 Falcon rebounded from a tough loss last week to Pine Creek to come back and top Ponderosa, 24-14. The Falcons scored the game’s final 24 points.
“What was interesting is that it was like a reciprocal of our game last week with Pine Creek,” co-head coach Brian Green told the Scoreboard Show. “We were up at half and Pine Creek came storming back. We kind of followed their same formula to victory this week.
“It was really just coming out and making plays. We made some good defensive plays that put us in position to score and kind of capture the momentum early in the third quarter and never looked back after that.”
Running back Kalen Ballage carried the ball 21 times for 68 yards and a touchdown. Justin Barron also had a rushing score, but the game turned on Dylan Cutkomp’s 51-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“That one put us on top, and we just carried that wave of momentum to the finish line,” Green said.
Eighth-ranked Mead stayed unbeaten in the 3A ranks with a 41-14 win over Northridge. Quarterback Griffin Nelson was 19-of-28 for 195 yards and two scores, while the Mavericks also racked up 415 yards and four scores on the ground.
“I was really proud of the fact that we rushed the ball really well tonight,” coach Jason Klatt told the Scoreboard Show. “And Griffin was just a real leader tonight. He hung in there and threw a bunch of key completions that kept drives alive and it was just a great all-around win.”
Mead is now 6-0, but isn’t worried about any outside pressures.
“That’s been a big question that we didn’t really know how that was going to go, but we have a senior-led group that is very resilient,” Klatt said. “They’ve bought into what we’re telling them and they are beginning to be mentally tough to where we don’t listen to that stuff and we’re not concerned about outside stuff and Wild Card points and all that stuff. The only thing that we can control is our attitude and our effort. That’s what we’re doing right now.”
Holy Family, ranked No. 6 in 3A, needed a stop of a two-point conversion to season a 20-19 win at Erie.
“They had a great drive, they put together a couple of plays, and they went for the two-point conversion,” coach Mike Gabriel told the Scoreboard Show. “It came down to I think about the 1-inch line, but we kept them out of the end zone.”
Holy Family is 3-0 since a crushing 45-14 loss to Silver Creek on Sept. 20.
“I think Silver Creek kind of revealed some stuff to us as a staff that we needed to work harder in practice and challenge the kids more in practice and just get after it a little more,” Gabriel said. “We’ve changed things, and the kids have responded. We’re starting to see the results.”
In all, Week 7 has belonged to the ranked teams. Ranked teams are 43-4 against unranked opponents across all classifications through Friday’s games.
