The regular season is drawing to a close. There will be a lot of similar sites around the state this week as seniors are honored and playoff implications are felt.

On top of the several games happening that will have implications for Class 2A league championships, there are also a few games that just have implications on who might be in or out of the playoffs.

In this week’s preview, we touch on league championship outcomes as well as games that will simply help shape the 2A playoff brackets.

  • Kent Denver at Elizabeth
  • Northfield at D’Evelyn
  • Severance at The Academy
  • Alamosa at Lamar
  • Delta at Rifle

The true marquee matchup this week is the Colorado League championship game between Kent Denver and Elizabeth. Each team comes in with two regular season losses, but no losses to conference opponents meaning something has to give. It should be a great game on paper as the teams have similar offensive and defensive outputs against league opponents. Elizabeth has been slightly better on offense, but both teams have allowed fewer than seven points on defense.

The Cardinals rely on a two-man rushing attack as Jace Perez and Cooper Connelley have each rushed for over 500 yards. Connelley leads the team with 10 rushing touchdowns while Perez has eight. Perez is also the team leader in interceptions with three. Connelley has two of his own and the Cardinals altogether have picked off 11 passes this year.

Kent Denver has played well this year but stumbled against teams currently sitting inside top 16 of the 2A RPI. The Sun Devils will try to limit Elizabeth’s ability to intercept passes as Michael Redmond has attempted just 74 passes all season. Like the Cardinals, Kent’s success comes from the ground game as Finn Cooper has 999 rushing yards on the year and should break the 1,000-yard mark this week. Should Kent gain the lead and force the Cardinals to take to the air, there is a formidable pass-rush that could come into play. The Sun Devils have 24 sacks this year with Nickolas Drexler-Bruce leading the way with five of them.

Northfield has already beaten Faith Christian and won the Flatirons title, but the Nighthawks still have plenty to play for. Sitting at No. 14 in RPI, they need a win and maybe some help to climb up a little bit in order to avoid a first-round matchup with a team looking like it could run away with a state title. Instead of worrying about others, Northfield will just control what they can control in their regular season finale against D’Evelyn.

They’ll want to rely on their playmakers such as Troy Motley who showed great athletic flashes early in the season. He ran for 140 yards and a touchdown in a 24-7 win over Englewood on Sept. 24 and another game like that could help the Nighthawks finish the league slate unbeaten.

At No. 26 in the RPI, D’Evelyn’s playoff hopes have vanished, but that won’t stop the Jaguars from competing this week and potentially making life more difficult for Northfield. Quarterback Austin Bushlack flashed a lot of potential last week as he threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns as the Jags beat Arvada 26-14. That game got over the 1,000-yard passing mark for the year. His favorite target has been Mohale Mitchell who has caught 19 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns.

The Patriot West League has been a wrecking crew all year. At one point, four of the five teams were ranked in the CHSAANow.com coaches poll and all four are in a position to advance to the postseason. This week’s focus is actually near the bottom of the league standings as The Academy is looking to get its second conference win of the season and better its chances of making the state tournament. The Wildcats host Severance and need to bounce back from a tough loss to Resurrection Christian last week.

Isaiah Eliot was once again steady on the ground and through the air, but keeping up with the Cougars has proven to be a tough task for any 2A team. Eliot rushed for 101 yards and completed 17 passes for 178 yards. Ben Merilatt caught six of those passes for 57 yards while Sean Smith caught the lone passing touchdown.  The Wildcats are No. 16 in RPI and a win will go a long way in clinching a playoff berth. Luckily for them, no league champions are currently sitting outside of the top 16.

Severance is on a two-game losing streak thanks to playing Resurrection Christian and Eaton in back-to-back weeks. The Silver Knights battled against the Cougars but got shutout by the defending state champions. They are No. 5 in the RPI and are a near lock for a playoff berth but want to get back to winning prior to starting its postseason run. In order to do that, they’ll have to find balance with their offense once again. Jake Shorb led the rushing attack against the Reds, but Nolan Hertzke couldn’t get anything going through the air which was not ideal when Severance was down 14-0 at halftime. He threw for just 87 yards and completed 38 percent of his passes.

Two clubs that will watch the outcome between Severance-Academy are Woodland Park and La Junta.  Academy is 16th in RPI with Woodland Park and La Junta hot on their heels in the next two spots.  The Panthers and Tigers collide this week so it’s almost an elimination game with the winner having a chance to move past Academy and nab one of the last playoff berths.

Bayfield has wrapped up the Southwest league title and will likely move to 7-1 with a win over Pagosa Springs this week. But there is still some intrigue within the league in this week’s set of games. Alamosa sits at No. 9 in the RPI, just one spot away from possibly hosting a first-round game. The Mean Moose head to Lamar and although Lamar’s record may not help the RPI, a win is needed if Alamosa has any hopes of staying at home next week.

Quarterback Dawson Honeycutt has been sold the last two weeks, averaging 230 passing yards per game. He has thrown six touchdowns to three interceptions and has kept the Mean Moose offense effective with Kasey Jones out for the last two weeks. The defense has been solid for the majority of the year as the team has totaled 34 tackles for loss and 19 sacks. Hayden Shawcroft leads the sack brigade with five.

After reaching the 2A title game last year, Lamar isn’t quite what it was. The team has been on the bad end of some blowout losses and some competitive battles so it almost feels like it’s due for a big win. To get it, Lamar will have to keep scoring on both sides a minimum as points have been tough for it to come by this season. Cael Buxton has been an admirable freshman quarterback and should get better as his career progresses. He has thrown for 460 yards and five touchdowns this season.

Delta and Rifle represent an intriguing matchup if only because there is a lot on the line for the Panthers. They beat Moffat County 17-14 to win the West title last week, but the Bulldogs remain higher in the RPI. Should the playoffs start today, Delta could be the No. 4 seed as predicted earlier this week while Moffat Country would sit at No. 5. But those numbers are likely close meaning Delta has to treat this week as a must-win in order to keep the higher seed.

Freshman quarterback Ty Reed had his first real struggle of the season as he completed just 5-of-17 passes for 92 yards. He threw a touchdown pass to Damien Gallegos, but it was a win that he had to go out and earn which could help him when the playoffs begin next week.  They led 10-0 in the fourth quarter but then had to rally with a late drive to score the 17-14 decision.

Timothy Horn rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown against the Bulldogs and will have to be big focus for the offense this week and starting next week if the Panthers are to return to the 2A title game.

Rifle is out of the playoff picture but can play the spoiler in the same way D’Evelyn can, as mentioned earlier. The Bears have dropped three of their last four games but want to send the seniors off in style. Trey Caldwell was a big part of the Season C state title that Rifle won in the spring. He has rushed for 481 yards and passed for another 546 this year so he’ll look to finish his career with a strong outing. And even if he can’t make the playoffs, he can certainly make life just a bit more difficult for Delta as he rides off into the sunset.

The Tri-Peaks League title has been wrapped up by The Classical Academy but the Titans are going for an undefeated regular season as they head to Manitou Springs on Friday. Cade Palmer will look to cap his remarkable season as he has rushed for 1,098 yards and 17 touchdowns.