(CHSAANow.com)
In what must be feeling like a holiday tradition, Mike O’Dwyer and Brian Brown are set to have their respective football teams battle each other for a state championship once again.
The tumultuous and even sometimes bizarre 2020 football season has presented many unusual circumstances for several teams across the state. The one thing that’s not unusual heading into the weekend is that Limon and Strasburg will play in the last game of the year with the Class 1A football title on the line.
In the previous two meetings, the Badgers (6-0 overall) have been the last team standing and the result has been increasing their state record number of team football titles to 19. And while they’re looking to recreate that same feeling of the last two years, Strasburg (8-0) is hoping the third time can be the charm in getting a different result.
“I hope we beat them,” Brown said during the state championship press conference on Tuesday. “It’s always a challenge to play Limon. They’re so well-coached and the thing we notice about the Limon football team is how disciplined they are. They’re always in the right place at the right time.”
In their four regular season games, the Badgers barely had their backs against the wall. The same could be said for their quarterfinal game against Holyoke, a game they won 41-15. They’re doing all this win an experienced group of players, a group that includes last year’s 1A Player of the Year, Kory Tacha. In 2018, Tacha scored both Limon touchdowns in the 13-7 win and last year he scored twice in the first half to lead Limon to back-to-back crowns.
(Paul Soriano)
“Kory is one of those players that doesn’t come around very often,” O’Dwyer said. “I’ve been very blessed and very fortunate to have the players that I have.”
Brown can say the same for his Strasburg team. He boasts a senior-heavy group that is just itching for a chance to raise a championship trophy.
Trystan Graf averages 108 rushing yards per game for Strasburg and quarterback Collin Russell has added balance to the team by throwing 13 touchdown passes and running for an additional 11.
Perhaps an advantage for Strasburg heading into this year’s championship game is that the two teams didn’t have their standard regular season clash. Rather than trying to figure out how to beat the Badgers twice, Brown is simply coming up with a plan that will help his boys beat them once.
“When you face a team as much as we face Limon, you kind of know what we each do,” Brown said. “Right now, with what’s happened in previous years and with COVID, going into a championship game on a neutral field is going to be an exciting place to play.”
Strasburg claimed 1A championships in 2016 and 2017 before and is now playing in its fifth straight title game. The 1A football championship is the first leg of a triple-header of championship contests on Saturday. The game is scheduled to kick at 10 a.m.
(David Harvey/ImageProPhotography.com)