Colorado high school football 4A playoff outlook
DENVER (BVM) — As the temperature starts to get increasingly cooler and the leaves finish falling from the trees, the regular season of high school football comes to an end, and the start of the playoffs begin. This is especially the case in Colorado, as the temperature has taken a major dip, signifying the beginning of the playoffs. In Colorado, the playoffs for high school football start on either Friday, November 5 or Saturday, November 6.
For the 4A division, most games kick off on the 5th, with two games kicking off on the 6th.
In the 4A division, there are significantly more teams involved in the playoffs than in the 1A and 2A divisions. Instead of the top 16 teams (in 1A and 2A), the top 24 teams make the playoffs. These 24 teams will be competing for the final two spots to battle it out for the 4A state championship on December 4. The game will be played at Empower Field at Mile High in downtown Denver.
It is significant that the championship game is being played at Empower Field. Due to COVID and COVID restrictions, the 2020 4A championship was not held at Empower Field as it usually is. Before 2020, the 4A championship game had been held at Empower Field for 15 consecutive years. So, it is very exciting to see the 4A championship game coming back home to Empower field for the 16th year.
The 24 teams competing to make it to Empower Field on December 4 are as follows: the Montrose Indians ranked at No. 1, the Dakota Ridge Eagles ranked at No. 2, the Pine Creek Eagles ranked at No. 3, the Palmer Ridge Bears ranked at No. 4, the Erie Tigers ranked at No. 5, the Loveland Red Wolves ranked at No. 6, the Chatfield Chargers ranked at No. 7, and the Fountain-Fort Carson Trojans ranked at No. 8. These eight teams have solidified a first-round bye and will be playing their first playoff games in the second round of the playoffs on November 12 or 13.
The remaining 16 teams will be playing on either the 5th or 6th. They are as follows: the Golden Demons ranked at No. 9, the Ponderosa Mustangs ranked at No. 10, the Vista Ridge Wolves ranked at No. 11, the Fruita Monument Wildcats ranked at No. 12, the Pueblo West Cyclones ranked at No. 13, the Bear Creek Bears ranked at No. 14, the Longmont Trojans ranked at No. 15, the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies ranked at No. 16, the Denver South Ravens ranked at No. 17, the Broomfield Eagles ranked at No. 18, the Windsor Wizards ranked at No. 19, the Vista PEAK Prep Bison ranked at No. 20, the Brighton Bulldogs ranked at No. 21, the Skyline Falcons ranked at No. 22, the Aurora Central Trojans ranked at No. 23, and the Cheyenne Mountain Red-Tailed Hawks rounding off the 4A division ranked at No. 24.
Six games are occurring on Friday, November 5 and two games are occurring on Saturday, November 6.
The six games on the 5th are as follows: No. 16 Mesa Ridge vs. No. 17 Denver South, No. 15 Longmont vs. No. 18 Broomfield, No. 9 Golden vs. No. 24 Cheyenne Mountain, No. 10 Ponderosa vs. No. 23 Aurora Central, No. 12 Fruita Monument vs. No. 21 Brighton, and No. 11 Vista Ridge vs. No. 22 Skyline.
The two games on the 6th are as follows: No. 13 Pueblo West vs. No. 20 Vista PEAK Prep and No. 14 Bear Creek vs. No. 19 Windsor.
One game, in particular, is intriguing from these matchups because of how evenly matched both teams are: No. 10 Ponderosa vs. No. 23 Aurora Central.
The Ponderosa vs. Aurora Central is a game that not many people would expect as being a matchup of evenly matched teams because of the massive differential in each team’s rankings. Remember, though, the rankings are based primarily on the strength of schedule correlated with the team’s performance in each game. So, the rankings do not always paint the complete picture, which is the case for No. 23-ranked Aurora Central. Its strength of schedule (the lower the number, the easier the schedule) was meager (-19.4) compared to other teams in 4A (averaging around 15). So, since they lost two games and had two close games with a deemed ‘easy’ schedule, their ranking sits at No. 23 despite an 8-2 record. But, do not let the No. 23 ranking fool you; Aurora Central matches up exceptionally well with No. 10 Ponderosa.
Both Aurora Central and Ponderosa have scored over 300 points (350 for Aurora Central and 309 for Ponderosa). Where this becomes interesting is the team’s points against. Aurora Central boasts an astonishing 79 points against, while Ponderosa has over 100 points more against them at 187. This matchup becomes increasingly more interesting when considering each team’s stats and play style.
Ponderosa is a balanced offense that likes to pass the ball just as much as they like to run it. They have 1,250 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, and averaged 125 passing yards per game on the season. At the same time, they have 1,470 rushing yards, 23 rushing touchdowns, and averaged 147 rushing yards per game. This offense is coupled with an above-average defense, posting 62 tackles for losses, 23 sacks, and 15 interceptions.
On the other hand, Aurora Central rules their games through possession time based on a tremendous rushing game and a smothering defense that does not let many teams score on them. As mentioned, the Aurora Central offense’s ultimate strength is their rushing game; they have posted 2,720 rushing yards on the season (1,374 of which has come from a singular running back), 34 rushing touchdowns, and have averaged a mind-blowing 302 rushing yards per game. This is coupled with their defense that is scary, to say the least. They have posted 69 tackles for losses, an astonishing 34 sacks (20 of which have come from a singular player: Marcus Howard, this ranks Howard at No. 8 for total sacks in the entire country), and 10 interceptions.
No. 10 Ponderosa vs. No. 23 Aurora Central is geared up to be one of the best games from the first round of the 4A Colorado playoffs; it will be exciting to see the results of this game.
As the 4A football scene in Colorado starts to get more exciting, we will begin to have a better idea of what team has the best chance of going all the way. Stay tuned to find out what two teams out of this initial 24-team bracket will make it to the Colorado 4A state championship game on December 4 at Empower Field at Mile High.
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