The Class 5A and 4A title games pitting Columbine vs. Cherry Creek and Erie vs. Palmer Ridge drew a combined attendance of approximately 12,500 to Fort Collins last Saturday, according to a spokesperson for event sponsor Canvas Credit Union.

That estimate exceeds six of the final seven “Championship Saturdays” held at Empower Field, where the games were played from 2005-22, minus the 2020 COVID year.

“I was a little hesitant about what to think as far as sending two metro schools up to Fort Collins for the game,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry admitted, “but I thought our crowd was really good and the stadium was beautiful. I don’t think it impacted our fans traveling.”

The 12,500 figure represents 1,500 more than last year’s crowd in Denver. Over the 17 years the games were played in the Broncos’ stadium, the big-school title games averaged about 10,900 fans.

Lowry, whose Rebels upset the four-time defending champion Bruins 28-14, noted that Canvas Stadium felt “much louder this year” compared to Columbine’s title showing against Cherry Creek at Empower Field in 2019. That’s largely due to the smaller capacity of Canvas Stadium (36,500) compared to Empower Field (76,125).

Columbine running back/safety Josh Snyder said the Rams’ home “was better than Mile High would’ve been, just because the stadium as a whole is smaller, so it feels like more of an actual game (atmosphere) that we’re used to playing, and it feels more packed with the crowd we had there.”

“With the amount of people that we had there, it felt like the town was on our back,” Columbine center Carlos Mendoza said.

CHSAA’s decision to move the games to Fort Collins was financially motivated.

Over the course of CHSAA’s two nine-year agreements to play the championships at Empower Field, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame was the official host of the games. In CHSAA’s most recent agreement with the Hall and Empower, the association’s revenue from “Championship Saturday” was capped at $60,000. The Hall of Fame donated a large part of the revenue to various charities.

CHSAA expected to increase its revenue by as much as six figures by moving the games to Fort Collins.

The Rebels thought Canvas Stadium provided a championship atmosphere for the games, even if it lacked the aura of an NFL stadium. And they relished the fact that was new ground for everyone, considering they were attempting to keep Cherry Creek from the five-peat.

“When we found out the game was moving I was a little bit shocked at first, because it had been at Mile High for so many years,” Columbine linebacker/fullback James Cillessen said. “But at the same time, (Canvas) is still a big stadium, a big stage. And it’s a D-I program with great facilities… I also think playing there helped us a lot, because we felt like Mile High was sort of home territory for Dave Logan and Cherry Creek, so it was more of a more neutral site.”

While Columbine earned their sixth Class 5A title over the weekend, Erie (the fans with the shortest drive to Fort Collins) beat Palmer Ridge (the fans with the longest) in the Class 4A game, 20-6, for the Tigers’ first championship since 1997.

“I mean, I’m trying to put myself out there,” Columbine’s senior tailback told me with a chuckle, his laugh a frosty cloud of breath after carrying the Rebels to a Class 5A state football title.

His X bio lists every meaningful digit but the kid’s cellphone and Social Security numbers, naked to Elon Musk and the world. Says right here he boasts a 4.5 GPA, 405-pound squat, 260-pound bench, 4.5 40-yard dash, 7.11-second 60-meter official track time.

Dude might want to add this stat: 226 page-turning, all-purpose yards at Canvas Stadium that stonewalled Dave Logan and Cherry Creek from nailing a historic five-peat.

“I wanted this so bad,” said Snyder, still grinning after dropping 128 rushing yards, a 98-yard kick return and three touchdowns on the bigger, badder Bruins. “And that’s what motivated me — that there’s no tomorrow with football. It ends (Saturday). And so I gave it all I got out here.”

Logan will be back. It’s what he does. It’s what Creek (13-1) does. Columbine (14-0) doesn’t get to play the underdog card very often, but coach Andy Lowry played this one to the absolute hilt.

At the start of this magical postseason run, Lowry wrote the words “junkyard dawgs” up on the board at the front of the room for his kids to see. It didn’t take long for Rebs to get the message and start baring their collective teeth. Columbine pummeled Fountain-Fort Carson, Legend and Chatfield by a combined count of 121-26 on the march to FoCo.

“I mean, we’ve lost every eye test before the pregame the entire year,” cracked Lowry, whose crew jumped out to a 14-0 lead and pounded away to a 28-14 victory. “(I had) somebody who was a college coach (visiting) and he said, ‘We’re waiting for your linemen to come out.'”

With that, Lowry nodded to the lunch-pail guys behind him, a motley crew of 6-foot-ish, try-hard types dancing on Cloud 9.

“He told us to play loose, play confident and just have fun,” Snyder recalled. “I mean, this is the last game for so many seniors and so many guys. And it’s a dream come true. And it’s one day that you’re never going to get back.”

Saturday’s 5A title game was billed as a battle of Goliath vs. Goliath, but only one giant had Lincoln Riley on speed-dial. Creek started an offensive line with road-graders who’ve got offers from USC, Iowa State and Purdue.

Our man Snyder, meanwhile, has an offer from Mines. Oh, and Western Colorado.

That’s it.

“They’ve got, what, 6-7, 6-8 linemen?” the Columbine star cracked. “And our nose guard’s 5-8. So it’s just it’s incredible what they did up front. And that’s what led us to victory (Saturday).”

