CHSAA state football playoffs: How the semifinals in Class 5A, 4A and 3A played out

Class 5A

No. 1 Cherry Creek beat No. 5 Valor Christian, 42-17: The Bruins are headed back to the 5A title game for the seventh straight year after junior RB Jayden Fox ran in a pair of touchdowns and junior QB Brady Vodicka threw for one TD and ran for another. Creek (12-1) beat Valor for the fourth time in five years in the state playoffs, with the previous three all coming in the championship. The Bruins jumped ahead 21-0 in the second quarter after Ashton Shepardson’s 25-yard interception return TD, and Vodicka’s 17-yard hookup with Alijah Landrum-Hamilton put them ahead 28-7 with 28 seconds left in the first half. The lead grew to as much as 42-10 after an Elijah Cromwell scoring run early in the fourth quarter. Cash Spence ran in one TD, while Dawson Olk connected with Jackson Coleman on another for Valor, which finished the season 11-2.

No. 6 Legend beat No. 7 Fairview, 35-21: Champ Jones powered in a pair of touchdown runs in the final 16 minutes, and the Titans (12-1) held on from there to clinch their first 5A title game appearance in program history. Fairview took the lead twice in the first half, first with a 15-yard scoring strike from sophomore QB Ki Ellison to junior WR Toray Davis on the Knights’ opening drive. The second lead came when Brock Kolstad ran in a 3-yard score to put Fairview up 14-7 with 7:55 left in the first half.  But junior LB Derek Neuenschwander returned a pick-6 just two minutes later to tie it at 14, and the Titans ran in a pair of TDs in the third quarter to take control — the second a 1-yard run from Jones to go ahead 28-14. Ellison found senior WR Jordan Rechel for a 35-yard scoring pass to pull within seven with 7:15 left, but Jones put the game on ice with another TD with 2:04 remaining to hand Fairview (12-1) its first and only loss of the season.

Class 4A

No. 5 Broomfield beat No. 1 Dakota Ridge, 45-7: Broomfield clinched its fourth trip to the 4A title game in eight years with a dominant all-around effort that included a pair of defensive touchdowns and six takeaways. Senior RB Colin Torres ran for 149 yards and two TDs, senior Mikhail Benner returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown, and senior Maverick Scarpella had a 22-yard scoop-and-score that put Broomfield (12-1) ahead 28-0 in the second quarter. Dakota Ridge (11-2) didn’t score until Broomfield had triggered a running clock.

No. 2 Montrose beat No. 3 Pueblo West, 18-7: After falling just short twice in the semifinal round over the last three seasons, the Montrose defense stood tall to send the program to the 4A title game for the first time in 11 years. The Red Hawks (13-0) got a goal-line stop in the first quarter and kept Pueblo West (11-2) out of the end zone until Gavin Lockett’s 12-yard run in the fourth quarter. Before that, junior RB Elijah Womack had touchdown runs of 6 and 24 yards to stake Montrose to a 12-0 lead with 7:09 left in the third quarter. After Lockett’s score pulled the Cyclones within five, the Red Hawks answered with a scoring drive that ended with sophomore QB Cade Saunders finding Chase Mehan for a TD pass that put the game away for good.

Class 3A

No. 1 Thompson Valley beat No. 5 Green Mountain, 31-3: Thompson Valley punched its ticket to the 3A title game the same way it’s dispatched every other team that’s stood in its way this fall — with a dominant defensive effort. The Eagles (13-0) kept an opponent out of the end zone for the sixth time this season, then capped its first state semifinal victory in 35 years with a pick-6 in the fourth quarter to move a win away from the program’s first state title. Senior RB Wes Bebo set the tone right away with a 78-yard scoring run less than a minute into the game. Junior Triston Hill and senior QB Garet Hendrickson both punched in scores as well, with the latter putting the Eagles up 23-3 with 5:31 left and sending Green Mountain (9-4) to its third state semifinal loss in three years.