Class 2A Football Preview-Semifinal Round
By: Anthony Garcia
Playoff Football is upon us. In typical Class 2A fashion we have two teams that were not ranked in the top 8 reach the semifinals and then we have two of the top three teams reach the semifinals. Class 2A semifinals will be at the higher seed and the State Championships will be at Dutch Clark Stadium at 5pm on Saturday.
#9 Wellington vs #13 Eaton, Friday 11/22 at 7pm
Wellington advanced into the Semifinals upsetting the #1 overall seed Strasburg 17 to 0. This was a very competitive and physical game that came down to defensive play. Wellington held Strasburg to just 118 yards of total offense. Wellington forced 3 turnovers in the game, a pair of INTs by Cash Altschwager and an INT by Brayton Meglen. Tyler Shaffer, Teagen Greiman, and Ezra Batjargal all had at least 1 TFL and 7 tackles in the game. Wellington won the turnover battle and was a key factor in the win. Wellington offensively had 213 yards of total offense. RB Cash Altschwager lead the offense with 100 yards rushing. QB Tanner Gray was also key in the win with 42 yards passing, 31 yards rushing, and 2 passing TDs. WR Tyler Shaffer had both receiving TDs for the Eagles.
Eaton punched their ticket to the Semifinals using a strong defensive effort in a 14 to 0 win over #5 Lamar. Eaton kept the high-powered offensive attack of Lamar off the board. Eaton forced 5 turnovers in the game and held Lamar to negative 11 yards rushing. Everett Edinger had 3 INTs and Jack Dirksen had 2 INTs. Paxton Pettinger also had 3 sacks for Eaton. Vinnie Juarez, Cooper Nider, Jackson Savona, and Everett Edinger all had over 10 tackles as the Eaton defense was key to their win. No offensive stats have been entered for Eaton in the game.
Series: Eaton and Wellington have meet once and that was this season with Wellington getting the 35 to 10 win.
#2 Basalt vs #3 Classical Academy, Saturday at 1pm
Basalt moved into the Semifinals with an impressive 34 to 14 win over Sterling in the Quarterfinals. The first half of this game was a good one with Basalt holding the 14 to 7 leads. Basalt made a few adjustments at halftime and outscored Sterling 20 to 7 in the second half. Offensively Basalt racked up 407 yards of total offense. The rushing attack lead way for the Longhorns racking up 376 yards. RB Will Tarallo lead all rushers with 205 yards and 3 TDs. RB Will Daniel was also a big factor racking up 120 yards and 2 TDs. Defensively Basalt kept Sterling under 250 yards of total offense and forced 3 turnovers in the game. Taylor Hays, Dylan Ferreira, and Will Tarallo each had an INT in the game. Will Daniel led all tacklers with 11 while Dylan Johnston, Kody Barton, and Dylan Ferreira each had 5.
The Classical Academy punched their ticket into the Semifinals with arguably one of the best games of the Quarterfinals. TCA was trailing 14 to 7 going into the fourth quarter before outscoring Berthoud 13 to 3 and getting the 20 to 17 win. The game came down to an 80 yards drive for TCA with around 47 seconds left. QB Drew Brown led an amazing drive down the field that led to a touchdown and left just 2 seconds in the game. Offensively TCA leaned on their rushing attack with racked up 294 yards. RB Jackson Schipfer lead all rushers with 218 yards and 1 TD. QB Andrew Brown had 125 yards and 1 TD, and his favorite target was Khalil Blush who had 59 yards. Defensively TCA bent but did not break as they gave up over 300 yards of total offense. TCA forced 3 turnovers in the game, an INT by Joshua Knuckles and two fumble recoveries by JD Packard and Zach Hale. Elijah Wright (11 tackles) and Zach Hale (10 tackles) lead all tacklers for TCA and Ridge Blackwood had a pair of sacks.
Series: These two teams have met twice during the MaxPreps Era. They are even at 1-1 with TCA winning the last meeting in 2023, 40 to 19.
MileHigh Prep Report 