That and special teams. It was the little things, ironically, where the Bruins fell short. Missed tackles. Bad fits. Fundamentals. Snyder even booted the longest punt of the game, a 37-yarder on a pooch kick. Meanwhile, three punts by two different Creek players managed to travel 34 yards … in total.

Freshman Jolan Quintana, in a show of frustration that summed up the Briuns’ afternoon, almost kicked the Creek bench farther than he kicked a ball Saturday, the poor kid.

One of those shanks gave Columbine the ball at the Creek 32 on the Rebs’ first offensive series of the tilt. Columbine ran it nine straight times, methodically, before Snyder showed those squat numbers were real by plowing over the line from the 1 to give the junkyard dawgs a 6-0 lead.

The guy’s 40 time was legit, too, apparently. Snyder broke free on the opening play of the second quarter for a 46-yard score, outrunning every Creek defender to the end zone and putting Columbine up 13-0 before the extra point.

“I don’t know how (Josh) doesn’t have those top Division I offers yet,” Rebs QB Reeve Holliday wondered. “With that 4.4 speed, and he’s just a dawg. He makes every play. He made a bunch of plays again tonight on offense and defense.”

Early on, Holliday fumbled a snap on third-and-2. He turned it into a 3-yard gain anyway. When it’s your day, it’s your day.

When it’s your year, it’s your year.

“We love our 98-yard drives, 97-yard drives, because they just eat the clock,” Snyder said. “But when we’re (starting) on the 30-yard-line, I mean, why not go score and make it a shorter drive?”

And if you’re a college recruiter looking for a dawg, you might want to give No. 21 in a blue a call before he plows over your line for somebody else.

“There’s some dudes (with better) times or maybe a little stronger or taller or whatever,” Lowry gushed, nodding at his tailback. “They’re not a better football player than he is. You know, we’ve got a whole whole group of them like that.”

Junkyard dawgs with tears in their eyes. And if Saturday was a tease of Snyder’s next chapter, the young man’s gonna be one heck of a read.

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Finally.

“This was a true fairytale, and I don’t think I could have asked for a better ending,” the flamboyant and ultra-confident senior quarterback said after No. 2 Erie beat top-ranked Palmer Ridge, 20-6, Saturday to win the Class 4A title at Canvas Stadium.

With his sprained left ankle heavily taped, Barnett, ever the showstopper and usually faster than a speeding bullet, hopped 35 yards downfield on his right leg to wrap running back Braylon Toliver in an end zone bearhug after Toliver rambled for a game-clinching 32-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Moments after the clock struck zero, Barnett hopped to the sidelines, hoisted himself onto a bench and conducted the jubilant Erie crowd in a postgame symphony. Next, Barnett hopped to the stands where his father, Steve, hoisted him up the wall for another victory hug.

“The way a lot of people want to portray Blake, he would have stayed over there on the sidelines and pouted and cried when he got hurt,” said Erie coach Jeff Giger, who led the Tigers to their first football crown since they won the Class-A championship in 1997. “But he went back out there on the field and toughed it out.”

Barnett, who’s headed to Kansas State on a football scholarship, was unstoppable for most of three quarters before injuring his ankle when he was tackled on the sidelines with 2:20 left in the third.

“They checked to see if I had a broken bone, and once they said it wasn’t broken, they said, ‘We can tape you up and see how tough you are,'” Barnett said. “I couldn’t run, but I knew I could still throw, so there was no way I wasn’t going back out there.”

Barnett finished with 77 yards rushing and a touchdown on 20 carries. He threw for 151 yards and a touchdown, completing 15 of 20 passes. He connected on his first nine passes. Playing free safety, he also intercepted a Palmer Ridge throw in the end zone.

Erie (13-1) had to conquer its demons to win the title. The Tigers suffered a painful 41-34 loss to Chatfield in the 2021 Class 4A title game, and a goal-line fumble by Barnett in the final seconds cost them in last year’s 36-32 semifinal loss against eventual state champion Broomfield.

“To finally be able to win it, it’s a surreal feeling,” said senior defensive lineman Jackson Cowgill, who’s headed to Washington State. “I’m so proud of this team. I’ve watched each and every one of these boys get better every year.”

Added Barnett: “After losing that state championship two years ago, I think this is the greatest feeling I’ve had in my life. We finally did it.”

Although Barnett was named the National Football Foundation’s Most Outstanding Player of the game, Erie’s defense was the co-star. It limited the prolific Palmer Ridge offense to 282 yards, including just 85 in the first half. The Tigers intercepted Bears senior quarterback Derek Hester three times, getting fourth-quarter picks by Noah Garcia and Kaveh Meredith to go along with Barnett’s second-quarter theft.

“Our defensive staff did such a great job putting our plan together and then our kids executed it so well,” Giger said. “Their quarterback is such a threat, but I thought we did a good job keeping him under control.”

Palmer Ridge, which finished its season 13-1, opened the game with a strong drive but ended up missing a 48-yard field goal into a stiff wind. Erie immediately countered with a 12-play, 80-yard TD drive, topped off with an 11-yard pass from Barnett, who rolled right and drilled the ball to Josh Levine in the end zone.

