Playoff fields set for Colorado football small-school classifications

Video: Bridger Russell highlights
The Salida quarterback will be in action against No. 6 Basalt in a top Class 2A playoff game this weekend.

Let the fun begin.

While technically the 2017 football postseason got underway this past weekend with the first round of the 6-Man playoffs, a bigger chunk of the state is about to catch up. On Sunday, the brackets were released for the 16-team fields in Class 2A, 1A and 8-Man.

The final week of the regular season for 5A, 4A and 3A is this weekend, but for now it's the time to shine for the smaller schools. Case in point: the first round of 6-Man action included a game that resulted in a combined 159 points, good for third all-time in state annals. Ninth-seeded Otis defeated No. 8 Genoa-Hugo 89-70 to set up a quarterfinal clash with top-seeded Stratton/Liberty on Saturday.

MaxPreps Colorado state football brackets

After this weekend has come and gone, the fields will be down to eight teams in 2A, 1A and 8-Man and four teams in 6-Man, with state championships fast approaching. Here is a quick look at the postseason brackets in each of the four smaller classifications headed into this weekend:

Class 2A
Top Seeds: 1. Platte Valley (Kersey), 2. Kent Denver (Englewood), 3. Bayfield, 4. La Junta
Defending Champion: La Junta
Overview: Three teams enjoyed undefeated regular seasons in Platte Valley, Kent Denver and Bayfield, while six more teams sustained only one loss. ... The potential for second-round rematches is the theme for this field. Top-seeded Platte Valley, should it get past D'Evelyn (Denver), has already defeated both No. 8 Eaton and No. 9 Sterling; Sterling also handled Eaton earlier in the season. On the other end of the bracket, No. 2 Kent Denver handed both Faith Christian (Arvada) and Bishop Machebeuf (Denver) its only losses during the regular season. … Bayfield's defense has been the driving factor in the Wolverines' undefeated run during the regular season. Bayfield has allowed only 49 points in nine games and shut out five opponents. Senior Ryan Phelps has 15 sacks and Cole Wood has 11, and the team also intercepted 21 passes.
Game to watch: No. 6 Basalt vs. No. 11 Salida, 1 p.m., Saturday
One of the more intriguing first-round matchups of the weekend features two teams looking to make an early impact. A Basalt team that won eight games in a row after falling to 3A Rifle in its opener hosts a Salida squad that went 7-2, the most victories for the Spartans since an eight-win campaign in 2006.
Basalt and senior Noah Williams ran roughshod over a number of teams, with Williams going for 1,232 yards and 25 touchdowns this fall. The Longhorns' defense notched three shutouts. On the other side, Salida's only losses came to No. 4 La Junta and No. 5 The Classical Academy (Colorado Springs). Quarterback Bridger Russell passed for more than 1,800 yards and 19 touchdowns, 12 of which went to senior Sevrin Kaess. The team's defense forced 22 turnovers.

Class 1A
Top Seeds: 1. Bennett, 2. Meeker, 3. Centauri (La Jara), 4. Strasburg
Defending Champion: Strasburg
Overview: Bennett, Meeker and Centauri are all still undefeated at 9-0. Four more teams finished with only one loss. … No. 6 Clear Creek (Evergreen) features one of the state's top passers in Ty Judge, who led the state with 2,750 yards and 35 touchdowns during the regular season. The Golddiggers' only loss came to top-seeded Bennett. … Speaking of Bennett, the Tigers have one of the state's best ground games, led by senior Rocky Lechman (1,552 yards and 23 touchdowns in eight games). … No. 2 Meeker, the state runner-up a year ago, is led by senior quarterback Logan Hughes (20 combined touchdowns). … Paonia will be a tough out as the No. 9 seed. The Eagles' only two losses came to undefeated Centauri and Meeker, are powered by senior running back Jaden Miller.
Game to watch: No. 7 Crowley County (Ordway) vs. No. 10 Limon, 1 p.m., Saturday
Limon (7-2) might be one of the most dangerous underdogs in the field. The Badgers' two losses came by a combined three points to two of the field's top five seeds, and Limon shut out Crowley County 27-0 earlier this season. The team has a balanced offense behind junior quarterback Cannan Bennett, and the defense posted six shutouts.
Crowley County (8-1) won its final six games after the loss to Limon. Quarterback Bradley Clabey tossed 17 touchdowns and rushed for nine more scores, and Cannan Geringer led a rushing attack with 917 yards. The defense finished with 30.5 sacks and senior Chris Meyer intercepted nine passes.

