Video: Paonia's Taylor Walters highlights vs. CentauriThere is something about this time of year that just gets the blood pumping a little bit faster.
The first of three championship weekends in Colorado prep football has arrived, with the Class A 6-Man title game taking place Saturday afternoon. The final four teams in Class 2A, 1A and 8-Man will be doing battle at the same time, hoping to land a coveted spot in next Saturday's respective finales.
"Anytime you make it to the title game, there's a little more excitement," said Eads coach Dustin Uhland, whose Eagles host defending champion Arickaree/Woodlin at 1 p.m. Saturday for the 6-Man championship. "You're just a lot more amped up for everything."
Two classifications will crown new champions. In 8-Man, none of the remaining four teams have ever won a state title in that class – only Akron has a championship to its name, with the Rams winning five 1A titles in eight years.
In 2A, defending champion Brush was eliminated by top-seeded Bayfield in the quarterfinals.
"They knew going in that going to Brush was going to be a real challenge. They weren't going to relinquish anything easily," Bayfield coach Gary Heide said. "We knew it was going to be a tough environment, but we went in there and played from start to finish."
Here is a look at this weekend's games in each of the state's smallest classifications:
Class A 6-Man
Arickaree/Woodlin (Anton) (10-1) at Eads (10-1), 1 p.m., SaturdayThe 2015 championship game is a rematch from a year ago, which Arickaree/Woodlin won 44-26 to cap an undefeated season. Arickaree/Woodlin upset top-seeded Kit Carson by 27 points in the semifinals last weekend behind 121 yards and four touchdowns from
Wyatt Kolman; Eads dominated Fleming 48-22 and will be playing for a 6-Man championship for the third time in four years.
"They want a state title. It's kind of been their goal ever since most of them were in junior high, since they were kids," Uhland said. "They wanted to win state."
Eads has relied on an impressive rushing attack this season that features seniors
Dylan Dixon and
Reagan Lane and junior
Fred Turner. Dixon, who rushed for 253 yards and four scores in last year's title game, broke his hand before the team's playoff opener but did return against Fleming.
"It's more about preaching the blocking side of things," Uhland said of the team's success on the ground. "If we break (one) it's great, but if we don't, there's one more block we need to get."
Arickaree/Woodlin quarterback
Trent Leoffler has thrown for 938 yards this season, and Kolman has more than 1,300 yards and 32 touchdowns.
"They bounce back pretty well. A lot of their younger players got playing time last year. A couple of their horses graduated, and they really filled in well," Uhland said. "It's a different team, but we've got to approach it in the same direction on slowing them down."
Class 2A
La Junta (11-0) at Bayfield (11-0), 1 p.m., Saturday
Platte Valley (Kersey) (10-1) at Kent Denver (Englewood) (11-0), 1 p.m., SaturdayThe top four seeds in the 2A bracket have met expectations headed into Saturday's semifinal round, with three of the four teams still undefeated.
Bayfield overcame a grueling road trip across the state to take down Brush 28-14.
Zane Phelps rushed for 188 yards and two scores and
Kelton McCoy had two total touchdowns. The senior-heavy group also handed two-time defending 1A champion Paonia its only loss this season.
"That group, for the most part, almost all of them have played together for 10 years in all these different sports," Heide said. "They have high expectations of themselves. That bond has culminated in their senior season, and they don't want to accept anything but the best."
La Junta defeated Sterling 34-13. The Tigers and the Wolverines are each coming off five-win seasons in 2013 and 2014 before turning things around this fall.
Heide said Bayfield got a glimpse into what the future could hold during a strong showing at a camp at CSU-Pueblo this summer.
"I think it was coming together as a team and the realization of what you could do," he said. "We found out how tough we could be and that kind of laid the foundation."
Kent Denver will be trying to advance to the title game for the third time in four years after a big 210-yard, four touchdown game from
Will McKissick in the quarterfinals against Eaton.
Platte Valley, which won it all in 2013, rolled past Strasburg 56-28. The Broncos haven't lost since their opener against Resurrection Christian, and had three players top the 100-yard mark on the ground against Strasburg – freshman
Trevon Wehrman had four rushing scores and one through the air.
Class 1A
Buena Vista (11-0) at Crowley County (Ordway) (10-1), 1 p.m., Saturday
Paonia (10-1) at Resurrection Christian (Loveland) (11-0), 1 p.m., Saturday at Fossil Ridge HS
Defending champion Paonia has a tough road ahead if it hopes to claim a third consecutive 1A crown. The Eagles are coming off a 47-7 victory against Burlington where quarterback
Taylor Walters rushed for 232 yards and five touchdowns.
Standing in the way of a return trip to the title game is unbeaten Resurrection Christian. The Cougars have allowed just more than three points a game this season and have six shutouts to their credit. In a 48-6 quarterfinal win against Meeker, the team had 515 yards of total offense; quarterback
Michael Stevenson has 20 touchdown passes on the season.
The other semifinal pits top-seeded and 2014 runner-up Buena Vista against a Crowley County team that had to score two fourth-quarter touchdowns to overcome Limon 14-13 last weekend. Sophomore
Chris Meyer rushed for 179 yards and a score and also tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass to
Kaleb Bandimere.
Buena Vista has outscored its two playoff opponents 98-12. In a 50-6 victory over Wiggins, senior
Keegan Wentz threw for 141 yards and a score and rushed for 104 yards and two more touchdowns.
Class A 8-man
Sargent (Monte Vista) (10-1) at Sedgwick County (Julesburg) (11-0), 1 p.m., Saturday
Norwood (10-1) at Akron (9-2), 1 p.m., SaturdayTop-seeded Sedgwick County has been an unstoppable force on offense this year. After just making the postseason a year ago, the Cougars average more than 55 points a game.
Sargent, which topped Springfield 22-8 in the quarterfinals, is no slouch itself. The Farmers have scored at least 60 points in four games, and
Cordell Curtis had a pair of touchdowns in last weekend's victory.
Norwood posted three consecutive shutouts to close the regular season, and dispatched Mancos and Dove Creek in the first two rounds of the postseason. Juniors
Trenton Armintrout and
Devyn Rummel combined for 19 rushing touchdowns in the regular season.
Akron is coming off a 36-7 victory over Dayspring Christian Academy. Junior
Levi Basler rushed for 110 yards and three touchdowns. The Rams lost in the quarterfinals a year ago.
