ERIE | The Overland football team made its first appearance in the Class 5A state playoffs since 2019, but the decade-long quest for a postseason victory will continue.
The Trailblazers qualified for the playoffs as champion of the Metro North League in the first season under new head coach Tony Lindsay Sr. and the drew the No. 24 seed, which set up a road matchup against No. 9 Erie.
In a game pushed back a day by the massive snowstorm that blanketed the metro area, Overland trekked north Saturday on a five-game winning streak and hopeful to pick up the program’s first postseason victory since it defeated Denver East in the first round of the 2014 5A playoffs. The host Tigers — champions of the Front Range South League — had different ideas, however, and went on to a 48-6 victory.
Erie (9-2) — which advanced to a second round matchup against No. 8 Pine Creek — got a punt return for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead before it took an offensive snap and senior quarterback Ronin Ward led three scoring drives (throwing two touchdown passes and rushed for another) for a 28-0 advantage after one quarter.
Two more touchdown passes from Ward in the second quarter invoked the running clock mercy rule and the Tigers tallied again on a Tommy Thiesen touchdown run early in the third quarter.
Overland (6-5) got on the scoreboard midway through the quarter when senior Jarrius Ward broke several tackles, spun out of traffic and jetted 76 yards to the end zone. It cemented a 100-yard day for Ward, who finished over 1,000 yards for a second straight season.
Freshman quarterback Angel Chavez finished with 80 yards passing, including 50 to senior Avante Hendrix and 25 to fellow freshman Dejay Davenport for the Trailblazers.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CLASS 5A STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS (1ST ROUND)
(9) ERIE 48, (24) OVERLAND 6
Score by quarters:
Overland 0 0 6 0 — 6
Erie 28 14 6 0 — 48
SCORING
First quarter
Erie — Braylon Tolliver 65 yard punt return (Mason Guven kick), 9:45
Erie — Owen Collard 28 yard pass from Ronin Ward (Guven kick), 5:04
Erie — Collard 12 yard pass from Ward (Guven kick), 3:45
Erie — Ward 59 yard run (Guven kick), 0:41
Second quarter
Erie — Gabe Sema 18 yard pass from Ward (Guven kick), 6:26
Erie — Gavin Lusk 43 yard pass from Ward (Guven kick), 5:00
Third quarter
Erie — Tommy Thiesen 56 yard run (kick failed), 10:19
Overland — Jarrius Ward 76 yard run (pass failed), 6:42
PASSING
Overland: Angel Chavez 9-18, 80 yards, 1 interception
RUSHING
Overland: Jarrius Ward 9-100, Dejay Davenport 4-19, Da’Quae Allen 4-9, Kylan Jones 1-(minus 2)
RECEIVING
Overland: Avante Hendrix 4-50, Davenport 4-25, Allen 1-5
