Previewing the Pikes Peak region’s football quarterfinal games
After two weeks of the CHSAA state football playoffs, four teams remain standing from the Pikes Peak region.
Pine Creek, Palmer Ridge, Mesa Ridge and Lewis-Palmer are all still alive heading into this weekend’s games.
Here is a preview of those four teams’ games:
5A
Pine Creek’s Cannon Budge prepares to catch a ball against Denver East on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.
No. 5 Ralston Valley at No. 4 Pine Creek
Pine Creek is the area’s lone 5A team remaining after the Eagles beat Denver East 41-24 in the Round of 16.
The Eagles (10-1) have lost just one game this year, and that came to Legend in the middle of the season. They defeated Valor Christian, Regis Jesuit and Fountain-Fort Carson during the regular season to earn the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.
Pine Creek faces its toughest postseason test yet on Friday against No. 5 Ralston Valley.
The Mustangs (9-2) also defeated Regis Jesuit and Valor Chrisitan in their regular season. They have won five games in a row, most recently beating Rock Canyon 42-14 in their first playoff game.
At stake for Pine Creek is a second-consecutive appearance in the 5A semifinals. The winner of Pine Creek-Ralston Valley will face No. 1 Cherry Creek or No. 8 Mountain Vista.
4A
Palmer Ridge’s Derek Hester rushes Aug. 24 against Montrose.
No. 8 Heritage at No. 1 Palmer Ridge
Palmer Ridge’s perfect season continued in the Bears’ first playoff game. They eased past Denver South 42-6. Palmer Ridge (11-0) scored all 42 of its points in the first half.
The Bears have earned 10 of their 11 wins by double digits. The only exception came in Week 1, when Palmer Ridge beat Montrose, the No. 3 team in 4A, 28-27.
Palmer Ridge will host Heritage on Friday in the 4A quarterfinals.
Heritage’s record, 7-4, isn’t particularly impressive. But the Eagles’ strength of record is.
Two of Heritage’s losses came to 5A playoff teams (Arapahoe and Mountain Vista), and the other two came against Broomfield and Fruita Monument, which are ranked No. 4 and 13 in 4A, respectively. They also beat Pueblo Central and Golden, both which finished with nine wins, earlier in the year.
Palmer Ridge looks to go deeper than it did last year. The Bears lost a heartbreaker to Loveland in last year’s semifinals.
With a win over Heritage, Palmer Ridge would play either Mesa Ridge or Broomfield in the semifinals.
Mesa Ridge’s Trevon Salas pulls away from Widefield’s Tate Washington during a Sept. 23 game at C.A. Foster Stadium.
No. 5 Mesa Ridge at No. 4 Broomfield
Mesa Ridge will battle Broomfield, the defending 4A state champion, in the quarterfinals.
The Grizzlies enter the game 8-3 and beat defending state runner up Loveland 57-7 in the Round of 16. Mesa Ridge’s only losses this season came to Palmer Ridge, Montrose and Dakota Ridge, all of which were seeded in the 4A top 10.
Senior running back Isaiah Jones has fueled Mesa Ridge’s offense. Jones has run for 1,277 yards and 22 touchdowns this year, averaging 116 rushing yards per game.
Broomfield (9-2) comes into Saturday’s game on a seven-game winning streak that includes wins over Dakota Ridge, Heritage and Fruita Monument (twice). The Eagles began the year 2-2 after losing to Erie and Holy Family.
The run game is Broomfield’s strong suit. The Eagles have averaged 250.4 rushing yards per game and have logged 37 rushing touchdowns in 11 games.
3A
Lewis- Palmer’s Jayden Pagano stiff-arms a Discovery Canyon defender on Aug. 25.
No. 10 Lewis-Palmer at No. 2 Holy Family
Lewis-Palmer is almost certainly the area’s most improved team in 2023, and the Rangers will look to keep their magical season alive in the 3A quarterfinals.
After winning only five games in 2022 and missing the playoffs, Lewis-Palmer is 9-2 entering the quarterfinals. The Rangers have already won their most games in a season since 2016.
The Rangers run a triple-option offense. Senior quarterback Kenton Kenley runs the unit with running backs Jayden Pagano, Luke DeBoer and Nathan Unks splitting reps to his side.
Lewis-Palmer pulled the upset of No. 7 Resurrection Christian in the Rangers’ first playoff game. The Rangers rallied from a 21-14 deficit to win 28-21.
In the quarterfinals, Lewis-Palmer will battle No. 2 Holy Family on Friday. The Tigers are 10-1 and have won their last seven games.
The winner of that game will battle either No. 3 Thompson Valley or No. 11 Northfield in the semifinals.