3A football roundup: Coronado, Silver Creek will play for title

Coronado stopped The Classical Academy’s two-point conversion attempt with 20 seconds to play and held on for a 28-27 win in the Class 3A football semifinals on Saturday.

TCA quarterback Jantzen Ryals stepped up and found Jake Frankmore for the game’s final score with 20.3 seconds remaining. That made it 28-27. The Titans faked the ensuing extra point, with Ryals, the holder, simply standing up and turning it into a shotgun snap. Ryals scrambled to his right but was stopped two yards short of the goal-line.

“Fortunately, we’ve been talking to our team about potential trick plays, and we called it right on time,” Coronado coach Bobby Lizzarraga told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show on Saturday. “Our corner stayed outside, and he was there to defend it.”

“That’s a gutsy call that you have to make in that time,” Lizzarraga added. “And my hat’s off to (TCA) coach (David) Bervig for giving it a shot. It was well-executed, except they didn’t finish it because we were waiting on it. But definitely a gutsy call.”

Coronado got 144 yards and two touchdowns from running back Isaah Duvall. Corbin Bender also had a rushing touchdown, while quarterback Joah Smith hit Sam Smith for a passing score.

In the locker room after the game, Lizzarraga said, there were “tears of happiness.”

“Our boys are so proud of the things they’ve done,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll be even prouder of what they’re about to do. At least we have a shot at it.”

Ryals had two touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss for TCA. Peter Troupe rushed for two scores.

Coronado was 0-10 two years ago.

“The bottom line is, it’s hard work,” Lizzarraga said. “These young men have worked so, so hard. For the majority of the teams we have seen, we have been in better condition, which pays off in the fourth quarter for us. … These young men are driven. It’s a special group. The coaches are outstanding.”

Coronado will face Silver Creek, which topped Delta 28-17 in the semifinals. The Raptors led 14-10 at half, but had to rally from a 17-14 hole in the third quarter.

“Our defense hung in there for us. They kept making some plays, and kept the score close,” Silver Creek coach Mike Apodaca told the scoreboard show. “Even early in the third, when we went down, they kept playing. Finally our offense got (on track) in the fourth and we were able to seal it.”

The title game will match No. 9 Silver Creek, the defending champion, against No. 6 Coronado. But the No. 13 seed (Delta) and No. 7 seed (TCA) made it to the semifinals.

“I think what that shows is there’s a lot of parity in 3A this year, and there really wasn’t any team that could run away with anything — including us. We obviously had some struggles in the regular season,” Apodaca said. “We’re looking forward to defending our state title.”

Silver Creek will host the title game.