North Park raced out to a 20-6 lead, weathered a second-quarter comeback from Granada, and then scored three third-quarter touchdowns in pulling off the upset.
According to Colorado Preps, it is just the second postseason victory in program history as No. 11 North Park advanced in the 6-man playoffs over the No. 6 Bobcats.
“It’s huge for us — we’ve just got to keep taking steps forward,” coach Chad Carlstrom told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “I think the program’s in the right spot. The kids are excited. The young kids are excited. That’s just building a little bit of a tradition. I hope I’ve done that.”
North Park had six rushing touchdowns in the game, including three from Destry Schmidt, two from Cordell Garriott and one from Brock Follett.
“We just overpowered them on our running game,” Carlstrom said. “We’ve got three dynamic running backs that they all provide something different, that change of pace, and our blocking up front has been solid. It makes it tough to figure out who’s going to get the ball and which way we’re going to go.”
Dominic Coleman, just a sophomore, led the way for Granada with four total touchdowns, two rushing and two passing.
In other 6-man playoff games on Friday:
- No. 1 Kit Carson beat No. 16 Peetz 73-7.
- No. 4 Fleming beat No. 13 Deer Trail 72-27.
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Playoff brackets
The 8-man, 1A, 2A, and 5A state playoff brackets will be seeded and released on Sunday. The 3A and 4A brackets are due out on Nov. 9.
As always, these will be posted on CHSAANow.com, and the CHSAANow app.
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4A: Ponderosa 7, (3) Montrose 0
Ponderosa (6-3) got the only score of the game midway through the fourth quarter, and set up a showdown for the 4A Metro League title with Heritage next week.
“It was just a total team effort,” Ponderosa coach Jaron Cohen told the Scoreboard Show. “When we needed it, our offense got a drive to score, and they got a couple of first downs to ice it.”
Mustangs quarterback Jack Hanenburg scored on a three-yard rush with eight minutes remaining to provide the game’s only points. It was set up by a great scramble and throw on third down from Hanenburg, Cohen said.
“Jack got behind our big boys and got it in,” Cohen said.
Montrose nearly responded but a Ponderosa defender tracked down a Montrose player at the five, and then the Mustangs’ defense held firm on 4th-and-goal from the 1.
Montrose is now 8-1 this season.
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1A: (2) Holyoke 14, (3) Limon 12
Holyoke (9-0) scored twice in the first half for a 14-0 lead, then held off a fourth-quarter rally from Limon (7-2) to secure the North Central League title.
“It was a very exciting game,” Holyoke coach Dustin Sprague told the Scoreboard Show. “It was a championship game, and our kids came up with some big plays.”
Blake Mosenteen opened the scoring with a 6-yard rush in the second quarter, and then Miles Sprague added a 61-yard dash for a two-score Holyoke lead.
Things stayed 14-0 until the fourth quarter, when the Badgers scored with nine minutes remaining. A two-point conversation attempt was no good, making the score 14-6.
Kory Tacha then added a rushing touchdown for Limon with three minutes left, but the Badgers couldn’t convert a two-point attempt to tie the game.
“This is what we set out to do,” Sprague said. “But we didn’t come this far just to come this far.”
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5A: (10) Cherokee Trail 36, (9) Eaglecrest 32
In a wild game, Cherokee Trail (7-3) rallied from a huge 29-0 hole in the third quarter to pick up a big win over the Raptors (7-3).
The Cougars scored 21 unanswered points in the later part of the third to cut the Eaglecrest lead to 29-21 going to the fourth. The Raptors added a field goal, and went up 32-21 with nine minutes left in the fourth.
Then Jayden Lavigne hit Samuel Hart for a 45-yard touchdown pass, and the Cougars converted a two-point attempt to make it 32-29.
Lavigne then found Donovan Swift with three minutes remaining on a 34-yard TD to give CT its first lead of the game — and it proved to be the winning score.
Lavigne finished with three touchdown passes.
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5A: (1) Cherry Creek 44, (7) Grandview 21
Cherry Creek built a quick 17-0 lead, and the Bruins were up 20-7 at halftime en route to the win.
Grandview did cut it to 20-14 early in the third quarter following a blocked punt, but Cherry Creek reeled off 24 unanswered points into the fourth to make it 44-14.
The Bruins finish the regular season 10-0. Grandview is 8-2.
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1A: (7) Florence 13, (5) Colorado Springs Christian 10
Florence (8-1) stormed back from a 10-0 halftime deficit to secure the win, and the Tri-Peaks League title.
“That’s a dang good football team, and we were just able to grind it out,” coach Jeremy Nix told the Scoreboard Show.
The Huskies tied the game in the third quarter with a passing score and a field goal, and then took the lead with a 27-yard field goal from Jenkins Phillips with less than a minute to play to win.
Here’s video of the winning kick, from KOAA:
Peyton Brones had a rushing touchdown for CSCS (7-2).
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8-man: (1) Sedgwick County 60, (9) Merino 0
Sedgwick County (9-0) cruised to an unbeaten regular season.
The Cougars led 32-0 at halftime, and had six rushing scores and two passing in the win.
Merino ends the regular season 6-3.
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Notables:
- In a top-10 1A matchup, No. 6 Meeker beat No. 8 Hotchkiss 42-26 to win the 1A Western Slope League. “We’re excited about having the opportunity to get out there and compete next week,” coach Shane Phelan told the Scoreboard Show. “We’ll see where it goes from there.”
- Yuma upset 1A No. 10 Wray 27-7 in their rivalry game, the Harvest Cup.
- In another rivalry contest, No. 9 Basalt got a last-second stop on fourth down to preserve a 17-14 win over Aspen.
- Hayden beat rival Soroco for the first time since 2012. Here’s a game story from the Steamboat Pilot & Today.
- Windsor beat Greeley West 33-20, giving coach Chris Jones his 100th career win.
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