LAKEWOOD – For The Classical Academy, revenge is a dish best served under sunshine in Jefferson County.
For a lot of the players on TCA’s flag football team, the sting of last year’s Class 4A state title game loss to Mountain View was still fresh.
And because of that, it was crucial that the Titans inflicted some sting of their own as they beat the Mountain Lions 34-0 to win the first flag football title in school history.
“This was the same team we played [last year] so there was so much more motivation,” Titans quarterback Kelsey Peterson said. “It fueled us and we had the energy and the fight to come in today and win this thing.”
Peterson found Reagan Harter on the first drive of the game to get the Titans (16-3 overall) on the board. Then Brooklyn Blair took the game over. She snagged a pick-6 off Keira Knowles, had a long punt return to setup the Titans’ third score of the game and then recorded two more interceptions along the way.
Big-time players make big-time plays and Blair’s big-time day made this game feel over in the early goings.
“We said we were going to be the better team this year and that’s just how we came into it,” Blair said. “We all said that we wanted to play this one today and I think we came ready to play.”
It was nearly a perfect reversal of fortunes from last year to this year. The Mountain Lions won last year’s inaugural 4A flag football title game 26-0 over TCA. The Titans were held to 182 yards of offense and Gwynn Marks had a pick-6 to solidify the shutout for Mountain View.
Blair’s role may have been more impactful in 2025. Just as it felt like Mountain View was building momentum on a drive, she picked off Knowles, giving the ball back to Peterson and the offense.
“It wasn’t just Brooklyn, our whole defense played so well today,” Peterson said. “They got the shutout. As a quarterback, it’s nice knowing I have a defense behind me that can step up and get an interception and get me the ball back.”
TCA and Mountain View played earlier in the season and it was TCA getting the 39-32 triple-overtime win, which only helped build the anticipation of Saturday’s championship rematch.
But TCA had no taste for another close game. The sting of last year’s title fueled a title game performance that will be talked about in the school’s hallways for years.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a year now,” Peterson said. “I loved this team. We have the fight in us and we wanted to it for each other and do it for our seniors.”
