Class 1A Football State Championship Breakdown

Class 1A Football State Championship Breakdown

Class 1A comes down to a regular season rematch and Last years State title rematch.  Strasburg and Limon are familiar foes, and this should be a great battle between two of the top teams in the state.

#1 Strasburg vs #3 Limon

Strasburg moved into the state championship with a 14 to 7 victory over Centauri.  This was the third straight year of meeting up with Centauri in the playoffs and Strasburg knew this would be a tough game.  The first quarter started with both teams having some success but both where stopped once crossing the 50.  Both defenses came to play early on.  To start the second quarter Strasburg would get on the board with 8 minutes left to take the 7 to 0 lead.  Strasburg would strike again on their next offensive possession with a 50 yards TD run and take a 14 to 0 lead into halftime.  The third quarter was just like the first quarter with neither team scoring.  Centauri would then get on the board scoring on a 25 yards pass.  Strasburg would then use the last 5 minutes on offense and move into the State Championship.  Defensively Strasburg played well.  Strasburg held Centauri passing attack to minimal yards and kept Centauri rushing attack at bay most of the game.  Strasburg forced 1 turnover in the game and 1 sack in the game.  Tackles wise Strasburg was led by A.J Hemphill and Matthias Brown.  Offensively Strasburg was slowed down and had 2 turnovers in the game.  The passing attack was efficient and led by Collin Russell who threw for 74 yards.  The rushing attack was effective racking up 218 yards and were led by Trystan Graf who had 121 yards and 2 TDs.  Strasburg has played a tough schedule this season and are looking to avenge last years title game.  Strasburg defensively will look to stop the very good rushing attack of Limon.  Offensively Strasburg must take care of the football and look for Collin Russell and Trystan Graf to really step up.

Limon moved into the state championship with a 15 to 7 victory over Holyoke.  This was the second meeting of the year between these two rivals and it came down to the wire.  Limon grabbed the early 8 to 0 lead in the 1^st quarter.  Limon and Holyoke would then turn this into a defensive struggle with neither team scoring in the 2^nd or 3^rd quarter.  Limon would get things going in the 4^th quarter adding a scoring making it 15 to 7.  Holyoke wouldn’t disappear and would add a score with 8 minutes left to cut the lead to 15 to 7.  Limon would then turn the ball over on the 35 yards line.  Holyoke would not be able to move the ball and Limon defense stood tall.  Holyoke would get one more shot to tie the game and would drive down to the 16 yards line where Limon defense stood tall once again and punch their ticket to the state championship.  Defensively Limon played outstanding making multiple defensive stands especially in the 4^th quarter.  Limon held Holyoke to 185 yards of total offense in the game.  Limon forced 1 INT and 2 sacks in the game.  Tackle wise Limon was led by Ky Bandy and Bradyn Tacha.  Offensively Limon was held to 42 yards passing but had 176 yards rushing.  The rushing attack was led by Jeremiah Leeper who had 93 yards rushing and Kory Tacha who had 50 yards rushing.  Limon had two losses this season one to Holyoke and one to Strasburg.  Limon avenged one of them and are now looking to avenge the second one in the State Championship.  Defensively Limon is facing a balanced attack.  Limon will probably focus on the rushing attack and force Strasburg to beat them thru the air.  Offensively Limon must have success running the football.  Kory Tacha and Jeremiah Leeper are the keys for Limon winning back to back state titles.

This should be a great game.  Strasburg beat Limon during the regular season 20 to 13 and I don’t expect the score to get much higher the second time around.  Both teams play outstanding defense, and both are top defense in Class 1A.  Offensively each team does things different.  Limon relies heavily on their rushing attack and Strasburg is balanced in their offensive attack and can throw the ball very effectively.  I do think this will turn into a defensive game and I think any turnovers will be huge.  Keys to this game are which team takes care of the ball and which team can run the ball effectively.  I am going with Strasburg in this game.  I think Strasburg is hungry to avenge last year’s state championship and I think their balanced offensive attack will get them the 1 score to make a difference.  This will be a great game, and this was not an easy choice.  Good Luck to both teams in what should be a great game!