1A FOOTBALL SEMIFINALS PREVIEW

Teams very familiar with one another collide in the 1A football state semifinals this week.  Strasburg and Centauri meet in the playoffs for the third straight year and Limon and Holyoke come from the same North Central conference so they play each other every year in the regular season.  Winners advance to the state championship game next week and three of the four teams still alive have a chance to host that game.
 
#5 Centauri (10-1) vs #1 Strasburg (11-0)
Saturday marks the third straight playoff season that Strasburg has made the trek to La Jara for a key battle with Centauri.  The Indians have enjoyed the first two trips as they picked up a semifinal win last year and also outlasted the Falcons 10-7 in double overtime for the 2017 state championship.  Because of that recent history, we expect a very intense and physical game from both sides.
Strasburg has not been scored upon this post-season; shutting out Manual 50-0 in round one and Highland 28-0 in the quarterfinals.  That gives the Indians four shutouts overall on the season.  AJ Hemphill is the top tackler (90) including 13.5 behind the line of scrimmage.   With 17 tackles for loss among his 41 stops, Chad Sutherland is another big play defender.  They helped the Indians limit Highland to 83 yards passing and 46 yards on the ground in last week’s quarterfinal win.  The Huskies generated less than three yards per play.
Centauri’s defense was equally stingy in scoring a 41-7 win at Meeker last Saturday.  The Cowboys ran for 129 yards but threw for just 67.  Adam Chacon led the way with 18 tackles followed by Zach Buhr (13) and Danny Brady (11).  They’ve allowed only 119 points through the season.
Both defenses will be challenged by offenses featuring multiple threats.  Strasburg is led by QB Collin Russel and RB’s Trystan Graff and Michael Burns.  All three have game experience in the previous two playoff matchups.  Russell threw for 199 yards and two scores while Burns (110) and Graf (52) combined for 162 yards in last year’s win.  Graff and Burns also had four combined carries two years in the state championship victory.
All three have been strong this year.  Russell has thrown for 1,102 yards and 17 TD’s.  Graf sits at 1,157 yards with 15 scores and while Burns has played just seven games, he has 259 yards rushing with two trips to the end zone.
With six touchdown catches, Hemphill leads all Strasburg receivers in that category but seven others have at least one touchdown reception.
The first two options for Centauri’s offense are RB’s Mason Claunch (899 yards) and Taj Cornum (857) as both are within reach of 1,000 yards this week.  Claunch totaled 147 yards against Meeker with Cornum clsoe behind at 125.
QB Eric Maez has 16 touchdown passes and is just two yards shy of 1,000 for the season (98).  Claunch, with 22 receptions, has the most catches but Baron Holman has been on the receiving end of six scoring tosses from Maez.

• History:  As mentioned, the Falcons and Indians have met the last two years in the playoffs and they represent the only meetings overall.  Strasburg won 44-22 in the state semifinals last year and 10-7 in double overtime in the 2017 title bout.  Strasburg is 13-1 in playoff games over the past four years and a win this week gets them to the state finals for a fourth straight year.  This is their eighth semifinal appearance in school history.  The Indians are 5-2 in the previous seven.  Centauri has reached the Final Four for a third straight year and fourth time since 2013.   This is the sixth visit all-time and they sit at 2-3 in the previous five games.  The Falcons are still seeking their first ever state football crown.

 

#3 Limon (9-2) vs #2 Holyoke (11-0)
There are several regular season rematches across the board in playoff brackets this week but this one may be the most fresh in memory as the two clubs met just three weeks ago to close the season.  Holyoke won the matchup 14-12 and with it grabbed the North Central title, a perfect regular season and a higher playoff seed.  Despite that, the Dragons are on the road this week.  Limon is familiar with the feeling.  Even though they beat Wray during the regular season and is seeded several spots higher in the bracket, they were forced to play on the road in the state quarterfinals.
Looking to the rematch, the Limon defense will be tasked with limiting big plays from the Holyoke offense.  In game one, Miles Sprague connected with Blake Mosenteen on a 61-yard TD pass right before halftime giving the Dragons a 14-0 lead.  That margin forced the Badgers to play from behind the entire second half.  They cut the lead to 14-12 with about three minutes left but Holyoke then turned back a potential game-tying two point conversion to earn the victory.
For Holyoke, the Dragons will look again to keep the Badgers running game in check this week.  Limon averages 254 yards per game on the ground and feature talented running backs Kory Tacha (1,291) and Jeremiah Leeper (926) who have combined for over 2,200 yards and 31 touchdowns.  In game one, Limon picked up just 130 yards including 76 from Leeper and a similar defensive effort could lead them to the state championship game.  Limon though ran for 377 yards in last week’s win over Wray with Leeper (186) and Tacha (176) both picking up more than 170 yards.  Each also scored three touchdowns.
The Dragons defense has been very good the entire year, allowing just 91 points through 11 games.  With a combined 236 tackles, Mikey Ramos (130) and Hunter Bergstrom (106) are the defensive leaders.  The group has recorded 24 sacks with 23 forced turnovers.  Luis Chafino has five interceptions and Seth Watson four.
Those two are also responsible for catching the ball on offense as Watson has 30 receptions and Chafino 29.  Three others are in double figures.  Sprague needs just three yards to move past 2,000 yards passing for the season.  He has 17 touchdowns but also 10 interceptions.  Mosenteen, with 897 yards, paces the running game.
In addition to Tacha and Leeper, Trey Hines tops Limon with 843 yards passing and 10 TD’s.  Kyle Bandy, with 122 tackles, is the defensive leader with Brayden Tacha next with 78.  Logan Marx has 64.  The Badgers have forced 20 turnovers and picked up 44 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

• History:  The Dragons and Badgers have met four times previously in the playoffs but the most recent pairing came in 2007.  Limon is 3-1 in the series with wins in the last two.  They beat Holyoke 28-21 in 2007 and 61-0 in 2004.  Limon’s third win came in 1981 (10-7).  Holyoke grabbed their lone playoff victory over Limon in 1983 (20-10).  Limon is 26-8 all-time in semifinal games with their latest win coming last season over Colorado Springs Christian (36-0).  They have 18 state championships; hte most in Colorado history.  Holyoke is making their first semifinal appearance since 1998 when they lost to West Grand 28-6.  Their last semifinal win came the year before over Monte Vista 34-6.  Holyoke has two state titles (1995 and 1982).  They are 3-5 all-time in semifinal contests.

 
NOTE:  Looking to the state championship game next week, Strasburg will host if they get by Centauri.  If Centauri wins that game, then the winner between Limon-Holyoke will be at home for the state finals.