Class 2A Quarterfinal Breakdown
#1 La Junta at #9 D’Evelyn
D’Evelyn opened up their playoff run with a close 27 to 20 victory over Basalt. That victory is their first playoff victory in 2A and are hoping to keep that up. They have a very tough match this week against La Junta. D’Evelyn offensively was explosive racking up 471 yards of total offense. Their passing attack was led by Chad Dines who went 13 to 19 for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns. Their rushing attack was led by Kyle Klataske who ran for 106 yards on 17 carries. Defensively they were somewhat torched through the air. They gave up 266 yards of passing and 0 INT’s. They did slow down Basalts rushing attack and only gave up 145 yards rushing and 0 touchdowns. D’Evelyn leading tackler was Ben Lucas who had 13 total tackles. On Special teams D’Evelyn was impressive running back a punt for a touchdown and that was the biggest deciding factor in the game. D’Evelyn must improve their defense this week because I don’t think they will be able to drop over 300 yards of offense against a top defense.
La Junta opened up their playoff run with a monster win. They blanked University and won 42 to 0. That shutout is La Junta 5th shutout this year and 9th game this year holding an opponent to under 10 points. Neither team uploaded stats to the game. All I know is that La Junta on defense is the best in 2A and are now only giving up 4.7 ppg. Their defense is what is winning them games and they will need it to win this week and the state championship.
This week’s game should be a very interesting matchup. D’Evelyn likes to spread the defense out and pass and run out of shotgun. D’Evelyn is very balanced on offense so it will be interesting to see how La Junta defense will react to that. La Junta will bring their power rushing attack against D’Evelyn defense. La Junta on offense will not wow you but it’s very effective for their game plan. These two teams have one common opponent as well. They both played Classical Academy. D’Evelyn lost to TCA 42 to 14 and La Junta beat TCA 24 to 21 on a last second touchdown. La Junta is the favorite in the game and I expect their defense to stand very tall. I am going with La Junta to win here by 21.
#5 Bayfield at #4 Sterling
Bayfield opened up their title defense in a strong way. Bayfield grabbed a huge shutout victory over Florence. Florence had not been shutout this year and against the top teams in the Tri Peaks like TCA who they scored 26 on. Bayfield had a great strategy on defense and executed it great. Defensively they had 9 sacks and forced 2 INT’s. They also had a 91 total tackles as a team. Offensively Bayfield had their rushing attack going strong. They ran for a total of 286 yards and were led By David Hawkins who ran for 116 yards on 13 carries. Throwing the ball they struggled a bit throwing 1 INT but also threw for 2 TD and 118 yards. Bayfield carved up a really good defense as well Florence held La Junta to 28 points. Bayfield must now use that momentum to get ready for this week’s opponent.
Sterling opened up their playoff run by having a huge second half and pulling away from their opponent. Sterling beat Manitou Springs 55 to 22. Offensively Sterling struggled to throw the ball throwing 2 INT’s and only throwing for 73 yards. Running the ball though Sterling was very successful. Sterling ran for a whopping 390 yards and 4 touchdowns. Sterling was led by Austin Burkholder who had a career day rushing for 291 yards on 35 carries and 4 touchdowns. Defensively Sterling forced 3 INT’s and also had 5 sacks forcing Manitou Springs to struggle in the second half. Sterling now get another home game but faceoff against the defending state champions.
On Paper these two teams offensively are nearly equal they both score about the same which is 30 ppg. Both teams also rely on their rushing attack to open their passing attack. Both teams rush for nearly the same at 200 ypg. The biggest difference between these teams is their defense. Sterling on defense can struggle sometimes. They are allowing 19 ppg which is about the average in 2A. Bayfield on the other hand sports a top 3 defense which allows only 7.1 ppg. Bayfield showed that off last week when they shutout Florence. The keys to this game will be who can control the line of scrimmage. Both teams will want to run the ball but I am giving the edge on rushing to Bayfield but giving Sterling the slight edge on passing. This will be a great test for both teams in terms of defense. I don’t think Sterling has seen a defense this good yet this year so this will test them offensively. I think that will be the big determining factor. I am going with Bayfield to win this game by 14 using their defense to power them to it.
