Montrose scored 35 points in the first half as the top-seeded Indians rolled to a 56-19 victory over No. 17 Denver South.
Montrose dominated on the ground despite the absence of senior running back Austin Griffin. Ethan Hartmann did the bulk of the damage, rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries. Blake Griffin, Austin’s younger brother, added two scores of his own.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DAN MOHRMANN / SINGLE WING MEDIA
Elsewhere in the 4A bracket, Fruita Monument fell 50-26 to Erie. The Wildcats got four rushing touchdowns, two from Wyatt Sharpe, but the defense surrendered seven scores on the ground. Erie scored three of those in the third quarter on the back of two Fruita turnovers.
In the first round of 3A action, Palisade defeated Pueblo East 35-21. The seventh-seeded Bulldogs took off in the second half to break a 14-14 tie against the No. 10 Eagles. Palisade had only one passing attempt with four players combining on 62 carries. Rhett Ward had a pair of touchdowns, while Malakhi Espinosa, Phallen Salvati and Franklin Barks had one score each. Barks led the team with 113 yards.
In 2A, No. 4 Delta was upset by No. 12 University 28-14. The Bulldogs broke a 14-14 halftime tie with two touchdowns in the second half. They totaled 318 yards of offense, 186 through the air.
A pair of 1A teams from the Western Slope fell in the second round. No. 8 North Fork ran into top-seeded Limon and fell 46-19. Drayden Taylor scored twice on the ground for North Fork and Hunter Moreno connected with Blaine Peebles for an aerial score. Two of Limon’s three passing attempts went for touchdowns.
No. 6 Meeker pushed No. 3 Buena Vista to overtime, but the Demons emerged victorious 22-15. Running back Kelton Turner finished with 31 carries for 153 yards and quarterback Connor Blunt rushed for two scores. Turner finishes the season with 1,768 yards on 191 carries, good for 9.3 yards per carry. He also scored 23 touchdowns over 11 games.
In 8-man, No. 3 Vail Christian suffered its first loss of the season when it was upset by No. 11 Sanford 62-38.
VOLLEYBALL
Second-seeded Meeker battled all the way to the semifinals, but ultimately fell 3-0 to top-seeded Sedgwick County. After a first-round bye, the Cowboys defeated No. 7 Rye 3-1, then lost a five-set fight to No. 6 Wiggins. Meeker bounced back in the elimination bracket, sweeping No. 10 Limon, before falling in the final four. Emma Luce had 114 kills across the four victories.
No. 9 Palisade lost twice in the Class 3A state tournament, falling first to No. 8 Discovery Canyon, then No. 10 Holy Family, both 3-1. The Bulldogs ran into freshman Erika Sayer in the first match, who rained down 20 kills. In the second match, Palisade had stronger hitting, with Addie Ritterbush and Ella Yanovich notching 12 kills apiece.
BOYS SOCCER
Davis McNeil and Jacob Bernholtz both found the net in the second half as Crested Butte defeated Lotus School For Excellence 2-0 to win the 2A state championship. Brendan Hartigan and Rowan Featherman assisted on the goals, while the Titans’ defense allowed only two shots on goal.
Roaring Fork capped an incredible run as the No. 11 seed in the 3A bracket to win the state title with a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Jefferson Academy. The Rams also knocked off No. 2 Atlas Preparatory School 3-1 to reach the title game. In the championship match, the Rams squeaked in a goal with 46 seconds left in the first half to force a 1-1 tie. Ivy Ortiz slotted it through on a rebound to knot it up. In the second half, Josh Hernandez toed the ball past the far post to score the deciding goal.
In 4A, Battle Mountain fell 3-0 to Mullen in the semifinals.
