2013 Colorado Class 5A football state championship preview

With all the headlines and accolades surrounding Christian McCaffrey, sometimes it's easy to forget that Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) is far from a one-man show.

Add to that the notion that linemen sometimes can toil in anonymity, and it becomes apparent why Alec Ruth isn't the household name on the state's prep scene beyond the recruiting gurus. But make no mistake, this giant of a left tackle is a key cog in the Valor title machine and could be every bit the college prospect that McCaffrey is.

With the second-seeded Eagles set to take on No. 1 Fairview (Boulder) in the Class 5A title game (2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sports Authority Field) in perhaps their toughest challenge of all of their five consecutive championship appearances, the 6-foot-6, 305-pound Ruth talked about the Knights.

"They're really built on stopping the big plays, and that's going to be a challenge for us," said Ruth, who has committed to Kansas State. "I'm going to have to work extra hard to get Christian more time to make his cuts and giving time to A.J. Cecil back in the pocket, protecting him."

Ruth knows his opponent well, referencing Fairview defensive end Carlo Kemp's precise statistics, including his 14 tackles for losses.

As Valor Christian has accumulated four straight championships (one in 3A, two in 4A and last season in 5A), Ruth, like McCaffrey, has been a part of the program for the past three. He and his teammates are profoundly pumped for the elevated challenge 5A's lone undefeated team will offer in the No. 1 vs. 2 battle.

"Most definitely. You wouldn't want to have it any other way," Roth said. "You want to play the best and you want to beat the best. It's really cool to see the first seed and the second seed go after it."

Valor Christian coach Rod Sherman has devised a creative way to prepare for the pass-heavy Knights (12-0), which feature record-setting wideout Sam Martin and top-flight quarterback Anders Hill. Sherman has had his defense practice against a 12-man offense to help simulate the Knights' attack.

"I'm certainly not sure there's a team in the state that can throw the ball as well as Fairview," Sherman said. "The closest thing we can get back to is, last year our quarterback Luke Del Rio could sling it a little bit, and we got to play against him in practice."

One thing the Valor defense has going for it is it likely will have a decent margin for error. The Eagles always seem to put up a monstrous amount of points (86 touchdowns in 13 games) behind McCaffrey and company. The Stanford-bound senior has rushed for 1,729 yards, added 629 receiving and has scored a ridiculous 42 touchdowns.

But if there is a team that can keep up the scoring pace with the Eagles, it is Fairview. The Knights' Martin has 101 catches for 1,719 yards this season, and the quick-strike Knights have been able to run the ball effectively when needed behind Jason Harvey.

Martin has drawn double-coverage as the playoffs reached the deeper rounds, but Hill (35 TDs, nine interceptions) has a strong No. 2 option to throw to in Cameron Frazier. The junior has wrangled in 67 receptions for 927 yards and 13 scores and understands the significance of his team's secondary receivers.

"It's huge," said Frazier, who had 10 catches for 150 yards and two TDs in the semifinals against ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch). "Not only me, but Owen (Harris) and Savoy (Smith) and anyone else who gets in the game, we just need to catch the ball and get the yards we can. Eventually they can't double-cover Sam and he does his thing. It's just really hard for the defense to cover all of us."

Frazier and the Knights couldn't be labeled surprised that Valor Christian is waiting in the finals.

"We definitely respect Valor, and right now they've been the best team for the past couple years in the state," Frazier said. "We definitely expected them to win their side of the bracket. You never really know in the playoffs with upsets, but we imagined that if we got here, they'd be the team we're facing."

Fairview has played one fewer game than the Eagles because its nonleague contest against Rangeview (Aurora) in mid-September was wiped out due to the floods. Otherwise, the teams seemingly have been matching the others' steam-rolling performances on a weekly basis.

Fairview coach Tom McCartney has watched the Hill-to-Martin combo blossom so significantly over the years that it has now played a big part in landing his team in the title game.

"Sam was at rival school in eighth grade against Anders and actually played quarterback, and Sam's team won," McCartney said. "He never lets Anders forget it, so it's amazing to me that they are best friends. But they've developed a tremendous chemistry."

MaxPreps Colorado state football brackets