Barnett accounted for 74 yards on the drive, rushing for 48 and throwing for 26.

Erie took a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter, this time with an impressive 64-yard drive. Barnett swan-dived into the end zone to complete his 5-yard TD touchdown.

The Bears responded with a 47-yard kickoff return by James “Jimmer” Weir and marched to the Erie 6-yard line before Barnett picked off Hester 3 yards deep in the end zone and ran it back to the 50.

Palmer Ridge’s only score came early in the fourth quarter. On a second-and-two from the 30, Hester threw a perfect pass to Weir, who got wide open behind the Erie secondary.

“They’ve done everything that we’ve asked for this season,” Bears coach Zach Carlton said. “They bought into everything that we wanted them to buy into, and I just really feel for those guys that we couldn’t finish the job today.”

In large measure because Barnett was just too good. He finished his career with a remarkable 159 career touchdowns, 89 passing and 69 rushing.

“I’ve been playing with Blake since the fifth grade when we were in Erie Youth Football together and we four-peated,” Cowgill said. “He’s pushed me in more ways than I can say, both mentally and physically. And he worked his (butt) off, and he’s been such a great friend. I’m so proud of him.”

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The Rebels ended Cherry Creek’s streak of four straight Class 5A championships with an exclamation point on Saturday at Canvas Stadium, 28-14, to earn the program’s sixth title and first since 2011.

Josh Snyder carried Columbine with three touchdowns, while the Rebels defense turned in a stout performance to give them an edge in the third championship meeting between Andy Lowry and Cherry Creek coach Dave Logan.

Columbine took on the mantra of “junkyard dawgs” this week and only attempted two passes, pounding the rock for 251 yards en route to the title.

“Four in a row, and they had to try to keep that legacy going — that gets to be hard at times,” Lowry said. “Our guys stepped up to the challenge. They weren’t afraid. They weren’t intimidated. I give Dave and his staff all the credit in the world for (their run), but our kids just played harder tonight. They were tougher.”

Columbine came out on fire, threatening to blow the Bruins’ doors off. The Rebels defense allowed just one first down over Cherry Creek’s first three drives, including a tone-setting three-and-out on the opening possession.

In the time between, the Rebels’ full house formation went to work. Columbine started its first drive at the Bruins’ 32-yard line after a shanked punt, converted a fourth-and-short, then Snyder punched it in for a 1-yard TD and 7-0 lead. Cherry Creek’s poor first punt was one of several special teams miscues for the Bruins.

“They tried to punt into the wind (in the first half), and that was huge getting a couple of short fields,” Lowry said.

Snyder followed his first TD by ripping off a 46-yard scoring run on Columbine’s next drive, and the Rebels went up 14-0, quieting the Cherry Creek side of the stadium and sending a shockwave through the Bruins’ sideline.

“The last couple weeks, we haven’t started off very strong, so this week we were playing a great team and we knew we had to start off strong,” Columbine QB Reeve Holliday said. “We came out and punched them in the mouth.”

The Rebels were marching to score on their third drive, too, but Holliday threw a red zone interception on Columbine’s only pass attempt of the half.

Kiyon Johnston leapt up and picked the ball off in the end zone, his second impactful interception in as many weeks after his takeaway against Ralston Valley in the semifinals helped key the Bruins’ comeback at the Stutler Bowl.

Johnston’s pick set up the Bruins’ first TD. Brady Vodicka immediately found Max Lovett for a 41-yard pass, then the QB’s long scramble finally got Cherry Creek in the red zone. Jordan Herron’s 1-yard TD run put Cherry Creek on the board, cutting the lead to 14-7 with 3:04 left in the half.

But Columbine responded right away, when Snyder recorded the first-half TD hat-trick by taking a 98-yard kickoff to the house, untouched, to put the Rebels back up by two scores at 21-7.

Cherry Creek had the final say of the first half. The Bruins got set up by Tyson Mauck’s 39-yard reception, then a few plays later, Jayden Fox’s 2-yard TD run made it 21-14 with 46 seconds left in the half.

It was the last time the Bruins would score.

“They’re unbeaten (for a reason) and we knew going in that this was going to be a battle and we had to play really well, limit our mistakes and play clean,” Logan said. “We just weren’t able to do that.”

Columbine’s opening drive of the third quarter sputtered out, and the Rebels punted for the first time. Another long reception by Mauck returned the Bruins to Columbine territory. But the Rebels defense rose up and stuffed Cherry Creek on fourth-and-4 inside the 10-yard line.

After James Cillessen ripped off a 52-yard run, the Rebels’ run game found a rhythm again. But a promising drive ended with a red zone fumble, giving the Bruins new life.

Cherry Creek, however, promptly went three-and-out, and then another shanked punt gave the Rebels the ball back at the Bruins’ 26-yard line. That led to James Basinger’s 1-yard TD run with 5:10 to play to push the score to 28-14.

“We’ve been really good in the kicking game all year long, and we were not good tonight,” Logan said. “You can’t make that many mistakes in a game like this in terms of field position. It just killed us… (This loss) hurts, but they’ve got a great program. We want to congratulate them.”

Basinger’s TD essentially put the game on ice, as Columbine’s defense came back with another stop the next possession, stuffing the Bruins on fourth down.

