With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, each Class 2A football game has become very important in the conference and postseason landscape. Several teams are undefeated in league play and this week will help teams either stay within arm’s length of a conference title or add some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack.

FEATURE PHOTO BY MARK PASSAMANECK

Across most leagues, there are matchups that will provide implications in how the playoff picture will be mapped out in the coming weeks.

  • D’Evelyn at Faith Christian
  • Brush at Sterling
  • Resurrection Christian at Severance
  • Alamosa at Montezuma-Cortez
  • Woodland Park at The Classical Academy
  • Basalt at Delta

Both D’Evelyn and Faith Christian got their first conference wins of the season and did so in dominant fashion. The Jaguars are riding high on momentum after putting together their best scoring performance of the season. Austin Bushlack has been a steady hand at quarterback, averaging 13.7 yards per completion. The win/loss record is a bit deceiving considering that they’ve played some tough teams in Severance and Kent Denver as well as Thomas Jefferson.

The season has been a bit of feast or famine for the Eagles. Their two wins have come by a combined score of 83-0 and they’ve scored a combined 17 points in their four losses. Noah Sederwall has thrown for 599 yards and three touchdowns but has been picked off four times. He threw for 128 yards and one touchdown in last week’s win over Middle Park. The game was highlighted by Cody Connor’s three rushing touchdowns. If they can find that kind of offensive rhythm this week, they could move to 2-1 in league play and stay within a game of Northfield.

UPDATE:  STERLING VS BRUSH HAS BEEN CANCELLED – After losing to Platte Valley last week, Sterling is in desperation mode in staying in the hunt for the Patriot East title. The Tigers have struggled on the offensive side of the ball, scoring fewer than nine points per game. In order to compete with Brush, they may have to rely on the defensive side of the ball where Radek McCracken and Trevor Berg were tied for a team-high 21 tackles through four games.

Losses to Fort Morgan and Severance haven’t slowed down the Beetdiggers one bit. In their four wins, they have scored no fewer than 41 points and scored a season-high 61 in last week’s win over Valley. Alejandro Maltos-Garcia threw for 119 yards and two touchdowns in that win while Brush rushed for 338 yards as a team. Ty Griffith led the way with 86 yards, and he also scored a touchdown. If Brush can move to 3-0 in the league standings and Valley can beat Weld Central, Brush could effectively wrap up a league championship.

A close loss to Eaton last week has Resurrection Christian playing catchup when contending for a Patriot West championship. In order to stay in the hunt, this week is a must-win for the Cougars. To get that win, they’ll have to be stay as productive as they were in running the ball, but they have to find the endzone more. For amassing 204 rushing yards, the team has to score more than one touchdown, especially if it’s going to beat a team like Severance. Cade Dunlap led the team with 90 yards and Eddie Lemos ran for 77 and had their only touchdown. The six points scored was the lowest scoring output for Rez since Week 1 of the 2019 season when they scored seven points in a loss to Sterling.

Severance’s 40-0 win last week was its second shutout of the season. The Silver Knights continue to look sound as Jake Shorb rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Berthoud. The defense looked equally as dominant as they picked off four passes and added another two more turnovers as Parker Gazdik and Dom Butts recovered fumbles. Severance has answered every challenge presented to them this season and this week will be its biggest one yet.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY VIBRANT VALLEY PHOTOGRAPHY

Montezuma-Cortez is now riding a two-game winning streak and has a league win under its belt after topping Pagosa Springs. The Panthers are the only other undefeated team besides Bayfield in the Southwest League. A win over Alamosa would keep them in the hunt for an automatic playoff berth. They’ll lean more on their defense to complete that task as the Panthers have given up just 18 points in fewer in each of their wins this season.

The Mean Moose dropped their first league game of the year last week in a 28-0 loss to Bayfield. They totaled just 62 yards of total offense which was a far cry from their Southwest League win over Pagosa Springs where Kasey Jones threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns. Alamosa’s best chance to remain in the league championship picture is to get a win over the Panthers and hope that Bayfield stumbles a bit in the coming weeks.

After starting the season 0-2, Woodland Park has rattled off three straight wins and looks to be the only team in the Tri-Peaks that might be able to hang with TCA. That challenge will present itself this week as the Panthers head to northern Colorado Springs for what could be a league title game. Woodland Park will have to keep the Titans offense off the field and it has the players that can do that. Andrew Harper ran for 114 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s win over Salida while Aiden Hernandez added 92 of his own.

If they can control the time of possession, they can limit what Cade Palmer is capable of doing for TCA. He’s averaging 144 rushing yards per game and went for 178 in last week’s win over Lamar. The Titans built a fast lead and were able to get aggressive on defense which resulted in them totaling seven sacks. If the Titans can start quick and gain an early lead, it could force the Panthers to throw the ball and play right into that aggressive pass rush.

The 2A West is showing to be one of the best races throughout the state. Basalt has already suffered a loss to Moffat County but can get itself right back in the mix with a win over Delta this week. The Longhorns had a bye week to correct some mistakes and hopefully not get bogged down on offense as was the case against the Bulldogs. Gavin Webb led the rushing attack with 65 yards and the team finished with 122 rushing yards as a whole. That’s more than 50 yards shy of their season average which hurt all the more considering they were held to half their average passing yards per game.

Delta can move to 3-0 in league play with a win which would setup a huge showdown with Moffat County next week. The Panthers have been one of the top defensive teams in the state with 13 team sacks, six of which belong to Easton Baier. They also have 13 interceptions, three of which belong to Rylan Bynum. Offensive, it’s important for Delta to get ahead early and let the running game take some of the pressure off freshman quarterback Ty Reed.