#6 Kent Denver at #3 Classical Academy
Kent Denver in their opening round game was in a tight one at half time they were leading 3 to 7 over Weld Central. In the second half Kent Denver came out with some fire and used a 14 point fourth quarter to pull away and win 27 to 6. Defensively Kent Denver came to play. They limited Weld Central to 105 yards rushing and 90 yards passing. They also caused 3 INT’s and that is what proved to be the biggest determining factor in this game. Kent Denver also had 2 sacks, 9 tackles for loss and 95 total tackles as a team so defensively Kent Denver came to play. Offensively Kent Denver struggled as well. They ran for 169 yards and threw for 106 yards. Their defense did what was needed to help grab the win. Offensively Kent Denver was led by Charles McKissick who ran for 93 yards and a touchdown. Kent Denver must quickly figure out their offensive struggles and get ready for a tough game against Classical Academy.
The Classical Academy started their first 2A title run with a tight contested game against a pesky Alamosa team. TCA was winning 20 to 7 at halftime and finished with a 33 to 14 victory. Offensively they were slowed down a bit. They ran for 213 yards and threw for 129 yards. Offensively their main weapons Austin Weingart ran for 71 yards and 1 touchdown and Cade Bethany threw for 129 yards. Defensively TCA held a very strong rushing team to only 14 points. TCA was on the field a lot in the game losing the time of possession battle 28 minutes to 19 minutes. TCA though was playing a heavy rushing team and that was their main strategy early on. TCA offensively must continue to balance their attack and will have another defense struggle this week against Kent Denver.
Both these teams have played tough schedules this year and both played against the #1 team La Junta. Both teams also lost to La Junta. Kent Denver lost 35 to 6 and TCA lost 24 to 21. Just looking at scores it seems somewhat lopsided but the game is not played on paper. Kent Denver must bring their defense they had last week to this week’s game. They have the tough task of stopping one of the better offenses in 2A. Also Kent Denver must get their rushing game going to help keep TCA offense off the field. Classical Academy must be able to stop the run this week and make Kent Denver young QB beat them. TCA also on offense must take care of the ball and not let the opportunist Kent Denver win them the game. Both teams have some good momentum heading into this game and should be a good one. I am going with TCA in the victory. I think TCA is too good on offense to be slowed down like Weld Central was. I don’t think Kent Denver offense is good enough against a good defense. I am going with TCA to win by 14.
#2 Resurrection Christian at #10 Delta
Delta opened up their playoff with an huge upset victory over Faith Christian in a defensive struggle. They beat Faith Christian 14 to 7 and their defense stood tall for them in the 4th quarter to preserve the lead. Defensively they forced 2 turnovers and 3 sacks which made the biggest difference in the game. Offensively Delta was very dominate rushing the ball but had a hard time punching the ball into the end zone. Delta ran for 311 yards but only 1 touchdown. The other touchdown came through the air. They threw for 113 yards and 1 touchdown. Their rushing attack was a dual attack Damon Jensen ran for 120 yards and Tristan Brown ran for 130 yards. Delta must focus this week on trying to capitalize on scoring when in the red zone and not get stopped. They must figure that out this week while preparing for Resurrection Christian.
Resurrection Christian is coming off a very tough first game against their rival. Resurrection Christian at half time was only winning 17 to 14 and they knew they were in for a very tough second half. In the second half Resurrection Christian scored the only third quarter points and that was the biggest difference and they finished the game off 30 to 20. Resurrection Christian faced a much tougher test than most top seeds but will benefit from this game. Resurrection Christian on offense struggled to run the ball only rushing for 54 yards. What held Resurrection Christian win this game was their passing attack. Res Christian threw for 320 yards but also threw 2 INT’s which held Platte Valley stay in this game. Brin Hayden threw for 293 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 INT’s. Res Christian must figure out their struggles rushing the ball as they are facing another squad who excels at stopping the run.
Both these teams have played against two common opponents. Both teams played Faith Christian and Moffat County. Delta beat Faith Christian 14 to 7 and Moffat County 50 to 13. Resurrection Christian beat Faith Christian 27 to 24 and Moffat County 42 to 0. I think both teams are in for another very close game this week as well. Resurrection Christian cannot hope to run for 52 yards and have 2 turnovers and win again. They must run the ball more effective this week or could be in trouble of being upset. Delta must be able to score. They cannot run for over 300 yards and only score 14 points. They will need to score over 24 point to pull the upset this week. This is going to be the best game of the weekend. I am going to go with a team that can run the ball here. I am picking Delta in the upset. I don’t think Resurrection Christian can run the ball against top defense and could see them being slowed enough again. I think Delta will keep possession of the ball and pull the upset. I am going Delta to upset Resurrection Christian by 3.
MileHigh Prep Report 