AURORA | A capsule preview of the 2026 Class 5A state football 1st round playoff contest between Cherokee Trail and Heritage scheduled for Nov. 6, 2026:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2026 CLASS 5A STATE FOOTBALL FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF GAME
No. 17 Cherokee Trail (5-5) vs. No. 16 Heritage (5-5)
Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m. at Littleton Public Schools Stadium
BREAKDOWN: Cherokee Trail and Heritage meet for the second time in the state playoffs and both have come in the opening round. The Eagles won a 19-14 contest nearly 11 years ago to the day on the same Littleton Public Schools Stadium field where the teams will have their postseason rematch. Prior to that, the programs met in the regular season in 2010 (a 34-14 Cherokee Trail win) and in 2011 (a 21-20 Heritage victory). …Cherokee Trail has qualified for the postseason for a ninth straight season and has won at least one game in four of the previous eight trips. The Cougars have not won a state title, but appeared in the 5A championship game in 2012, where they lost to a Valor Christian team featuring Christian McCaffrey. …Heritage is in the postseason in its first season in 5A since moving up from 4A, where it appeared in the playoffs for the previous four seasons. The program has one all-time state championship, which came in 4A in 2009.
CHEROKEE TRAIL: Coach Justin Jajczyk’s Cougars lost to No. 24 Castle View in a non-league conclusion to the regular season, while they fell in three of their last four contests ahead of the postseason. Cherokee Trail’s 10 opponents had a combined record of 45-55 and six of them qualified for the 5A playoffs in No. 1 Cherry Creek, No. 5 Grandview, No. 7 Eaglecrest, No. 13 Northfield, No. 19 Arapahoe and No. 24 Castle View. …Cherokee Trail’s offense was not shut out all season and averaged 29.2 points per game with an offense that leaned towards the passing game. Junior QB Bryson Peterson is in his second season as a starter and has passed for 2,116 yards and 27 touchdowns against just five interceptions, while he’s added 186 yards rushing and a score. The primary targets in the passing game are junior WR Rayshon Stanley (50 catches for 608 yards and five touchdowns) and fellow junior WR Evan Smith (45 catches for 533 yards and 11 touchdowns) plus senior WR Jordan Mitchell, who has parlayed 30 catches into 626 yards and eight touchdowns. The ground game has been almost evenly split between junior RB Owen Newell (501 yards rushing, 5 touchdowns) and senior RB Dorian Harris, who has picked up 460 yards on the ground and scored three times. Peterson and Co. operate behind a line that won the Hog Wars strength and teamwork competition among Aurora linemen in the summer. …Defensively, Cherokee Trail has given up an average of 24 points per game and held three opponents to 10 or less. Junior LB Kaden Shriver is extremely active and leads the team with 89 tackles (including 64 solo), while he’s followed by senior DB Corbin Cole with 64 and senior LB Nico Mavromat with 56. Junior DE AB Zuragait paces the Cougars in sacks with four, junior DL Ryan Ayres has been credited with 11.5 tackles for loss and Cole has two of the unit’s six interceptions. Seven different players have recovered fumbles, including senior DB Cristian Mbamarah, who took his back for an 80 yard touchdown. …On special teams, Zuragait handles both the punting and place kicking and has made six field goals on the season (with a long of 37 yards).
HERITAGE: Coach Tyler Knoblock’s Eagles lost to Pine Creek in its last game and dropped three of its last four games of the regular season. Heritage’s 10 opponents had a combined record of 51-50 and six of them qualified for the 5A playoffs in No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 6 Legend, No. 12 Regis Jesuit, No. 13 Northfield, No. 19 Arapahoe and No. 24 Castle View, while the West Anchorage team it beat in Week 2 went 9-2 and lost in Alaska’s DI championship game. …Heritage has averaged a healthy 33 points per contest and had 50-point outputs against Fountain-Fort Carson and Castle View while it did not score fewer than 14 in any contest. The offense has good balance with 1,765 yards in the passing game (accrued by multiple players, though junior QB Blake Swedlund leads the way with 1,312 plus 11 interceptions) and 1,327 on the ground. Through the air, five players have made 12 or more catches on the season and junior WR Parker Terch leads the way in catches with 26, yards with 458 and touchdowns with five. Senior WR Brody Winkler and junior WR Trey Ogdon have combined for a handful of touchdown catches, while Winkler has 387 yards and Ogdon 366 yards receiving, respectively. On the ground, junior RB Cooper Schwartze gets the majority of the carries and has racked up 829 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground, while senior RB Cash Rubenzer has also accrued 251 yards and scored three times. …Defensively, opponents have rung up an average of 37 points per game and all 10 foes have scored at least 13 points. The Eagles’ tackling leader is junior LB Kaiden Vaughn, who has made 67 stops on the season and also shares the team lead in interceptions with three along with junior DB Jimmy Benedetto. Senior DE Cooper Krenz is next with 60 and also is one of four players with two more more sacks. …On special teams, Schwartze has been dangerous in the return game, while sophomore K Luke Hill has made three field goal attempts with a long of 33 yards.
WINNER GETS: The Cherokee Trail-Heritage winner advances to the second round to face No. 1 Cherry Creek (9-1), which has a first round bye. The Cougars lost to the Bruins 37-21 in Centennial League play on Sept. 24.
