Colorado Class 5A State Quarterfinals Preview

There has long been reason to wonder if the day would ever come at all, but the high school football postseason has finally arrived in Colorado. Starting this week in all classifications, teams that battled their way through a shortened season, rampant cancellations and COVID-19 protocols are scheduled to take the field and open the playoffs with the quarterfinals for all seven classifications. As we go bracket-by-bracket to look at each matchup and the game-changing prospects to keep an eye on, start at the top with Class 5A. &nbsp; <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 1 Cherry Creek vs. No. 8 Regis Jesuit</strong></p> Cherry Creek is the clear favorite here and the Bruins should be after leaving a trail of devastation while going undefeated and outscoring their six regular-season opponents by a 265-28 margin. The defending 5A state champions have simply overpowered teams this fall with a unique combination of power up front and speed all over the field. Cherry Creek has nearly a dozen high-profile recruits in its senior class alone, including [player_tooltip player_id="22521" first="Arden" last="Walker"] (uncommitted), [player_tooltip player_id="22523" first="Gunnar" last="Helm"] (Texas), [player_tooltip player_id="22535" first="Al" last="Ashford III"] (Wisconsin), [player_tooltip player_id="22528" first="Chase" last="Penry"] (Colorado), [player_tooltip player_id="22530" first="Myles" last="Purchase"] (Iowa State), [player_tooltip player_id="22534" first="Gus" last="Zilinskas"] (Rutgers), [player_tooltip player_id="22547" first="Julian" last="Hammond III"] (Colorado basketball), and others. [player_tooltip player_id="22559" first="James" last="Walker II"] is Cherry Creek’s leading rusher and poses a game-breaking threat whenever he touches the ball in any phase of the game, as does Purchase. Penry and Helm have combined for 13 receiving touchdowns while [player_tooltip player_id="43837" first="Ky" last="Oday"] (2022) has emerged as one of the top receivers in a graduating class that features premier offensive line recruit [player_tooltip player_id="22668" first="George" last="Fitzpatrick"]. Luis Lozano (2021) and Jaxson Hurd (2021) are the tackling leaders on a Bruins defense that allowed just 4.7 points a game in the regular season. For Regis Jesuit, running back [player_tooltip player_id="22630" first="David" last="Dody"] (2021) leads the offense with 514 yards and nine touchdowns through six games. Sophomore quarterback Exander Carroll has done well in his first opportunity, throwing for 570 yards and four touchdowns. Those two operate alongside several talented senior recruits in [player_tooltip player_id="22532" first="Clay" last="Nanke"], [player_tooltip player_id="22555" first="Anthony" last="Tocchini"] (New Mexico State), [player_tooltip player_id="22564" first="Matthew" last="Baer"], [player_tooltip player_id="22592" first="Alexander" last="Bruns"] and [player_tooltip player_id="22622" first="Bryan" last="Mottram"]. <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 4 Pomona vs. No. 5 Eaglecrest</strong></p> Pomona reached the state semifinals a year ago before falling 14-7 to eventual champion Cherry Creek, so the Panthers are on the short list of teams with an outside shot at unseating the champs in a couple weeks. Eaglecrest is also near the top of that list but just suffered a 50-0 loss at the Bruins’ hands this past weekend. For Jay Madden’s unbeaten Panthers, [player_tooltip player_id="22554" first="Jack" last="Pospisil"] (Central Missouri) has been as electric as ever after moving from wide receiver to quarterback this season. The senior speed merchant has rushed for 593 yards and 10 touchdowns while also returning a kickoff for a touchdown against Mullen two weeks ago. Running back Chase Muller (2022) has also had a good year, putting up 366 yards and four scores behind a line that features [player_tooltip player_id="22576" first="Anthony" last="Devries"] (2021). Juju Howard and Marcus Geypens are the leading tacklers on the Panthers defense. Over on the Eaglecrest offense, quarterback Khalil Howard is averaging 188.8 passing yards a week behind a junior-heavy offensive line led by [player_tooltip player_id="22669" first="Braden" last="Miller"] (2022) and [player_tooltip player_id="22674" first="Kaden" last="Weatherby"] (2022). Many of Howard’s passes have found the hands of either 6-foot-5 receiver [player_tooltip player_id="22526" first="Ty" last="Robinson"] (Colorado) or two-way standouts [player_tooltip player_id="22538" first="Seyi" last="Oladipo"] (Boise State) and [player_tooltip player_id="22541" first="Langston" last="Williams"] (Colorado State). JP Luketu (2021) leads the Raptors with 547 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns, and [player_tooltip player_id="22593" first="Adrian" last="Cordova"] (2021) has been excellent for the Raptors' defensive unit. <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 2 Valor Christian vs. No. 7 Cherokee Trail</strong></p> There are some big-time recruits playing in this one on both sides of each line. That list includes Cherokee Trail’s [player_tooltip player_id="22517" first="Sam" last="Hart"] (Ohio State), [player_tooltip player_id="22550" first="Mason" last="Maddox"] (2021) and [player_tooltip player_id="22670" first="Travis" last="Gray"] (2022), as well as Valor’s [player_tooltip player_id="22603" first="Nick" last="Lyon"], [player_tooltip player_id="22677" first="Jake" last="Maikkula"] and [player_tooltip player_id="22687" first="Kaiden" last="Parrish"], to name a few. Valor Christian’s group up front will look to keep opening up holes for top 2022 recruit [player_tooltip player_id="22667" first="Gavin" last="Sawchuk"], who already has 993 yards on 92 carries (10.7-yard average) and 16 touchdowns in just five games. Cherokee Trail’s will try to buy time for senior quarterback Jayden Lavigne (1,287 passing yards) to get the ball to playmakers like junior [player_tooltip player_id="22723" first="Nathan" last="Gaye"] (635 rushing yards), junior [player_tooltip player_id="43835" first="Jack" last="Pierce"] (495 receiving yards), and of course, Hart. Defensively, Hunter Wilson (2021) leads Cherokee Trail with 8.8 tackles per game and Maddox has four sacks on the season. Valor Christian's senior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="22549" first="Elijah" last="Hamilton"] leads the Eagles with 39 total tackles in five games and the Valor defense has five total interceptions. <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>No. 3 Legend vs. No. 6 Fairview</strong></p> Both of these teams scored a ton of points and not given up much at all on their way to going 6-0 during the regular season. So, this game is likely to be the most unpredictable of them all. What we can say for sure is that Fairview will throw, Legend will run and both defenses will be ball-hawking the whole game with designs on keeping up the turnover-forcing pace they have been on all fall. For a Fairview defense that has allowed an average of just 14.2 points, senior [player_tooltip player_id="22645" first="Jay" last="Barry"], who transferred in after playing for Denver East last season, leads the team with five of the Knights’ 13 total interceptions. For Legend, senior [player_tooltip player_id="22580" first="Jaxon" last="Muma"] has a team-high nine picks on a defense that conceded an average of only 6.8 points a game during the regular season. Watch for other defensive players like Fairview’s [player_tooltip player_id="22529" first="Brayden" last="Wood"] (Kansas State), [player_tooltip player_id="22583" first="Liam" last="Huber"] (2021) and [player_tooltip player_id="22647" first="Aidan" last="Christiansen"] (2021), or Legend’s [player_tooltip player_id="56036" first="J.T." last="Axelrod"] (2021), most of whom play both ways, to try and change the game with a big play. The next in a long line of talented quarterbacks at Fairview, senior [player_tooltip player_id="22561" first="Liam" last="O’Brien"] (2021) has already thrown for 1,860 yards and 18 touchdowns to the likes of [player_tooltip player_id="22672" first="Grant" last="Page"] (2022), Barry, Huber, Christiansen and Josh Rouland (2021). Legend’s [player_tooltip player_id="22637" first="Kalen" last="Shoemaker"] (2021) has thrown for 890 yards and 14 scores, Connor Eise (2021) has rushed for 798 yards and eight scores, and [player_tooltip player_id="22639" first="Blake" last="Doud"] (2021) has caught 20 passes for 315 yards and six touchdowns.