“I asked on the headset, ‘Do we go after them right now?'” Columbine defensive coordinator Tom Tonelli said. “We gave it a go to try to end the game right then and there and seal it. We called a stunt and it worked, and we got to (Vodicka in the backfield).

“We started 11 seniors on defense tonight and I couldn’t be more proud of them. The biggest difference wasn’t scheme. It was our kids love each other and play so hard for each other.”

Columbine, which lost 35-10 to Cherry Creek in 2019 in the Rebels’ last title appearance that was also the start of the Bruins’ four-peat, finished 14-0. The Bruins finished 13-1, and their loss on Saturday was their first defeat since falling to Grandview in league play in October of last year.

For Holliday, Saturday’s victory was personal, as his brother Jadon Holliday played QB on that 2019 team that came up short to Cherry Creek in the lopsided championship loss in Denver.

“Obviously it’s a very special game for me, just because it’s revenge for my brother,” Holliday said. “These guys fought harder than I’d ever imagine. The brotherhood came through.”

Basinger called out the disparity in the crowds at Canvas Stadium, where the Rebels’ faithful on the east side had more numbers and more energy than the Bruins’ crowd on the west side. He also noted that Saturday’s performance was an actualization of the Rebels’ year-long ethos of “it’s about us.”

“We were playing for each other tonight, hugging each other after every great play, a million high-fives,” Basinger said. “And look at the crowds — we had more than them. Our whole community was behind us, not sure if you can say that (about Cherry Creek). Everyone was on our side tonight and we came through for them.”

Cillessen, one of a handful of two-way starters for Columbine, said the disparity in size between the two teams — both in terms of physical attributes and the number of players on the roster — fueled the Rebels.

“Lowry always says, ‘The heart is better than the size,'” Cillessen said. “The five-peat? Yeah, we talked about that a little bit. But we mostly talked about us. Because it’s about us. We just kept smashing them in the mouth. We did all game. We were more physical.”

The Rebels’ title this year brings Lowry’s championship journey full circle, as their first title in 1999 — about six months after the shooting at the school — also came against the Bruins in a 21-14 affair. Lowry was overcome with emotion after this one, though, especially considering his wife Janet’s ongoing battle with cancer over the last six years.

“Nothing gets better than tonight, and I’m sure I felt like that after every single one of them,” Lowry said. “A couple of them were some lopsided scores, where we handed it to them, and I remember being on top of the world for those. But right now, it doesn’t get any better. We had the best honorary captain in the world in my wife tonight, so I told her it was all due to her. We got a lot of prayers for her… and tonight one got answered for our team.”

In winning four straight Class 5A state football titles between 2019 and 2022, the Cherry Creek Bruins set a new standard for their classification. But after losing to Columbine on Saturday, Dave Logan’s squad fell short of the state record shared by Sedgwick County and Limon. Here’s a look at each of the programs to win at least four in a row:

Source: CHSAANow.com

Senior quarterback Blake Barnett was hopping around on one leg — his one-man magic act sapped by a sprained left ankle. And starting running back Gavin Lusk was being tended to on the sideline after suffering an injury of his own.

If the second-ranked Tigers were going to grind out Saturday’s Class 4A state football championship, the ball was going to Braylon Toliver, and everyone inside Canvas Stadium knew it.

“I felt like it was on me,” Toliver said. “I’ve got to do whatever I can to make a play.”

The sophomore did just that, helping save Erie’s state title hopes with a 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that all but sealed a 20-6 victory over previously unbeaten Palmer Ridge.

A starting defensive back in his second season on varsity, Toliver had spent most of the fall as the No. 2 behind Lusk in Erie’s offensive backfield. But after Lusk rolled his ankle early in a drive that began at the Tigers’ 33-yard line with Erie ahead 13-6 and just under 11 minutes to go, Toliver was thrust into a lead role.

First, his number was called on fourth-and-2 near midfield: a 5-yard dive that kept the Erie drive alive. Then, with the Tigers facing third-and-5 at the Palmer Ridge 32, Barnett audibled to a counter.

It appeared the Palmer Ridge defense had the play bottled up as Toliver hit the line of scrimmage, but he bounced outside, found a lane and turned on the jets to win a foot race to the right pylon.

“I was going to go through them or go right by them,” Toliver said.

The one person who knew it was a touchdown from the start? Barnett himself.

The Kansas State commit raised his arms in a touchdown formation as Toliver crossed the 20, then hopped one-legged 35 yards so he could embrace his teammate after he crossed the goal line.

“That won the game for us,” Barnett said. “We’re state champs. Amazing play. I couldn’t wait to hug him.”

Of course, that wasn’t the only thing Toliver did in Saturday’s championship game.

With Palmer Ridge threatening to score on its first drive of the second half, the starting safety used all of his 5-foot-10, 175-pound frame to rise up and bat away a Derek Hester pass intended for Jimmer Weir at the goal line. One play later, the Bears’ drive ended with a Carson Hageman sack.

“We knew (Weir) is a great athlete,” Toliver said. “I was on him for man coverage, I just had to go and get it.”

All told, Toliver carried the ball 11 times for 80 yards. Lusk finished with 16 carries for 57 yards, eventually returning to the field late in the fourth quarter to tack on some more yardage in what ended up being a 211-yard day on the ground for the Tigers.

