(Quentin Sickafoose/CHSAANow.com)
BROOMFIELD — Jaxon Pallone broke away from the madness to take a moment in the end zone by himself.
With one hand rested on his knee and a firm grip on a Colorado state flag in the other, he was trying to wrap his mind around it all, attempting to grasp the magnitude of finally fulfilling a four-year long dream.
Like the rest of his senior teammates, Pallone set out to take the Broomfield football team to a state championship from the first day they reported to the field freshman year. They had been on the wrong end of a semifinal game before, carrying that loss with them into their last ride together.
The script was finally flipped on Saturday at Elizabeth Kennedy Stadium as the Eagles achieved that goal, knocking off defending Class 4A state champion Windsor, 25-13, and punching a ticket to the state title game.
“Four years of work; this is hard to put into words. Just look at these guys,” said Pallone, pointing to his teammates celebrating in elation. “There’s never been a doubt in anyone’s mind, but making it happen is the best feeling any of us have ever had.”
Saturday’s matchup shaped up the way any good semifinal battle should, with two of the best teams in the state exchanging strikes in a heavyweight bout. Both Broomfield and Windsor’s defenses set the tone of the game early with multiple key third-down stops and a fumble recovery for each team.
It was the Wizards, however, who drew first blood midway through the second quarter on a pair of gritty runs by Corte Tapia, who carried a group of Broomfield defenders 19 yards from the 20 , and followed up with the punch-in on the following play.
The Eagles appeared to have caught a break two possessions later, forcing a fumble near midfield with an opportunity to put points on the board before halftime. Windsor’s physical defense then responded with a fumble of its own as the Eagles marched as close as the 5-yard line, sending Broomfield to the locker room down 7-0 at home.
“We’ve preached all year long that teams that live off emotion can hit rock bottom if things go bad,” Broomfield coach Blair Hubbard said. “We reminded them of that at halftime, told them to stay steady and they would come out and play a great second half.”
Hubbard was right as his team returned a new-look group after halftime, finally getting its game going on their first possession back from the break.
The Eagles put the ball in the hands of running back Jalon Torres, who went to work the way he had all season. He busted open a pair of touchdown runs from 11 yards out, as well as a 30-yarder that didn’t reach the end zone. Torres racked up 106 yards by the end of the game.
Broomfield also found success in quarterback Steven Croell, who threw for 97 yards – 70 of which were reeled in by Ryan Mazzola – and ran for 48 with a 34-yard touchdown.
“We knew once we got the ball rolling we could grab some momentum and keep it going,” Torres said. “Everybody showed up in that second half and did their part.”
Windsor’s offense delivered a much-needed response in the fourth quarter when Jayden Traut busted open an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play following a Broomfield field goal by kicker Luke Coffman, pulling within to 17-13.
Broomfield’s defense then shut the door with a sack from Pallone for a safety and a Mazzola interception.
“All the guys have worked so hard to get here and there’s still one more to go,” Pallone said. “This is our last game together, no matter what. We’ll be ready to go at Mile High.”