AURORA | A capsule preview of the 2025 Class 5A state football second round playoff contest between Grandview and Arvada West scheduled for Nov. 14, 2025:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com.Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2025 CLASS 5A 2ND ROUND STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF GAME
No. 11 Grandview (6-5) vs. No. 6 Arvada West (9-1)
Nov. 14, 4 p.m. at North Area Athletic Complex
BREAKDOWN: Grandview and Arvada West face off in the postseason for the first time and haven’t played each other in two decades, dating back to a regular season meeting in 2005 won by the Wildcats (44-36), who also took a 10-point win in a 2004 meeting. …Grandview is in the playoffs for the 20th time in the past 21 seasons, with the only exception being the 2020 season, when the playoffs were cut to just eight teams due to the coronavirus pandemic. In that span (which stretches back to 2005), the Wolves have appeared in at least the second round every single season and won at least one game in 18 of those 19 trips, while they had a first round bye in 2019 before losing to rival Eaglecrest in the second round. In that same span, Grandview has made the semifinals eight times and advanced to the state championship game in 2007, when it won its only state title. …Arvada West missed out on the playoffs in the 2020 season as well (when only eight teams qualified), but has qualified for the past five seasons, though it has not progressed past the second round in any of those trips thus far. The program has won two all-time state championships (5A in 1997 and AAA in 1972).
GRANDVIEW: Coach Tom Doherty’s Wolves followed up a regular season in which seven of their 10 opponents were postseason qualifiers — No. 1 Cherry Creek, No. 2 Ralston Valley, No. 4 Legend, No. 9 Arapahoe, No. 14 Eaglecrest, No. 16 Cherokee Trail and No. 19 Legacy, which had a combined 50-19 record — with a 32-13 victory over No. 22 Chatfield in a first round contest (see story, here). Junior RB Maddox Johnson came on in place of senior starting RB Chris Blanks to rush for 131 yards and three touchdowns in only his second game of the season with double-digit carries. Grandview’s other touchdown came on defense when senior DE Brody Flores returned a fumble for a touchdown, while senior PK Noah Galvez added a 42-yard field goal and made all three of his extra point attempts. Senior QB Blitz McCarty did not throw a touchdown pass, but did not turn the ball over and threw for 157 yards. …Including the playoff contest, Grandview has averaged just under 27 points per contest and were held in single digits in scoring just once. McCarty is a top-15 passer in 5A this season as he has thrown for 1,934 yards and 15 touchdowns versus seven interceptions. The passing game suffered a key loss with a season-ending injury to senior WR Asher Mattson, but received a boost with the shift of junior Jaxson Flores to wide receiver and he leads the team in catches (47), yards (664) and touchdowns (5), followed by sophomore WR Tim Arnold III (425 yards, 2 touchdowns), senior WR Julian Savaloja (234 yards, 2 touchdowns) and junior TE Matthew Schimberg (213 yards, 1 touchdown). On the ground, Blanks rushed for 842 yards and 11 touchdowns to pace the team before he was injured, while Johnson’s performance in the first round upped his season total to 257 yards and accounted for all three of his scores. …Defensively, Grandview has held six opponents to 14 points or fewer and averaged giving up 19.5 per contest, though that is skewed by 52 allowed to top-ranked and No. 1 Cherry Creek in the final week of the regular season. Senior DE Brody Flores has been a major disruptor for the Wolves, as he leads the team with 12 sacks and ranks second in tackles with 85, which is one fewer than senior LB AJ Maroni. Junior LB Malcolm Smith also has six sacks as another component of a fearsome pass rush, while the back end of Grandview’s defense includes ball hawks in junior S Zach Johnston (5 interceptions) and junior S Jaxson Flores (4 interceptions). …On special teams, the kicking game has been a strength as Galvez has connected on seven field goals with a long of 35 yards, converted all but one of his 19 extra point tries and created 31 touchbacks in 41 opportunities. Jaxson Flores and Arnold III have been effective in the return game.
ARVADA WEST: Under first-year head coach CJ Hanna, the Wildcats won their first nine games of the regular season before they suffered a 49-20 loss to No. 2 Ralston Valley in the finale. With the program’s highest win total since an 11-2 2009 season, Arvada West was one of the top eight seeds that got byes in the opening round of the playoffs. …Offensively, Arvada West has averaged 39 points per game, though it scored well beneath that number in three of its final four games of the regular season. The Wildcats have taken more to the air in the latter portion of the season due to injuries in the backfield and senior QB Logan Duhachek ranks second in 5A in both passing yards (2,329) and passing touchdowns (28) against seven interceptions. The main targets in Arvada West’s passing game are senior WR Noah Meurer and senior WR Keegan Balisteri, who both rank in the top 11 in the classification with 812 and 729 yards, respectively, plus a combined 17 touchdowns. Senior WR Ayden Garcia also has accounted for 403 yards receiving and caught a touchdown pass in six different games. A lot of change has taken place in the backfield due to injury with the losses of senior RB Jaiden Green and senior RB Adrian Symalla, which leaves senior Tyriek Cullum as the statistical leader with 218 yards and three touchdowns, while Duhachek has added four rushing scores. ….Defensively, Arvada West has been stout and yielded an average of 18 points per game, with the help of three shutouts. Senior LB Jaxon Pyatt has been the tone-setter for the unit as he has racked up 98 tackles — eight for a loss — and senior LB Kevin Sanchez is second with 85 stops, while the pass rush is keyed by Cullum, who has been credited with 17.5 tackles for loss, which includes a team-high seven sacks. Eleven Arvada West defenders have been credited with at least one interception on the season and three of those came from sophomore DB Tucker Rhoades, who also has two fumble recoveries. …On special teams, Meurer has been a contributor in kick returns along with senior WR/DB Jaiden Nichols, while senior PK Chase Drake has not been asked to attempt a field goal, but he has converted 42 of his 50 extra points attempts.
WINNER GETS: The Grandview-Arvada West winner moves into the quarterfinals, where it will take on the winner of the second round contest between No. 14 Eaglecrest (7-4) and No. 3 Mountain Vista (10-0) (capsule look, here).
