State football playoff countdown continues
The Aspen Times
dale strode/the aspen times |
The countdown in high school football continues.
Sixteen teams, including the Aspen Skiers, entered the first round of the Class 2A state football playoffs last weekend.
Eight teams advanced to this week’s 2A quarterfinals.
One team from the Western League — conference champion Gunnison — remains in the mix for a possible 2A state title.
Aspen, the No. 13 seed in the 16-team bracket, lost a 49-14 decision at No. 4 seed Faith Christian in Arvada on Saturday afternoon, victimized by a big and deep team of Eagles.
Tyler Tick, of the Skiers, threw two touchdown passes in the playoff loss — one the Nicky Cottrell and one to Harry Ferguson.
Faith Christian, led by the power running of junior Daniel Langewisch, will move into the quarterfinals and a game Saturday against No 5 overall seed Gunnison. The game will be played at Faith Christian.
Gunnison overpowered No. 12 seed Fort Lupton, 49-28, last weekend. The Cowboys are 8-2, the same record as the Eagles of Faith Christian.
Another quarterfinal matchup next Saturday will feature No. 1 Brush (9-0) at home against No. 8 Florence (8-2), the 2011 state champion.
Brush eliminated The Academy, of Westminster, 55-6, last weekend in Brush.
Florence edged No. 9 Strasburg, 26-20.
No. 2 overall seed Manitou Springs (10-0) will host defending state champion and No. 7 seed Kent Denver (8-2) on Saturday.
Manitou Springs defeated Jefferson, 49-8, in the opening round of the playoffs.
Kent Denver ousted No. 10 Lamar, 21-12, last weekend.
The other Class 2A quarterfinal Saturday will feature No. 6 Bennett (8-2) at No. 3 Platte Valley (8-1), the defending state runner-up.
Platte Valley, located in Kersey in Weld County, shut out Ridge View Academy, of Watkins, 49-0 last weekend.
Bennett stopped Olathe, of the Western League, by a 14-13 score last weekend. Olathe, the runner-up in the Western League, finished the season 6-4.
Kent Denver won the 2A state title in 2012, beating Platte Valley, 28-17, in the state championship game.
Florence won the 2011 title, beating Bayfield in the final game, 34-0.
Olathe beat Brush, 14-13, to win the 2010 state championship.
Faith Christian won state in 2009, beating Kent Denver in the final, 21-0.
Olathe also won in 2008, beating Erie, 22-21, in overtime,
Platte Valley captured the state title in 2007, beating Platte Canyon, of Bailey, 21-7 in the final.
Faith Christian also won state in 2006, beating Platte Valley, 41-7, for the title.
Holy Family beatg Buena Vista, 35-20, to win the 2005 state title.
Faith Christian won in 2004, beating Holy Family, 34-7.
Faith Christian has three state championships in football in the last 10 years, all under the direction of head coach Blair Hubbard.
Volleyball
In Class 3A volleyball, two teams from the Western Slope League qualified for the 12-team State Volleyball Championships coming up this week at the Denver Coliseum.
League champion Gunnison (22-3) earned the No. 6 overall seed. Gunnison will be matched against No. 3 Manitou Springs (25-0) and No. 10 Sterling (15-10) in pool play at the state championships.
Coal Ridge (21-4), the No. 9 overall seed, will play in a pool with No. 4 Platte Valley (18-7) and No. 5 Holy Family (20-5).
Other pools for the 3A state tournament will match No. 1 Eaton (23-1), No. 8 Bayfield (20-5) and No. 12 Lamar (22-3) in one pool.
No. 2 Valley (20-5), No. 7 Greeley University (17-8) and No. 11 Machebeuf (20-5) will play in the other pool.
Top teams will advance to an elimination bracket for the Class 3A state title Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.
SOCCER
In Class 3A boys soccer, the state playoffs are down to the final four.
Defending state champion and No. 1 seed Colorado Academy (17-0-1) will take on Kent Denver (14-2-2) at 5 p.m. today at All City Stadium in the Denver area.
At 7 p.m. today, No. 2 overall seed Salida (18-0-0) will play The Classical Academy (17-1-0) in the other Class 3A state semifinal.
The state championship will be at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Classical Academy advanced to the final four with a 7-1 victory over Coal Ridge in the quarterfinals.
Salida advanced with a 3-0 shutout of Aurora West College Prep.
Colorado Academy ousted Fountain Valley, 1-0, and Kent Denver shut out Frontier Academy by an identical 1-0 score.
