CLASS 5A STATE FOOTBALL 2ND ROUND MATCHUP
REGION B: NO. 4 MOUNTAIN VISTA (8-2) VS. NO. 1 GRANDVIEW (8-2)
7 p.m., Nov. 13, Legacy Stadium
BREAKDOWN: Grandview of the Centennial League and Mountain Vista of the Continental North League have never met in the postseason and don’t appear to have played each other at all previously…Under coach John Schultz, Grandview has become one of the state’s most successful programs in the postseason and has extended its streak of playoff appearances to 11 straight seasons. The Region B top-seeded Wolves have now won their postseason opener in all 11 of those appearances after a 49-6 rout of eighth-seeded Prairie View in the first round Nov. 6…Mountain Vista, seeded No. 4 in Region B, has made the playoffs in all 10 of its seasons since moving from 4A to 5A in 2006 and moved past the first round in half of those trips. Coach Ric Cash’s Golden Eagles advanced to the second round for the second straight season with a 19-14 win over fifth-seeded Denver East in the opening round Nov. 6…MOUNTAIN VISTA: The Golden Eagles won their playoff opener against Denver East despite committing four turnovers, as they lost two fumbles and junior QB Judd Erickson was picked off twice. Erickson had to throw the football 33 times and completed 15 of those passes for 247 yards and touchdowns to junior WRs John Kryssa and Kellen Parker. Mountain Vista also got 79 yards receiving from senior WR Jordan Faraci, plus 72 from Parker and 48 from Kryssa. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles rushed for 103 yards, but senior RB Jaeson Juarez was the leader with just 30 yards on 12 carries. For the season, Erickson has 2,024 yards passing and 18 touchdowns (against 12 interceptions) and he has spread the ball around, especially among his top group of Parker (487 yards receiving, 6 touchdowns), Kryssa (484 yards receiving, 6 touchdowns), Faraci (355 yards receiving, 1 touchdown) and junior WR/RB Tristen Dean (345 yards receiving, 5 touchdowns). Mountain Vista has struggled to move the ball on the ground and averages just 3.3 yards per carry, with Juarez the lead with 508 rushing yards and three scores…Defensively, the Golden Eagles have allowed an average of 15.8 points per game, but have held eight of 10 opponents to 24 points or less save for Regis Jesuit (which put up 35) and Chaparral (which put 30). Mountain Vista has a force up front in senior NG Matt Yockey, who is coming off a four-sack game against Denver East. Yockey has piled up 14.0 sacks on the season (plus 82 tackles) and is joined in double figures in the department by senior DE/LB Cole Miller with 10.5. Junior LB Cooper Gale is just shy of 100 tackles for the season and senior DB Kyler Mills leads Mountain Vista with two interceptions…On special teams, senior PK Mitchel Anderson has connected on 10 of 14 field goal attempts on the season with a long of 39 yards…GRANDVIEW: The victory over Prairie View was the sixth win in seven games for Grandview, which suffered a 31-14 loss at Valor Christian on Oct. 30 with the Centennial League championship on the line. The Wolves’ only other loss is to 10-0 Arapahoe, a defeat that came very early in the season. A win over Mountain Vista would put Schultz’s team into the 5A quarterfinals for the sixth straight season and eight time in nine years…Junior RB Hayden Blubaugh, the state’s leading rusher, had a field day against the ThunderHawks, as he racked up 141 yards and four touchdowns on just eight carries. The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder needs just 41 yards to pass the 2,000 mark for the season as he sits at 1,959 yards to go with 24 touchdowns. Junior QB Gunnar Lamphere threw two touchdown passes among just five attempts against Prairie View and now has thrown for 607 yards and seven touchdowns. The Wolves don’t need to throw much thanks to their strong offensive line and run game, but senior WR Marcus Lawrence has 323 yards receiving and three touchdowns, including one in the playoff opener. Senior WR Quinn Stokes and sophomore WR Gunner Gentry each have caught a pair of TD passes…Defensively, Grandview has allowed 14 or fewer points six times. Senior LB DeAndre Shorts had a pair of sacks against Prairie View to push his team-high total to 9.0, while senior LB Garrett Goulding has 7.0 and sophomore DE Julius Carter Jr. 6.0. Shorts is also the team’s leading tackler with 80, while senior S Dom Chapa (62) and senior LB Matthew Sciba (48) also get in on a lot of stops. Grandview averages two-plus takeaways per game and gets turnovers from all over as eight different players have at least one interception and nine have fumble recoveries…WINNER: The Grandview-Mountain Vista winner advances in Region B to the quarterfinals — scheduled to be played between Nov. 19-21 — where it will face the winner of a Nov. 13 second round game between third-seeded Horizon and second-seeded Pomona. Neither Grandview nor Mountain Vista played either Horizon or Pomona this season. Based on CHSAA coin flips, Grandview would be the home team against Pomona, but would play on the road against Horizon.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