“(Lusk) is such a stud, so Braylon hasn’t had to go out there much lately, but we know Braylon can do it,” Erie coach Jeff Giger said. “It’s just Gavin is playing so well, and then Braylon plays on the defensive side.

“Then Gavin got banged up a little bit, and Braylon comes in, and that (performance) doesn’t surprise any of us. I mean that kid, he’s a hell of a runner, we’re just very fortunate that we have two of them.”

And now the Tigers have their first Class 4A state title, too, coming after two years of heartbreak that had left them just short.

“I love these boys,” Toliver said. “They are like family, blood, my brothers. It’s amazing.”

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Class 5A

No. 1 Cherry Creek (13-0) vs. No. 2 Columbine (13-0)

When/where: 3 p.m. Saturday at Canvas Stadium, Altitude TV

Creek players to watch: Hayden Treter, sr., OL (USC commit); Max Parrott, sr., OL (Purdue); A.J. Burton, sr., OL (Iowa State); Angelo Petrides, sr., OLB (85 tackles, 2 fumble rec., 1 INT); Jordan Herron, sr., RB (1,324 rush yards, 18 TDs); Brady Vodicka, so., QB (2,126 yards, 25 TDs passing); Jake Howell, sr., LB (141 tackles).

Columbine players to watch: Josh Snyder, sr., RB/DB (1,583 rush yards, 24 TDs); Mason Moreno, sr., RB/DB (1,201 rush yards, 15 TDs); James Cillessen, sr., MLB/RB (119 tackles, 5 sacks); Hunter Hamilton, sr., DE/TE (48 tackles, 7 sacks); Ryder Williams, sr., DB (68 tackles, 3 INTs).

For the sixth year in a row, the Cherry Creek Bruins are in the Class 5A championship. And if they win Saturday afternoon in FoCo, head coach Dave Logan’s squad will be state champions for the fifth straight season. Standing in the way? The program Creek beat to start its record-setting run of four consecutive 5A titles: Andy Lowry’s Columbine Rebels.

The unbeaten Rebels rolled through their schedule in typical Lowry fashion, riding a tough, disciplined defense and relentless ground-and-pound attack to a 13-0 record. The only team to come within one score of them? The same Arapahoe squad that had Creek on the ropes in Centennial League play. Columbine needed some late-game magic from quarterback Reeve Holliday and kicker Julian Ruiz to survive that one, beating Arapahoe 31-29 on a last-minute field goal. Since then, the Rebels beat semifinalists Ralston Valley once (30-14) and Chatfield twice (35-14, 35-16), and now have a shot at the program’s first state title since 2011.

Of course, winning state titles is old hat for the Bruins. Linebacker Angelo Petrides and defensive back Aiden Knapke are among a handful of players who played a role on each of the last two championship teams. And quarterback Brady Vodicka started last year’s 5A title clash vs. Valor Christian at Empower Field as a freshman. Vodicka was swapped out after throwing two picks in the first half, but he’s thrown just three interceptions as the full-time starter this season and is no doubt champing at the bit to flip the script this time around. If he does, the Bruins will be raising a trophy for the 14th time in program history.

Class 4A

No. 1 Palmer Ridge (13-0) vs. No. 2 Erie (12-1)

When/where: 11 a.m. Saturday at Canvas Stadium, Altitude TV

Palmer Ridge players to watch: Derek Hester, sr., QB (2,306 total yards, 35 TDs); James “Jimmer” Weir, sr., WR/DB (886 receiving yards, 17 TDs; 55 tackles, 4 INTs); Holden Wright, sr., LB/RB (92 tackles, 16 TFLs; 12 TDs rushing); T.J. Mabe, sr., DE (61 tackles, 11 TFLs); Avier Elvira, jr., RB (799 rush yards, 7 TDs).

Erie players to watch: Blake Barnett, sr., QB/DB (Kansas State, 2,957 total yards, 50 TDs); Jackson Cowgill, sr., DL (Washington State, 38 tackles, 8 TFLs); Mason Cowgill, sr., TE (South Dakota, 203 receiving yards, 3 TDs); Carson Hageman, jr., LB/OL (175 tackles, 12 TFLs); Preston Terranova, sr., DB/WR (7 INTs, 65 tackles); Gavin Lusk, jr., RB/LB (1,264 total yards, 14 TDs).

Two programs looking to finally break through at the Class 4A level meet, with one guaranteed to be a 4A champion for the first time in program history.

Erie has been knocking on the door for three years now with record-breaking quarterback Blake Barnett at the helm. Two years ago, the Tigers fell to Chatfield in an instant-classic 4A championship that saw the Chargers score on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left to claim a 41-34 win. A year later, Barnett fumbled at the goal line in what would’ve been the go-ahead score against eventual champion Broomfield in the state semifinals. Now comes one last opportunity for Barnett and a talented senior class that’s helped carry Erie to a 34-7 record over the past three seasons.

