Class 2A Football State Championship Preview
We are down to the final two teams in Class 2A. Both semifinal games were very competitive with both teams leaving it all out on the field. The game will be at 1pm at Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction on Saturday. Good Luck to all four teams as they push to make a bid for the State Championship.
#1 Delta (12-0) vs #3 Rifle (11-1), Saturday at 1pm
Last Week: Delta eliminated #12 Moffat County last week 28 to 10, in large part to the Panther defense allowing just one touchdown in the game. RB Talan Hulet had a career day for the Panthers rushing 31 times for 220 yards and 1 rushing TD. QB Ty Reed was also a big factor in the offense passing for 109 yards and 2 passing TDs in the game. Xavier Martinez led the defense with 11 tackles and 2 sacks. Jordan Fraser is another player that stepped up big for Delta forcing 2 INTs and taking one to the house for a pick-six. Rifle moved into the State Championship with a 24 to 15 win over #15 Eaton. This win ended a great run by Eaton but allowed Rifle to set up the all-western slope finale. Once again QB Logan Gross had a huge offensive performance with 195 yards passing, 121 yards rushing, and 3 total TDs. Isaac Velencia was also a factor with 1 rushing TD while adding 111 yards on the ground. Troy Mataia led the defense for the Bears with 11 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 forced fumble, and 2 sacks. Logan Gross was also a factor on defense with 1 INT and a forced fumble.
Delta With another 26 yards QB TY Reed will eclipse 1750 passing yards on the season. JR QB Ty Reed also surpassed 3500 yards for his career last week. Reed is having a terrific season with 22 passing TDs to just 5 INTs and that is not including the 377 yards rushing and 12 rushing TDs. Rylan Bynum (35/549/5), Clayton Cryer (14/378/5), and Brett Lahoe (12/323/6) are the main targets in the passing attack. The rushing attack is led by Talan Hulet 1069 yards rushing on 140 carries with 13 TDs. Jovanny Romero is the #2 rusher with 150 carries for 1022 yards rushing, and 7 TDs. Caleb Richman (113), Talan Hulet (108), and Tucker Johnson (104) lead the Panthers in tackles on the season. Rounding out the top five tacklers for the Panthers are Xavier Martinez (100) and RIPP Lockhart (84). Tucker Johnson leads the pass rush for Delta with 7.0 sacks and 14 tackles for loss on the season. Delta has 21 INTS on the year with two being returned for touchdowns. Lahoe (6) and Hulet (4) account for half of the INTs for the Panthers.
Rifle Logan Gross is 28 yards shy of 1650 yards on the season and last game eclipsed the 1600 mark for this season. Also, if Gross can rush for 13 yards in the finals, he would eclipse the 1400 rushing yards on the season. Gross is having his best season at the QB position with 15 passing TDs and another 18 rushing TDs. Sterling Cook leads the WR core with 36 catches for 662 yards and 5 TDs, Isaac Valencia (26/337/3) and Ryland Lane 10/192/0) are the other targets in the passing game. The rushing attack has been powered by Isaac Valencia who has 138 carries for 1066 yards and 16 rushing TDs. Gross as mentioned also has 1387 yards rushing on 162 carries and 18 rushing TDs. No players currently have over 100 tackles for Rifle, but they do have 7 players over 50 tackles and 12 over 20 tackles on the season. Jesus Martinez (94), Troy Mataia (72), Ryland Lane (54), Marcus Washington (53), and Kevin Arviso (51) are the top five tackles for the Bears on the season. Troy Mataia leads the team in the pass rush category with 10.0 sacks while adding another 18 tackles for loss. The Bears have 22 INTs on the year. Logan Gross (7) and Sterling Cook (6) account for over half of the INTs on the season.
These two teams have not meet in the playoffs since 2010. These two teams are familiar with one another as they were in the Western Slope League together in 2010 (and earlier) thru 2021. These two teams did meet this season with Delta defeating Rifle 28 to 7. It was 14 to 0 at halftime with Delta scoring a pair of TDs in the third quarter to put the game away. These two teams also have 3 common opponents. Delta went 3-0 defeating University (28-14), Montezuma-Cortez (48-0), and Moffat County (28-10). Rifle went 3-0 defeating University (35-28), Montezuma-Cortez (47-6), and Moffat County (42-20). Delta was your runner-up a season ago falling to Eaton in the State Championship. Delta since dropping into Class 2A in 2016 has made the playoffs all but 2 seasons. Delta is looking for their first state title in the Maxpreps era (2004-2023). Rifle made the playoffs last season falling in the Quarterfinals to Montezuma-Cortez. Rifle moved into class 2A in 2018 and has made the playoffs every season besides one. Rifle is looking for their second state championship in the Maxpreps era, last winning in 2004.
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