Semifinal weekend for the Class 5A, 4A and 3A football playoffs is often one of the most competitive weekends of the year. Each classification is down to four teams, with all of them trying to book a trip to CSU’s Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins next weekend.

Last week’s round of quarterfinals saw a defending champion (Broomfield) and two runners-up (Legend and Mead) fail to advance. Only Cherry Creek enters the weekend as a defending champion, and will have its hands full with a Valor Christian team that came away with a thrilling win over Legend on Saturday. Both Ralston Valley and Mountain Vista are trying to reach their first state championship game appearance in program history.

Montrose faces a tough foe in Palmer Ridge, hoping to get back to Canvas for the second straight season. The Red Hawks/Bears winner will see the winner of a big regular season rematch between Dakota Ridge and Heritage.

No matter who comes out of the semifinal games in 3A (Windsor vs. Holy Family and Pomona vs. Palisade), the teams will play for a title in Canvas Stadium for the first time. This is just the second year in which the 3A games have joined the 5A and 4A games on Championship Saturday.

That being said, there is a lot to look forward to this weekend.

Class 5A

No. 3 Mountain Vista (12-0) at No. 2 Ralston Valley (12-0), Nov. 29, 3 p.m.

Mountain Vista comes into this game riding plenty of momentum after muscling past Arvada West (36-21) in the quarterfinals.

The offensive hero for the Golden Eagles was junior Hudson Modrzewski ran in all five of MV’s touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter. This is Mountain Vista’s first appearance in the state football semifinals in school history.

Junior QB Marquise Reese has paced MV by throwing for 3,082 yards and 42 TDs. His favorite target has been Brooklyn Bailey who has caught 54 passes for 1,260 yards and 20 TDs.

Modrzewski has a team-best 530 yards rushing and 9 TDs.

Ralston Valley will try and keep its perfect record intact after speeding past Mullen 41-14 in the quarterfinals. This is the third time in four years Ralston Valley has advanced to the 5A semifinals.

Senior quarterback Zeke Andrews threw for two touchdowns and ran in two more, while junior Levi Rillos scored twice.

Andrews has thrown for 2,415 yards and 25 TDs. He has also run for 692 yards and 12 TDs. Senior Nico Benallo has caught 75 passes for 803 yards and 8 scores.

The winner of this match-up will meet the victor between perennial powerhouse Cherry Creek (12-0) and Valor Christian (10-2).

The 5A state championship game is at 5 p.m., Dec. 6 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Class 4A

No. 1 Dakota Ridge (12-0) at Heritage (9-3), Nov. 29, 1 p.m., at Jeffco Stadium

Senior Landon Kalsbeck set the tone with a pair of touchdowns in the first 10 minutes as the Eagles crushed Pueblo West 42-14 in the semifinals.

This is the second year in a row Dakota Ridge advanced to the state semifinals.

The Eagles offense is led by QB Kellen Behrendsen. The senior has thrown for 2,929 yards and 37 TDs and just two interceptions. The team’s WR1 is Nathan Rodriguez who has caught 56 passes for 1,030 yards and 11 TDs. He also has run for 353 yards and four scores.

The Dakota Ridge ground attack is fueled by Kalsbeck who has 759 yards and 12 TDs.

This is going to be an uphill battle for Heritage which advanced to the state semifinals for the first time in 16 years.

This also we be the second meeting this season between Dakota Ridge and Heritage. In the first meeting Dakota had its way coming away with a 49-21 win on Oct. 10.

Since that setback, Heritage has won five games in a row including two in the playoffs over Grand Junction (28-13) and Durango (45-36).

In the win over Durango, Heritage lit up the scoreboard in the second half scoring 35 points.

Heritage has had a solid ground attack this season rushing for 3,660 yards. The ground and pound approach is powered by senior Mo Thenell who has 1,970 yards and 25 touchdowns. The team’s top receiver is Hudson Call. The senior has caught 30 passes for 404 yards and two scores.

The winner of the Dakota Ridge-Heritage battle will move on to play the victor between No. 2 Montrose and No. 3 Palmer Ridge at 1:30 p.m., Dec. 6.

Class 3A

No. 3 Palisade (10-2) at No. 2 Pomona (11-1), Nov. 29, 10:30 a.m.

Palisade turned some heads a week ago by muscling past Roosevelt 21-14. This is the first time Palisade has advanced to the state semis since 2018.

Palisade is riding an eight-game winning streak. The Bulldogs have lost twice this season to top-ranked Montrose (37-20, Sept. 4) and Durango (17-6, Sept. 18).

Palisade’s Dylon Larsen, who threw a key halfback TD pass against Roosevelt, has rushed for a team-best 746 yards and eight TDs. Senior Nathan Umberger has caught 17 passes for 296 yards and four scores.

Pomona is coming off a dramatic 30-27 victory over No. 10 Lutheran 30-27 last week. Pomona’s lone loss this season was to 4A power Dakota Ridge (45-14, on Sept. 19).

Since that defeat Pomona has rattled off eight wins. The Panthers’ offense is stirred by junior QB Tucker Ingersol who has thrown for 1,730 yards and 25 TDs.

Luis Santama has 879 yards rushing and seven TDs for Pomona. Molina also has run for 441 yards and 10 scores.

The winner of this game will meet the winner between top-ranked Windsor and No. 5 Holy Family, at 10 a.m., Dec. 6 at CSU-Fort Collins.