Palmer Ridge was the definitive power in Class 3A for the latter half of the last decade, winning three state titles between 2017 and ’19 behind an explosive offense and shutdown defense. But after a 42-6 humbling against Loveland in the 2020 4A title game — the Red Wolves famously didn’t attempt a single pass — the Bears haven’t returned to the championship stage until now. Third-year starting quarterback Derek Hester has transformed into a dual threat every bit as scary as Barnett on the opposite sideline. Throw in a defense that’s surrendered all of 27 points over three state playoff games, and it appears the Bears have the team to finally get over the 4A hump.

Class 3A

No. 2 Holy Family (12-1) vs. No. 5 Lutheran (11-2)

When/where: 1 p.m. Saturday at CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl

Holy Family players to watch: Rylan Cooney, sr., QB (3,313 total yards, 45 TDs); Dominic Gabriel, sr., RB/OLB (1,325 rush yards, 13 TDs); Jaxon Grable, sr., WR (715 receiving yards, 6 TDs); Brayden Bach, sr., OLB (141 tackles, 6 TFLs); Connor Neely, sr., FS (76 tackles, 4 INTs, 1 punt block).

Lutheran players to watch: Ryken Daugaard, sr., QB (3,051 total yards, 38 TDs); Ben Herbek, jr., WR (1,225 receiving yards, 17 TDs); Peyton Garrett, sr., DE (76 tackles, 10 sacks, 24 TFLs); Sam Smolen, sr., FS (6 INTs, 1 fumble rec.); Mason Kelley, sr., CB (6 INTs, 13 passes defensed); Landen Mroczek, sr., DT/G (84 tackles, 23 TFLs).

A pair of league rivals meet for the second time this season in a game that will end with one of these programs claiming its first Class 3A state title.

Holy Family has two state football crowns to its name, but both were in 2A, with the last one coming in 2005. While the Tigers have been able to build a strong 3A program since, this marks the first time they’ve reached the championship round in 18 years. With senior dual-threat quarterback Rylan Cooney surrounded by talent, including senior running back Dominic Gabriel and receivers Jaxon Grable and Monte Samaras, the Tigers have shown an ability to trade haymakers with anyone — including victories over 4A semifinalist Broomfield (30-29) and Lutheran (35-28).

The Lions haven’t lost since that setback at Holy Family, ripping off seven straight wins to return to the 3A championship game for the second consecutive season. It’s been a steady climb for the program to get to this point, with a semifinal appearance in 2021 followed by last year’s run to the title game, which ended with a 34-24 loss to Roosevelt. After handing previously unbeaten Green Mountain a 27-21 defeat with two fourth-quarter touchdowns last weekend, all that’s left is to avenge the Lions’ only loss to 3A competition this season and they will claim the program’s first state title.

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One last chance for a ring. Shoulder to shoulder for one final game.

The Erie High School seniors have played side by side since they first donned pads in the second grade in football-crazy Delaware, Ohio. They insist they’re not dwelling on the weight of Saturday’s game.

“We can’t make the moment too big,” Jackson said. “We just have to go out and play, like it’s a backyard or something. Just go out and play. That’s what we’ve been talking about all week.”

Standing in the twins’ way are the top-ranked Palmer Ridge Bears, who bring a 13-0 record to Canvas Stadium on the Colorado State campus.

To win its first state football title since 1997, No. 2 Erie (12-1) must conquer some bitter memories. The Tigers suffered a painful 41-34 loss to Chatfield in the 2021 Class 4A title game, and a goal-line fumble by star quarterback Blake Barnett in the final seconds cost them in last year’s 36-32 semifinal loss against eventual state champion Broomfield.

Last year’s defeat stung a lot of folks, including Matt Cowgill, the twins’ father.

“I lost sleep over that for multiple nights and I know the kids did too,” Matt said. “It was a controversial, bang-bang play, and the referees decided the game. It was gut-wrenching and the one that got away from us.”

But win or lose on Saturday, the Cowgills’ football journey has been memorable and rewarding. Jackson, a tank-like 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive lineman who has made 38 tackles (eight for losses) and six sacks, is headed to Washington State on a football scholarship. He can squat more than 500 pounds and bench presses 375.

“He’s one of the strongest guys I’ve seen on a high school field and he’s pretty unstoppable,” Mason said. “He bullies centers and guards, so most teams will triple-team him, and that frees up our linebackers to make plays.”

Mason, a 6-4, 225-pound tight end/wide receiver, has committed to South Dakota. Athletic and speedy, he had 10 receptions for 203 yards and three touchdowns in nine games.

“He’s got great speed, great initial moves, great hands,” Jackson said. “He’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades on offense for us.”

The twins are quick to thank their parents, who paved their path of football dreams.

“They’ve invested a lot in us,” Mason said. “A lot of time and money, and they took us all over the country to camps. Now, I think their investment is paying off because football is paying for our college.”

When the brothers graduate from Erie and leave for college next year, their parents won’t be the only ones missing them.

The good folks at Costco will be sad to see them depart, too.

“Oh my gosh, our grocery bill is huge,” their mom, Carrie, said with a hearty laugh. “We go to Costco, it seems, like every week. We can’t keep up with their appetites. They eat all of the time. When I cook, I have to double or triple the recipe.”

Matt put a number on what it takes to feed and fuel two college-bound football players.

“Before big inflation hit, I was looking at the numbers and I would say that just the grocery bill was between $2,200 and $2,600 a month — easy,” Matt said.

