Colorado Class 5A State Semifinals Preview

It has been a shorter, yet somehow long, season with many challenges to face and there are just four teams left and still vying for a state title in each classification. The state’s elite teams have risen to the penultimate state with semifinals just about 24 hours away. With a full slate of semis on deck for Saturday, let’s take a look at each matchup and the game-changing recruits to keep an eye on, let’s continue with Class 5A. <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>No. 1 Cherry Creek vs. No. 4 Pomona</strong></span></p> This game is a rematch of last year’s semifinals, in which Cherry Creek won 12-7 over Pomona on its way to a state championship. But there won’t be any bad blood in this one, right? No, of course not… In that game last year, Pomona’s [player_tooltip player_id="22554" first="Jack" last="Pospisil"] scored the Panthers’ lone touchdown as a wide receiver. Now he’s playing quarterback and he’s been crossing the goal line a lot more, rushing for 655 yards and 11 touchdowns behind [player_tooltip player_id="22576" first="Anthony" last="Devries"] &amp; Co. in just second games so far. In a 49-14 quarterfinals win over Eaglecrest, however, it was running backs Ian Dexter (101 yards, 1 touchdown) and [player_tooltip player_id="22702" first="Dominick" last="Nichols"] (3 touchdowns) who stole the show. Problem is, Cherry Creek has numerous players of Pospisil’s and Devries’ caliber, including [player_tooltip player_id="22547" first="Julian" last="Hammond III"], [player_tooltip player_id="22528" first="Chase" last="Penry"], [player_tooltip player_id="22530" first="Myles" last="Purchase"], [player_tooltip player_id="22523" first="Gunnar" last="Helm"], [player_tooltip player_id="22535" first="Al" last="Ashford III"], [player_tooltip player_id="22521" first="Arden" last="Walker"], [player_tooltip player_id="22534" first="Gus" last="Zilinskas"], [player_tooltip player_id="22559" first="James" last="Walker II"], [player_tooltip player_id="22668" first="George" last="Fitzpatrick"] and [player_tooltip player_id="43837" first="Ky" last="Oday"], to name a few. Hammond III, who will play basketball for the University of Colorado, has thrown for over 1,000 yards with 17 passing touchdowns, while Walker II has rushed for 864 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2020. Defensively, Luis Lozano (2021) and Jaxson Hurd (2021) have combined for 94 total tackles up the middle and [player_tooltip player_id="22594" first="Malik" last="Majekodunmi"] (2021) leads the Bruins with seven sacks. Purchase and Ashford III are as elite a cornerback combination as you’ll find and either is a threat to take an interception, of which they have a combined six, to the house. <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>No. 2 Valor Christian vs. No. 3 Legend</strong></span></p> Legend is in the state semifinals for the first time and that’s largely thanks to running back Bryce Vaz (2022), who ran for 310 yards and six touchdowns in a 56-35 win over Fairview in last week’s quarterfinals. Prior to that game, Vaz had only 41 rushing yards and one touchdown. Talk about good timing for a breakout performance. Even with offensive standouts like Vaz, [player_tooltip player_id="22637" first="Kalen" last="Shoemaker"], [player_tooltip player_id="22639" first="Blake" last="Doud"], Connor Eise, [player_tooltip player_id="22579" first="James" last="Betschart"] and [player_tooltip player_id="56036" first="J.T." last="Axelrod"], as well as a stout defense led by guys like [player_tooltip player_id="22580" first="Jaxon" last="Muma"] and Luke Sandy (2022), the Titans have their work cut out for them against Valor Christian. Without star running back [player_tooltip player_id="22667" first="Gavin" last="Sawchuk"], and that’s a big missing piece, the Eagles beat Cherokee Trail, 49-14, in the quarterfinals. Backup running back Zach Wiley (2022) took the start and ran with it, amassing 114 yards and four touchdowns (in the first half) on 23 carries. Quarterback Sean McNair (2021) completed 12 of 16 pass attempts for 182 yards that included several big plays to [player_tooltip player_id="58941" first="Tyler" last="Larson"] (2021), who finished with 119 yards receiving. The Eagles are back in the semifinals after getting knocked out in the quarterfinals of the 2019 postseason and they look ready to take the newcomers’ best shot. Should be an exciting game.