Platte Valley players celebrate with the 2A championship trophy. (Jon E. Yunt)
KERSEY — Platte Valley senior Jacob Smith summed it perfectly when he said, “It’s the perfect last chapter for our story.”
On Saturday, the Broncos won their first Class 2A state title since 2007 with a 28-19 win over Faith Christian at Bronco Stadium and it was their very own Trey Johnson that had the privilege of handing off the hardware to his teammates.
If you recall, Johnson suffered a severe brain injury during a game last year and fell into a coma shortly afterwards. His fight was the strength his teammates needed to bring home the gold ball.
“It’s a huge relief to just see Trey still here. What we lived through last year was very tough and nothing that you plan for,” said Platte Valley coach Troy Hoffman, whose team was on a mission since losing in the title game last season to Kent Denver. “We knew as a team we were going to continue to grow and to have him out here with us today and to want to be — and that is the biggest thing, because when an injury like that happen, you never know how it is going to affect him. We made him part of our team from Day 1, he never missed a practice and was at every team meal.
“So we really do find some inspiration through him, because what he is working through is way harder than any practice or way harder than any tackling drill.”
Even from their defeated huddle, the Faith Christian players and coaches applauded Johnson as he handed off the trophy, knowing that they were seeing something very special.
In a swift moving first half that featured just two possessions for each team, Platte Valley came away with two touchdowns compared to two 27-yard Stefan Knoerr field goals for the Eagles — one of which was on the heels of an 18-play drive that covered 70 yards in over nine minutes.
“We had really hoped that is was going to be a close game and really the two stops they had in the first half by forcing us to kick field goals were big,” Faith coach Blair Hubbard said. “We put touchdowns on the board there, it’s a different game and a different feel at halftime even though it was still only a one score game at the time.”
Platte Valley stretched its lead early in the third quarter when senior quarterback Logan Sitzman, who was being dragged down by an Eagles defender, heaved up a pass that Daniel Frantz was able to run underneath and haul in for a 29-yard score on 3rd-and-12.
Faith Christian would answer back on its next possession. Much like they had in the first half, the Eagles methodically churned up yards and clock behind the power running of Daniel Langewisch and Adam Buchmann. A 12-play drive that went 80 yards, including one fourth down conversion, was capped off by Langewisch from two yards out.
Faith Christian (10-3) would finally get the game’s first defensive stop when they watched Bailey Collins-Landwehr’s 46-yard field goal attempt sail wide left. Hubbard’s crew then marched the ball inside the Platte Valley 10-yard line and was one the brink of scoring when Langewisch was stripped at the 5-yard line and Broncos junior Cody Gabel jumped on the loose ball.
Trey Johnson awards the 2A championship trophy after the game. (Jon E. Yunt)
The Broncos failed to score on the next drive, but the damage was already done to the Eagles’ psyche.
“That was just a great play by some back-ups who were in there in crunch time too,” Hoffman said.
Smith would make it a two score game with 3:57 to play when he scored his second touchdown of the game on a two yard run.
“It was just a battle to the very end,” said a bloody Smith, who is an accomplished bull rider that will likely compete in rodeo for the University of Wyoming, or in Rangely next season. “We were just going blow-for-blow, and when we finally stopped them, that turned out to be huge.”
The Eagles scored with 2:03 left, Langewisch — who finished with 171 yards on 32 carries — scored from 1-yard out, but the Eagles’ two-point conversion never had a chance and the lead stayed at nine points. The ensuing onside kick was gobbled up by Smith and the Broncos were able to run out the clock.
Hofman’s team was efficient on offense. Caleb Creech lead the team on the ground with 88 yard on nine carries. Smith finished with 52 yards on 14 carries and quarterback Logan Sitzman had 46 yards on the ground to go along with a crisp 12-for-14 passing day for another 152 yards. His favorite target? Smith, who finished with six catches for 57 yards.
“Our motto all year long was to work to a near-perfect performance, and last week (against Manitou Springs) we didn’t have that, so I challenged the boys and told them ‘You have one more week. Are you still willing to improve and still willing to gain some opportunities to get better?'” Hoffman said. “And they all said ‘Yes!’ We came out here and we played near perfect. Logan was tremendous in his judgement today. Jake Smith was a hoss for us today and I can’t say enough about Caleb Creech.
“Those five lineman up front took it upon themselves to make sure we controlled the tempo today.”
(Jon E. Yunt)