Dan MohrmannFor the first time in a while, there is going to be a different feel to the Class 3A football state championship game. Erie and Palmer Ridge will battle it out for the state’s ultimate prize, but in a different venue than what either team is used to.
After it was determined that Don Breese Stadium did not seat the capacity needed to host the game, Palmer Ridge went looking for a new site. And the administration found a good one. The game will be played at Falcon Stadium on the grounds at the United States Air Force Academy.
It’s as close to home as the Bears were going to get while still providing a great atmosphere for a worthy game.
“I’ve been calling it a neutral field,” Erie coach Chad Cooper said. “I know they have some familiarity with the (Air Force) program and the stadium, but there are going to be no practices allowed there before the game, so it’s being treated by CHSAA, us and them as a neutral field.”
At the end of the day, it’s just going to be a football game on a football field. The stakes are just a little bit higher.
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“It’s 120 yards long and 50 yards apart like any other field,” Palmer Ridge quarterback Ty Evans said.
The story come Saturday will be what happens within those dimensions. It has been no secret that the Bears are talented on offense. Evans leads a unit that accounts for over 400 total yards per game.
Only twice this season has Palmer Ridge failed to up at least five touchdowns in the 48 minutes they’re on the field. This team has been firing on all cylinders since games began in early September in both football and friendship.
“Execution-wise, we’ve been pretty solid all year,” Evans said. “The thing that has made us click the most is the bond that we’ve built between each other. It’s grown from being on the same team to friendships and being brothers.”
When it comes to slowing down the Bears’ offensive attack, Cooper knows that slowing down Evans is the priority.
He’ll have to use his players on both sides of the ball to accomplish that mission. If he can lean on running back Noah Roper to keep the ball out of Evans’ hands, he knows the Tigers will have a shot. But he’ll also need to his defense to disrupt what the Bears will look to do when they do have possession.
“It’s going to be a tall order,” Cooper said. “For us, it’s going to be a matter of trying to put pressure on him and creating some different looks behind our front seven that he maybe hasn’t seen before.”
When the Tigers have the ball, they’ll do everything possible to make sure Roper is as productive as he has been all year.
The junior runs for 195 yards per game and has gone over 200 yards in each of his last five games. That streak started with a loss to Mead, a team that many thought would make a state championship run.
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A loss is never ideal, but Roper looks back at it as a major factor that helped the Tigers get to where they are this week.
“I’m grateful for that loss,” he said. “I think it made us a better team in all aspects. We’re not invincible. We have a lot of stuff we know we need to work on and it got us to the point where if we wanted to be one of the best teams in the state, we needed to work harder.”
They put in the work and as of right now, they cannot argue with the results. They toppled defending 3A champ Pueblo East in the opening round. They made the long trip to Durango and came away with a win before beating Longmont in the semifinals.
Now, as the No. 5 seed in the tournament they might be seen as the underdog going into Saturday. Roper wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We’ve always been such a small school and we haven’t done anything big in such a long time,” Roper said. “We’ve never done anything big in 3A, so for sure, we’ve always been an underdog.”
The Bears and Tigers will kick off at 1 p.m. at Falcon Stadium. Regardless of the outcome, the season will end for both teams after this week.
Each side knows how fortunate they are to reach this level and the coaches hope that the players can soak it in while still focusing on the ultimate goal.
“We’re really excited for the opportunity to be playing in this game,” Palmer Ridge coach Tom Pulford said. “Our kids are excited to be playing in Week 14 and excited for the opportunity to be playing in a big stadium.”
Tickets for Saturday’s game can be purchased online or at the stadium. The game can also be seen on the NFHS Network.
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