Football Game Preview: Plateau Valley Cowboys vs. Hayden Tigers

The Plateau Valley Cowboys will venture away from home to face off against the Hayden Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Plateau Valley is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Colorado's top teams: West Grand, who was ranked 17th at the time (Plateau Valley was ranked 19th). The Cowboys fell 20-14 to the Mustangs on Friday. The game marked the Cowboys' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Although Plateau Valley took the loss, they still got scores from Hunter White and London Mitchell.

Meanwhile, after only six points in their last contest, Hayden made sure to put some points up on the board against Lake County on Friday. The Tigers simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Panthers 58-6. The Tigers pushed the score to 58-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Panthers cut but never quite recovered from.

Hayden didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. Noah Weber led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself. Matt Heaney got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

The win got Hayden back to even at 2-2. As for Plateau Valley, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 4-1.

Plateau Valley beat Hayden 40-30 in their previous matchup back in October of 2024. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was the Tigers' Joe Harris, who rushed for 110 yards and a pair of TDs on only six carries. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for the Cowboys to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.