Fairview sings the school fight song after defeating Pomona in Boulder. More photos. (Kai Casey)
Fairview had to climb out of a 21-7 hole. But the top-seeded Knights did, and are headed to the Class 5A semifinals because of it.
Like they did in the two teams’ regular season matchup, Fairview scored quickly to open the game against No. 8 Pomona. This time, Pomona responded and was up 21-7 late in the first quarter after Chris Marquez scored his third rushing touchdown. But Fairview quarterback Anders Hill hit Cameron Frazier for a 20-yard touchdown to cut things to 21-14 before the half.
Coming out of the break, Fairview tied it up just two minutes into the third quarter on Sam Martin’s 6-yard rush. The Knights took the lead for good in the fourth on a 10-yard rush from Hill. Hill added another rushing score to seal the game late in the quarter. He finished with four total touchdowns.
Fairview, now 11-0, will play the winner of Saturday’s game between ThunderRidge and Grandview in the next round. The Knights will be on the road regardless of who wins as both Grandview and ThunderRidge have played fewer home games during the playoffs.
No. 2 Valor Christian is headed back to the semifinals. The Eagles, a four-time defending champion across three classifications, handled No. 7 Columbine 49-13.
The Eagles will get No. 6 Cherokee Trail in the semifinals, which beat No. 3 Cherry Creek on Friday.
Class 4A
One 4A semifinal is set. No. 2 Monarch will host No. 3 Pine Creek.
Pine Creek beat No. 6 Windsor 25-0 on Friday night. The Eagles got touchdowns from Avery Anderson, Matt List and Scotty Savage (two).
Monarch easily beat No. 7 Loveland, 42-8, in the quarterfinals.
Class 3A
The Classical Academy is headed to the semifinals for the first time in school history. A week after winning in the postseason for the first time, the Titans toppled No. 2 Palisade, 24-21.
TCA led 17-7 at the half, but Palisade rallied to take a 21-17 lead with two minutes to play. Then, Peter Troupe scored the winning touchdown for the Titans with 33 seconds left.
The Classical Academy will play the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal game between No. 3 Roosevelt and No. 6 Coronado.
The top two seeds, as well as Nos. 4, 5 and 8, have all lost in this year’s 3A playoffs.