DENVER — With just more than six minutes remaining in the third quarter and Windsor nursing a seven-point lead Saturday afternoon, Zach Moser made a play that helped define the Wizards’ amazing season.
Despite being double-covered, the junior – who didn’t have a catch all season – reached up with one hand and hauled in a pass from Brad Peeples, breaking free into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown.
The score came in the midst of a three-touchdown blitz in a span of four minutes, 17 seconds that proved more than enough to secure Windsor’s first title in four years with a 35-14 victory over Loveland in the Class 4A state championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
It was Windsor’s first title since winning the 3A crown in 2011, and the team’s first 4A championship since 1993.
“This is an unbelievable experience. For us seniors, we dreamed about this,” Wizards running back Landon Schmidt said. “My brother was on the 2011 state championship team. Since then we’ve all pictured this and we all said we need to work just as hard as they did.”
After allowing a pair of first-half touchdowns, Windsor (13-1) kept the Indians off the scoreboard in the second half. The defense finished with six sacks and three interceptions, and junior Corte Tapia set the state career record with his 39th sack.
“We went into playoffs with the No. 1 defense in the state, and we just wanted to keep that,” said junior Storm Fox, who had three sacks. “We just came out here and played like we do at home. We had our crowd here and they just helped push us to the end to keep going.”
It was the little-used passing game that ultimately helped spark Windsor. A team which had thrown just 35 times all season turned out some big plays through the air, with Moser finishing with three catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
“They were keying on the run, and we were telling coach, ‘Just throw it up a couple of times so they have to stay true to the pass,’” said Schmidt, who connected with Moser on a 33-yard halfback pass. “We’re so grateful for (Moser), and he made a couple of great plays. He gave it his all for us.”
Perhaps no play was bigger than Moser’s second score. The two teams went into the locker room tied at 14-14, but the Wizards cranked out a nine-play drive to open the second half that Peeples finished off with a 22-yard sprint into the end zone.
Loveland (9-5) couldn’t pick up a first down on the ensuing drive, and a shanked punt – something that plagued the team all afternoon – went only five yards. That’s when Peeples found Moser down the left side of the field, and the junior made a tremendous catch.
“I couldn’t even tell you (how). Brad told me to look for him to throw it to me,” Moser said. “I looked up and he put it up there. I just reached out and tried to give it everything I’ve got. Somehow I came down with it.”
The Indians didn’t cover the kickoff, and Brady Bowman hustled down the field and fell on the ball for Windsor. Four plays later Schmidt scored from nine yards out.
Loveland turned the ball over three times in the second half, including a Moser interception in the red zone. The team moved the ball but couldn’t solve the adjustments that Windsor made.
“Most good coaches and good teams do that. We tried to do the same thing with theirs, but I think the turnovers in the second half hurt us and some big plays,” Indians coach Wayne McGinn said. “Other than that I think we’re equal teams, have been all year and it was a great battle.”
More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
After failing to score in the teams’ first meeting Oct. 22, Loveland found the end zone twice in the first half. The Indians capitalized on a 40-yard kickoff return from Kaden Morin, capping an 11-play, 48-yard drive with a one-yard run by Ayden Eberhardt.
After the Loveland defense forced its first three-and-out of the game, the Indians again used a big play to set up their second score. Eberhardt found Aidan McQuade down the middle of the field for a 42-yard reception, and three plays later Charles Dunkelman punched it in from seven yards out.
The 13th-seed in the field, Loveland had knocked out three of the top five seeds – including two-time defending state champion Pine Creek. Eberhardt and Dunkelman combined for more than 100 yards on the ground.
“Our kids didn’t give up. We were trying to score at the very end,” McGinn said. “I was very proud of the way our kids played, how they didn’t give up and kept going as hard as they could.”
Peeples had 69 yards through the air and 44 on the ground before sustaining an injury in the fourth quarter. Schmidt had a big game as well, with 54 yards in the first half alone and a score.
More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)