The semifinal matchups in Class 4A football are very good this week as unbeatens Montrose and Erie take their combined 24-0 record into one pairing with traditional powers Pine Creek and Chatfield matching up in the bottom half of the bracket. Winners advance to the state championship game a week from Saturday at Empower Field in Denver.
Top seeded Montrose will likely be the most fresh team on the field this weekend. Coaches can always find a miscue here and there but the Indians played a nearly flawless first half in building up a commanding 42-0 halftime lead over Fountain Fort Carson. Starters did not see the field during the second half which went by quickly with the running clock. The final ended up 42-14.
Complete stats from the win are not posted to MaxPreps but Josue Perez of the Montrose Press newspaper provided some information on the win. Ethan Hartman ran the ball just nine times but totaled 130 yards with two scores. He also scored a third touchdown on a reception. Gabe Miller added 35 yards rushing on his three carries.
It was the second straight offensive explosion to start a game for Montrose. In their 56-19 opening round win over Denver South, the Indians jumped to a 35-0 advantage midway through the second quarter. They’ve totaled 104 points in the postseason thus far and have outscored opponents 499-164 overall.
Despite that lopsided margin, Montrose has been pushed several times this year. Of their 12 wins, three have come by single digits; they beat Fruita Monument by four points, Ponderosa by five and Palmer Ridge by seven.
Conversely, Erie had not played a game decided by less than 18 points this year before last week’s slugfest with Palmer Ridge (28-18). The Tigers led 21-10 after three quarter but were pushed to the end as the Bears cut the lead to 21-18 with seven minutes left. Erie though finished off the game with a strong drive that culminated with a short touchdown run by QB Blake Barnett.
Defensively, the Tigers surrendered 158 yards rushing and will be very happy if they limit Montrose to a similar number. Erie also met another run dominated offense from the Western Slope to open the playoffs and gave up 266 yards rushing in a 50-26 victory.
Erie has not posted stats to MaxPreps in the playoffs but during the regular season, but Ryan McConnell (51 tackles) and CJ Reeves (45) were the defensive leaders. The defense forced 25 turnovers and recorded 40 tackles for loss and 30 sacks.
Offensively, Barnett is of course the key after combining for nearly 25-hundred yards of offense is directing the Tigers to a 10-0 regular season.
Erie is in the playoffs for the first time as a 4A school. They last reached a state championship game in 2018 in Class 3A where they fell to Palmer Ridge in the finals. They also made a Final Four visit in 2018 where they lost to Pueblo East 35-17.
Montrose is in the semifinals for the second time in four years but has not played for the championship since falling to Pine Creek in 2013. They beat Pueblo South 39-38 in the semifinals that year. They also came up short to Loveland (42-0) in a 2018 semifinal.
Chatfield, for the second straight week, faces a team they also battled in the regular season and they’re hoping for the same result. The Chargers lost to Dakota Ridge 29-28 in the regular season but stunned the Eagles 42-31 last week. The Chargers at one point trailed 24-7 but scored 35 second half points to advance. Now Chatfield has a rematch with Pine Creek after falling to them 28-22 in regular season action.
The Chargers generated 379 yards rushing against Dakota Ridge last week with Jake Marschall getting 182 with three scores. The offense also got a big boost from Brock Narva. The freshman, who has had several big plays throughout the year, scored a very important touchdown on a 53 yard run and finished with 122 yards for the game. Narva also produced 124 return yards on special teams.
On defense, the Chargers settled in during the second half to slow down the Dakota Ridge attack. Caden Logan led the team with 16 tackles and Cade Thomas added 11.
Now the Chargers look to turn around the regular season decision to Pine Creek. That game was tied 14-14 at halftime but the Eagles got the next two scores including a TD pass from Josiah Roy to Alex Nelson; giving the Eagles an insurmountable 28-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Roy finished with 178 yards rushing and 91 passing as the Eagles finished with over 400 yards of offense. Chatfield mustered just 125 yards rushing with Marschall limited to 19. Narva finished with 65 and a touchdown and also caught four passes for 83 yards and another score.
Roy is the biggest question mark for Pine Creek this week. The Eagles senior leader exited the quarterfinal win over Loveland last week (10-7) due to injury and did not return. That makes his status questionable for the semifinals on Saturday. If he cannot play, it’s a major loss as Roy has generated over 24-hundred yards of offense with a combined 33 touchdowns this season. Freshman Cameron Coopper will get the start if Roy is not in uniform and he rushed for 25 yards and completed one of two passes for 13 yards in the come from behind win over Loveland last week.
With Roy to the sidelines last week, the Pine Creek offense turned to Zion Hill and he responded with 165 yards on 31 carries and scored the team’s lone touchdown. He also ran for 133 yards and a score in the regular season win over Chatfield.
Another key for Pine Creek this week will be their defensive effort. That group gave up an early score to Loveland last week but then held the defending champions off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Brett Alvey had 19 tackles and Landon Neel had 10. The group also recorded 10 tackles for loss which kept Loveland off schedule with their play calling for most of the game.
Chatfield and Pine Creek have met just once before in the playoffs with the Eagles scoring a 28-14 win in the 2016 semifinals. That’s the last Final Four appearance for Chatfield which has a lone state championship back in 2001. Pine Creek won the last of their four state championships in 2019 and is 6-2 all-time in the semifinals. All eight trips have been earned since 2011.
