Loveland rides wave of turnovers to beat Doherty in 4A football playoffs

COLORADO SPRINGS – Winning the turnover battle is usually a key component in winning football games. So it’s no surprise that Loveland’s dominance started when they kept forcing the ball out of Doherty’s hands.

The Red Wolves forced five turnovers in the third quarter alone and rode that wave to a 45-14 win over the Spartans in the first round of the Class 4A football playoffs at Garry Berry Stadium.

“When you can do that to a team and they can’t get past the 50 on you, it makes the offense’s job really,” cornerback Jackson Gebhard said. “Especially if you can keep doing it over and over again.”

Gebhard and Cim Long were two of the players with interceptions in that third quarter, which felt like genuine heat check in defensive playmaking. That gave a little glimpse of what this Loveland team is capable of.

Considering the Red Wolves started the season 1-6, reaching the second round of postseason, which results in a game at No. 1 Dakota Ridge, is a testament to the resolve of the roster. All six losses on the season came to teams that reached their respective classification’s postseason bracket.

But it made Loveland ready for the challenge of playing in a win-or-go-home environment.

“We had the No. 1 strength of schedule in 4A this year,” Loveland coach Allan Jeffries said. “We’re battle tested. And maybe the record didn’t show it, but we what we were getting into and we knew it would pay dividends right now.”

The end result was a bit of a crazy turn of events. It was the Red Wolves (5-6 overall) who fumbled the ball away on their first possession resulting in a Leland Frescaz rushing touchdown. Loveland marched down the field to tie the game before Frescaz found Brody Noll for a long touchdown pass to give the Spartans (5-6) a 14-7 lead. But from there, the Spartans stalled on offense while the Red Wolves found their groove.

Ryder Eastin rushed for two touchdown to put the Wolves up 21-14 and then they rode the wave of turnovers to start the second half.

“I felt we were a little low on energy at the beginning of the game,” he said. “I thought if I scored a couple touchdowns at the beginning of the game, we could get up. That’s what happened.”

And the defense matched that energy in the second half.

Of the five forced turnovers, the Wolves scored 24 points. They forced one fumble and then picked off four passes. All four interceptions gave the Red Wolves the ball well inside Doherty territory which was how they were able to capitalize with the 24 points.

“It was great field placement for us and we tried to take advantage of it as much as possible.,” Eastin said.

Next week will be the third playoff meeting between Loveland and Dakota Ridge. The Red Wolves won the previous two games (2022 and 2020) and in both instances advanced to the state title game. In 2020, the Eagles were the No. 1 seed in the 4A playoffs.

And Loveland has even more history against high seeds. In 2015, the Red Wolves were the No. 13 seed and beat No. 1 Pine Creek in the state semifinals. This is far from a new challenge for Loveland.

“Funny things happen in the playoffs,” Jeffries said.

Forcing turnovers on five straight possession might just be the tip of the iceberg.