MONUMENT – Colin Torres ended his night the same way he started it. He was engulfed by him teammates after finding the ending for Broomfield in an emotional outing the Class 4A football quarterfinals.
His first touchdown knocked the Palmer Ridge Bears back on their heels. The second one knocked them out completely. With a 32-23 win at Don Breese Stadium, the Eagles are still flying in search of a second state championship in three years.
The Bears have gone into hibernation.
“This meant a lot,” Broomfield coach Robert O’Brien said. “Our season was ended on this exact field last year and it left a really sour taste in our mouth. Our senior class was a really big part of our team last year as juniors and to lose that game hurt. To come out here and play a phenomenal Palmer Ridge team, a phenomenal team, and get the W, we can’t ask for anything else.”
After holding Palmer Ridge to a three-and-out to start the game, the Eagles (11-1 overall) took the lead on their first offensive play of the game. Torres broke for a 44-yard touchdown run to strike first.
The Bears (10-2) responded with a longer drive, highlighted by a Rhett Armstrong deep strike to Carson Campbell for 41 yards. Jackson Mabe converted on a 1-yard score and with the PAT, the Bears took a 7-6 lead. But it was short-lived. Broomfield quarterback Darien Jackson connected on a deep strike of his own, finding Grisham Lemley for 56 yards.
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The Broomfield contingent thought Lemley got into the end zone, but he was marked down at the one, so a quick handoff to Torres made a 12-6 game and the Eagles never trailed again.
A one-play drive on their first possession and a big strike on the second tends to inject some confidence into a team. Broomfield scored two touchdowns in six total plays, which had them believing they could inflict their will all night.
“It gives me all the confidence in the world and it gives our line all the confidence in the world,” Jackson said. “Our line created the most beautiful hole I’ve ever seen and we scored the first time I snapped the ball. That’s amazing.”
Jackson there one touchdown pass on the night, finding Gio Toledo for a 16-yard score. The Bears tried clawing their way back into the game and maintained a one-score margin through the majority of play. An Armstrong field goal from 39 yards out (that would’ve been good from well over 50 yards) made it 12-10 and Mabe scored touchdowns that made it an 18-16 game in the third and then a 25-23 game in the fourth.
With 7:22 left on the game clock, any knucklehead in Southern Colorado knew the Eagles were going to utilize their ground attack to wrap up the win. But knowing it and stopping it are two different things. Torres ran for 62 yards in the fourth quarter alone, capped with a 21-yards touchdown that looked very similar to the touchdown he scored on the Eagles’ first offensive play of the game.
“It wasn’t about me,” Torres said. “It was about my line and how they execute. I was just worried about them executing. I just followed my boys and followed the hole and do what I do.”
And what he did was punch a ticket to the 4A semifinals. To get to a second 4A championship game in three years, the Eagles have to get through No. 1 Dakota Ridge. But they’re not ahead of that task.
“Go 1-0 each week,” O’Brien said.
It’s what has kept the Eagles flying all season long.