For the record, Jackson is a big meat eater, and steak and mashed potatoes are his meal of choice. Mason is a pasta fiend. He could chow down on lasagna “every day of the week,” according to his mom.

Mason was born first, with Jackson following him into the world three minutes later. According to his dad, Mason is a “social butterfly” and much more outgoing than his barely younger brother.

“Maybe Mason being born first might have something to do with it,” Carrie said.

The twins were always big. Jackson was 7 pounds, 9 ounces when he was born and might have been a 10-pound baby if doctors had not induced Carrie into labor at 37 weeks.

Mason and Jackson began playing flag football when they were 4. They also played baseball as they grew up and even flirted with hockey for a short time. They have both wrestled for Erie, and they throw the shot and discus during track-and-field season. During the pandemic, when there was no football, they even played tennis.

“The boys were always big for their age and could play sports, and it was apparent early,” Matt said. “We always heard the complaints when they were playing sports. ‘Whose kids are these? Where are their birth certificates?’ That kind of stuff.

“We saw sparks when they were younger, and they definitely have the genetics and the drive for sports.”

The Cowgill family moved to Colorado in the summer of 2015 and the twins immediately signed up for the Erie Youth Football League. Steve Barnett, the father of Blake, was the coach of the youth team.

“The first day I walked in there with the boys, Steve saw them, and he saw how big they were, and said, ‘Thank you,'” Matt recalled.

Now, Erie coach Jeff Giger is the one giving thanks.

“They have been unbelievable for us,” Giger said. “Obviously, they were chasing their individual dreams of wanting to play college football, and yet, I don’t think it ever got in the way of high school football. It’s been a blast watching them play.”

Mason and Jackson, of course, are well aware that they are suiting up for their last rodeo together. Perhaps it hasn’t sunk in yet, but they say they’re ready to move on as solo acts.

“It will be a little weird, I guess,” Mason said. “But we’ll be OK. We’ll be able to share new experiences.”

Jackson concurred.

“I always dreamed we would play college ball together, but it’s going to be good, sharing our new stories with each other,” he said. “But we still have one game to play together.”

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Crystal, the wife of Tigers head coach Mike D. Gabriel and the mom of star senior tailback/safety Dominic Gabriel, had been battling leukemia since the spring. But nothing was going to keep her from her Tigers — even if that meant watching every home game from a car with her window slightly cracked to emphatically ring her cowbell.

“Just being there at the game, and being able to watch from wherever I could, was such a blessing because I didn’t know if I would be well enough to even attend the games,” Crystal recalled.

“That first game was emotional. There were tears in my eyes as the players walked into the stadium holding hands and with a bagpiper playing ‘Amazing Grace.’ I was crying almost the whole game, just because I was so happy to be there.”

Crystal couldn’t miss a moment of this season — not one that’s culminating with Holy Family’s appearance in the Class 3A championship on Saturday in Pueblo. After all, it’s been a magical fall over 100 years in the making, and one highlighted by Holy Family’s first family — her own.

In addition to her husband and son, Mike G. Gabriel — the family grandpa and namesake of the school’s stadium — is the team’s O-line coach. Mike D.’s brother Mark Gabriel is also an assistant, and the head coach’s nephews Nick Gabriel and Andrew Berens are sophomores on the team.

The family’s roots at Holy Family date back to the school’s inception in 1922, when the fourth-generation Holy Family players’ great-great-grandparents helped break ground on the Tigers’ original building in North Denver. A steady line of Gabriel descendants have graduated from the school since, starting with their great-grandma in 1939.

“I grew up in the gym and at the school in North Denver, running around at football games we played at the old Regis Jesuit stadium,” Mike D. Gabriel recalled. “As an adult, I felt called to stay involved in the football program, and I followed in my dad’s footsteps as an administrator, as a football coach. So then my kids grew up in the gym, on the field, in the stands, running around on game nights on our current campus (in Broomfield), and playing at the school.

“It’s a second home for us. We are a family that bleeds purple and gold.”

That’s just one of the reasons why Saturday’s title game, the school’s first since Mike G. led the Tigers to the Class 2A title in 2005, means so much to the family. In addition to Crystal’s battle with leukemia, the Gabriels also recently dealt with the loss of their family matriarch. Patty Gabriel, wife of Mike G. and a pillar in the Holy Family community, died from oral cancer in 2020.

The family might have lost Crystal this year, too, had Dominic’s older brother Rocco not stepped up as a perfect match for her bone marrow transplant. Because of that, Crystal, who hasn’t missed a game, is now cancer-free. Rocco, Crystal’s sister and Crystal’s friend took turns keeping her company in the car for home games. For road games, she sat masked and isolated in the stands to protect her recovering immune system.

“We’ve been fighting Crystal’s leukemia all season, but (Mike D.’s) been staying the course, and Crystal’s been staying the course, too,” explained Mike G. Gabriel, a 1970 Holy Family graduate who has coached the Tigers since 1975, including 1995-2005 as the head boss. “Now she’s on the mend. So this is kind of like an early Christmas present for the family.

“I’m really proud of my son. He’s done a great job keeping his family together, and at the same time, he treats the football team as a family, too. You can see the strain on his face, but he’s a tough bird. He’ll be OK. We all will.”

