(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
PUEBLO — Crowds at Dutch Clark Stadium have gotten used to watching Marcell Barbee make breath-taking catches for the Pueblo South Colts on offense.
But it was his two catches on defense in Saturday’s 21-14 win over Broomfield that might just have the impact in his school’s history.
Barbee accounted for two of the Colt’s three forced turnovers on defense. It helped secure the first state championship game appearance in South’s history.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what we were going to see coming in,” Barbee said. “I just knew it was going to be a dogfight and whoever executed the best (would win).”
Easier said than done for the team who now has a date with Pine Creek in seven days with the Class 4A football title on the line.
The Colts (12-1 overall) received the opening kickoff and with Barbed and Thomas Pannunzio the focus of the Eagles’ attention, it left a friendly formation to let Steve Brock do his thing on the ground.
South went 79 yards, but was stuffed on 4th and goal at the one. And Broomfield took advantage on its first drive.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Mitchell Gorman broke for a 42-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles (8-5) an early 7-0 edge.
They came up big defensively again as a Zach Cozzolino pass went off tight end Jeremy Cody’s and into the waiting arms of Samuel Godwin.
But South wasn’t going to let momentum stay on Broomfield’s side. Quarterback Stephen Croell attempted a long pass down the middle of the field, but Barbee was able to come away with the first of his two interceptions on the day.
“We had some offensive miscues in the first half and No. 18 went up and got a couple of interceptions against us,” Broomfield coach Blair Hubbard said. “He’s a playmaker. They have a lot of playmakers on their team and hats off to them. They’re a very difficult team to defend.”
Brock then broke free for a long run of his own to tie the game. The Colts took the lead on a six-yard touchdown pass from Cozzolino to Barbee. A missed extra point, however, only gave South a 13-7 lead at halftime.
“Coach (Ryan) Goddard told us coming into this game that there would be some adversity and there was on those first two drives,” Brock said. “You have to overcome some adversity and once you do that, you’re off and running and it showed on the board.”
South increased its lead on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Cozzolino to Jesse Anzar. The two-point conversion attempt was good and with 5:57 left in the third quarter, the Colts held a two-touchdown cushion.
From that point on, the Eagles clamped down defensively. They wouldn’t surrender a point the rest of the way and pulled to within a score thanks to a Croell sneak for a touchdown.
What seemed like a difficult situation to manage quickly turned into a tight battle, something that Hubbard knew his team was capable of.
“Anyone else would’ve folded after starting 2-4,” he said. “It shows heart the way they kept battling back.”
With the clock ticking down, South continued to go Brock, but with 5:10 left on the clock, he fumbled the ball to give the Eagles new life.
They couldn’t convert on it, but the defense again held, putting the ball back in Croell’s hands one more time. He navigated his team down the field and with five seconds left, took one shot at the end zone.
The ball was batted away. Suddenly it became an historic day for Goddard’s program.
“We have to earn the last 48 minutes,” Goddard said. “We have to enjoy every single minute of it. We need to limit the distractions and also take in that atmosphere. This is a once in a lifetime moment for this team.”
The 4A state championship game will kick at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.