8-Man
Top Seeds: 1. Sedgwick County (Julesburg), 2. West Grand (Kremmling), 3. Merino, 4. Hoehne
Defending Champion: Sedgwick County
Overview: Sedgwick County and West Grand are the only undefeated teams in the field. … Third-seeded Merino (8-1) has lived dangerously this season. Six of the team's victories came by a touchdown or less. … No. 4 Hoehne was the highest-scoring team in 8-Man this fall, averaging 45.5 points a game. The Farmers rushed for more than 3,700 yards as a team, led by junior Trystan Moltrer at 1,011 yards and 12 touchdowns. … Soroco (Oak Creek), the 14th seed, had the classification's leading rusher in junior Jace Logan, who had 2,295 yards and 30 touchdowns. Caliche (Iliff) junior Adam Zink isn't far behind at 2,113 yards. … McClave, as the No. 16 seed, has a tall task opening with No. 1 Sedgwick County. But Cardinals junior Dawson Roech led 8-Man this fall with 13 sacks.
Game to watch: No. 7 Sargent (Monte Vista) vs. No. 10 Gilpin County (Black Hawk), 6 p.m., Friday
Sargent (6-3) dropped its first three games of the season after reaching the semifinals a year ago. The Farmers closed out the regular season though with six consecutive victories and didn't allow more than 20 points in those contests. Senior Ryan Davis threw 11 touchdown passes and rushed for 10 more, and Trevor Milne added 12 rushing scores.
Gilpin County (7-2) missed the playoffs a year ago, but rode a seven-game winning streak this fall to a playoff spot. The squad ended on a sour note with a 52-0 loss to West Grand, but Gilpin County has a loaded ground attack that churned out more than 3,100 yards this season. Senior Austin Boulter led the way with 1,877 yards and 23 touchdowns.

6-Man
Top Remaining Seeds: 1. Stratton/Liberty, 2. Prairie (New Raymer), 3. Peetz, 4. Cheyenne Wells
Defending Champion: Hi-Plains
Overview: The first round played pretty much as expected, with the only big upset coming from No. 11 Fleming. The higher seeds didn't have much trouble, including top-seeded Stratton/Liberty's 52-6 victory over Briggsdale. … Cheyenne Wells, the 2016 state runner-up, has a big game against No. 5 North Park (Walden) this weekend. North Park's Blayden Fletcher has rushed for more than 1,100 yards this season. … Undefeated Prairie and its three-headed rushing attack of seniors Trenton Holzworth, Coltin Hove and sophomore Patrick Thompson (35 combined rushing touchdowns) draw a one-loss Kit Carson team in the quarterfinals that was the No. 1 overall seed a year ago.
Game to watch: No. 3 Peetz vs. No. 11 Fleming, 1 p.m., Saturday
Typically a lower seed with a losing record wouldn't garner such attention, but Fleming (4-5) isn't the typical underdog. The Wildcats upset No. 6 La Veta 52-16 in the first round to set up a rematch with Peetz, which defeated Fleming 39-26 on Oct. 13. The Wildcats' three in-state losses have come by a combined 21 points. Senior Kolton Dickinson leads a potent ground game while the defense has limited opponents to below 40 points in the past five games.
Peetz (8-1) dropped its only game to Prairie by three points Oct. 6. The Bulldogs have gotten it done through the air behind senior Tre Fehringer and his 20 touchdown passes, half of which have gone to Logan Sircy. Sircy also has five interceptions.