The Gabriels’ 2023 tumult began last spring, when Mike D. was hospitalized for five days with pneumonia. He was released on April 11, but just eight days later, the family received a stunning diagnosis: Crystal had acute myeloid leukemia.

She spent a month in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy, then had her bone marrow transplant on Aug. 4. Doctors told her to be isolated for 100 days, but that order wasn’t going to stop her from getting to the stadium to watch her Tigers.

“It’s been tough, but my faith has really played into this, and the support of my family and the Holy Family community has really given me strength and the courage to battle every day,” Crystal said. “I couldn’t do it without all of them.

“And I don’t know how my husband has done it, because I was in the hospital when football started. That was hard on both of us, but we had to get through it. And with Dom and the team, they want to fight for me. … They’re rallying behind us, which means a lot not only to me, but to (my husband) and Dom.”

Dominic, who has 1,681 all-purpose yards this year along with 13 rushing TDs, morphed his hurt into purpose. Turning into the school off the street named for his late grandmother, and practicing at the stadium named for his grandfather, helped fuel him.

“At first it was really hard to balance everything when it all started in the spring because I felt alone a lot,” Dominic said. “But honestly, overnight, I don’t know what it was, but something just hit me. I became super motivated to be the best that I could be no matter the situation facing our family. I knew this adversity was something I had to rise to because this amazing season (was over 100 years coming).

“I realized my family was there for me, my team was there for me. People bringing over dinners all the time, my friends checking in and making sure I wasn’t alone. I found motivation in what was going on and I realized that the best thing I could do for my mom was to try to make her proud. I just started working really hard, and I think that’s why I’ve had the season that I’ve had. I decided to wake up.”

Gwen Berens — Mike D.’s sister, and Dominic’s aunt — said the adversity of the past few years has given the family “a focus on living in the moment because you never know when things are going to change.”

“Crystal’s diagnosis took the wind out of our sails, but I’ve been so awed and so proud of the way Mike, Crystal and Dominic have handled this,” Berens said. “Some 17-year-old kids would crumble, but Dominic has pulled himself up by the bootstraps and he’s had such a purpose through all of this. He gets that from my dad and my brother.”

Mike G. takes pride in Dominic’s evolution from being one of the little kids who played in the Friday night “secondary football game” in a grassy spot beyond the end zone (a Holy Family tradition) into one of the Tigers’ pillars.

“Dominic put his money where his mouth was after growing up wanting to be a Holy Family star,” Mike G. said. “It’s so fun to watch him grow into the young man he’s become. Even with (losing Patty), I always remember I’m blessed to have that.”

Dominic is one of the headliners on this not-your-father’s Tigers team.

Back when Mike D. attended Holy Family in the early 1990s, the school was still located at its North Denver campus. Enrollment was stagnant and football participation declining. At one point, Mike G. had just 30 kids in the program. The Tigers practiced at a nearby public park, had a makeshift weight room that was actually a closet with one squat rack and one universal machine, and rented out other schools’ stadiums for games.

But since moving to the Broomfield campus in 1999, the football team’s ascended, along with overall enrollment. That led to the program’s first state title in 2002, then another title game appearance in 2004 and a second crown in ’05.

“We battled through a lot of adversity as a program, and losing seasons,” Mike D. said. “At that point in time (in the ’80s and ’90s), we were probably looked at as more of a basketball school. … And a lot of times we had to move people off our practice field (at Rocky Mountain Lake Park at 46th and Lowell) because they were there having a picnic or doing whatever. If we got new uniforms, or anything new at all, it was like a gift from God.

“All that definitely makes you appreciate where we’re at now, and what we have now.”

Since Mike D. took over as head coach in 2008, the Tigers have made the playoffs all but two years. They reached the semifinals in 2020 before breaking through to the championship this season with emphatic wins in their opening three playoff games.

On Saturday at 1 p.m. at the CSU-Pueblo ThunderBowl, the Tigers take on a Lutheran program that’s also on the rise and making its second straight title game trip after falling to Roosevelt in the 2022 championship. While Holy Family leans on senior QB Rylan Cooney, the Lions have their own potent gunslinger in senior Ryken Daugaard, who like Cooney has passed for more than 2,400 yards.

The teams met in league play on Oct. 6, a narrow 35-28 Tigers win in Broomfield.

“On defense, we have to put pressure on their quarterback because he’s pretty talented and he can make some good throws,” Dominic said. “If we can get (in the pocket), we’ll be okay. … Offensively, the game plan is pretty similar to what it has been. We have to establish the run, and once teams try to stop that, we can throw on them all day.”

Relegated to cheering in the car for most of the year, Crystal will be in the stands with family on Saturday. The Tigers will be wearing orange ribbon stickers for leukemia awareness on their helmets to honor her, as they’ve done all postseason. Dominic will have his orange headband on under his helmet, as he’s worn all fall.

And Crystal will be prepared to laugh, cry, scream and feel “absolutely overjoyed.”

“Our family has worked so hard to get to this point,” Crystal said. “Dom told his dad that since his freshman year, that this is the team that will go to state. I was pregnant with Dom the last time we won state. So to see this come full circle, with everything we’ve been through in between, with how long this family’s been (tied in) with this school … for them to finish off with a win, it would be amazing.”