The Colorado high school football season is down to its final three weekends. With eight teams left in each of the state’s three largest classifications, here’s a preview of what to look for:
Class 5A
No. 8 Fairview (10-1) at No. 1 Cherry Creek (11-0), 1:30 p.m. Saturday: Fairview pulled off the stunner of the year last November, upsetting No. 2 seed Mountain Vista in Highlands Ranch. Take down Creek, and the Knights will have the stunner of the decade. The defending 5A champion Bruins haven’t just been dominant; they’ve shut out five of the last seven teams they’ve faced. The Fairview offense is as explosive as any. But lighting up the scoreboard inside Stutler Bowl is a difficult proposition.
No. 5 Valor Christian (9-2) at No. 4 Legend (10-1), 1 p.m. Saturday: Arguably the two best quarterbacks in the state will meet when Valor Christian sophomore Titus Huard (1,723 total yards, 19 TDs) and the Eagles take on Legend senior D.J. Bordeaux (2,524, 37) and the Titans inside EchoPark Stadium. These two teams met in a preseason scrimmage back in August. Now they get some real stakes in these programs’ fourth playoff confrontation since 2020. Valor holds a 2-1 edge, but Legend won the last meeting in 2023.
No. 10 Mullen (8-4) at No. 2 Ralston Valley (11-0), 3 p.m. Saturday: The battle of the Mustangs will be a reprise of a Week 3 meeting that Ralston Valley won, 20-7, at De La Salle Stadium. Ralston Valley needed a fourth-quarter TD to pull away in that one and hasn’t played a game that close since. Now the Mustangs get a Mullen team that’s won seven in a row, including a 21-18 upset of Pine Creek last week. RV senior QB Zeke Andrews looked good in his return from a late-season injury last week vs. Columbine. A rock-solid Mullen defense awaits.
No. 6 Arvada West (10-1) at No. 3 Mountain Vista (11-0), 1 p.m. Saturday: No matter who wins at Halftime Help Stadium, someone is shattering a glass ceiling. Vista is back in the 5A quarterfinals for the third straight year, but has yet to advance to the semifinals. A-West is in the quarterfinals for the first time in 16 years and is looking for its first semifinal bid in 20 years. The Golden Eagles slogged to a 14-0 win over Eaglecrest last week in their lowest scoring game of the fall. That might not cut it vs. an A-West team averaging 38.3 points per game.
Class 4A
No. 8 Pueblo West (8-3) at No. 1 Dakota Ridge (11-0), 7 p.m. Friday: Dakota Ridge is still waiting to play an opponent that will make it sweat out a fourth-quarter lead. Could that be Pueblo West? The defense has kept the Cyclones in games all season. But they haven’t faced an offense quite like the Eagles. Between the efficiency of senior QB Kellen Behrendsen (2,672 yards, 81.2% passing), explosion of senior WR Nathan Rodriguez (912 receiving yards), and power of senior RB Landon Kalsbeck, the Eagles have it all.
No. 5 Heritage (8-3) at No. 4 Durango (9-2), noon Saturday: The Demons get a shot at revenge with Heritage heading to the Western Slope for the second straight fall. The Eagles offense overwhelmed Durango in a 42-20 upset in last year’s Round of 16, and some of those same weapons are back. That includes senior RB Mo Thennel, who’s on a serious heater with 1,126 yards and 15 TDs rushing in his last six games. This will be a tough test for a Durango defense that’s passed most of them this fall.
No. 7 Monarch (9-2) at No. 2 Montrose (11-0), 1 p.m. Saturday: Monarch has woken up the echoes out in Louisville with its first 4A quarterfinal trip since 2013. Now the junior tandem of QB Nico Rizzello and RB Malakhi Payne leads the Coyotes across the mountains to take on Montrose — a program that’s bulldozed its way to the 4A semifinals three times in four years. Only one team (Mesa Ridge) has scored more than eight points on the Red Hawks since mid-September. Can the Coyotes trade haymakers in the trenches?
No. 6 Broomfield (9-2) at No. 3 Palmer Ridge (11-0), 1 p.m. Saturday: After surviving an upset scare last week with a 19-16 win over Mesa Ridge, the unbeaten Bears welcome the defending 4A champions fresh off a 49-3 shellacking of Vista Ridge. Broomfield forced five turnovers in that win and has given up just 46 points total over the last six weeks. Are the Eagles peaking at the right time? That answer will come one way or another against a Palmer Ridge team averaging 42.5 points per game.
Class 3A
No. 9 Pueblo South (9-2) at No. 1 Windsor (11-0), 1 p.m. Saturday: Pueblo South has caught fire at the right time, with its high-octane offense averaging 51.5 points per game over a six-game win streak that was capped by a 50-42 come-from-behind victory at Conifer last week. Prolific senior QB Caeden Herrera left that game in the third quarter, however. And now the Colts must face a Windsor defense that’s allowed 51 total points and has 31 takeaways over 11 games. It’s strength vs. strength in Windsor.
No. 5 Holy Family (10-1) at No. 4 Mead (9-2), 1 p.m. Saturday: In one of the more head-scratching CHSAA seeding index outcomes, a Holy Family team that beat Mead 27-21 in Week 6 inside the Mavericks’ own stadium must trek back to Longmont for a rematch. The Tigers’ win jump-started a seven-game win streak that culminated with last week’s wild comeback victory over Thompson Valley that turned on a pair of Kaden Hopkin TD passes. Mead, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more dominant in a 52-10 dismantling of Lewis-Palmer. Another classic awaits.
No. 10 Lutheran (8-3) at No. 2 Pomona (10-1), 11:30 a.m. Saturday: The first game of a NAAC Stadium playoff doubleheader features a Pomona team that’s unbeaten against 3A competition this fall, hosting a Lutheran team fresh off a 31-15 road win at No. 7 Eagle Valley. The Lions controlled that game from the start, and have been nearly unbeatable since opening the season 1-2 — their lone blemish a 45-42 setback at Holy Family. But the level of resistance goes up a notch against the Panthers, who have 61 tackles for loss this season.
No. 6 Roosevelt (8-3) at No. 3 Palisade (9-2), 1 p.m. Saturday: A week after rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit to get past Timnath, Palisade welcomes a Roosevelt team that’s as battle-tested as they come. The Rough Riders’ three losses are against three of the top four seeds in the bracket, and they just dispatched Pueblo County with relative ease, 47-0, in their playoff opener. Few teams grind defenses into submission quite like Palisade (313.2 rush yards/game). A Roosevelt defense that’s posted back-to-back shutouts will have its hands full.
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