2A football championship preview: La Junta and Platte Valley meet in clash of undefeated teams
PUEBLO — While looking around and dreaming of coming away with a state football championship, the La Junta and Platte Valley football players couldn’t help but listen to the wise words of CSU-Pueblo coach John Wristen.
While getting the two teams pumped up for Saturday’s game, he explained to them what the point of the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl was when it was made home of the resurgent football program of CSU-P.
“We were going to celebrate championships,” Wristen told the boys. “And it starts with a group of people who want to roll up their sleeves and get to work. That’s also how you win games.”
The Tigers and Broncos are ready to roll up their sleeves and battle it out at the ThunderBowl in Class 2A’s first neutral site football title game. After 12 games for each team, they have combined for zero total losses in 2018. That just means that on Saturday, something is going to have to give.
“If you ask those young men, they remember exactly the day they lost their last game,” Broncos coach Troy Hoffman said. “We were undefeated at that time too.”
It came when Platte Valley was the top seed in last year’s 2A playoffs. A 9-6 loss to Eaton ended what looked like a championship run in the making. They’re hoping it just got delayed a year.
The Broncos (12-0 overall) boast a dual-threat running attack from running back Ernesto Rios and quarterback Trevon Weherman. Both were freshmen when Platte Valley last advanced to the 2A title game in 2015, a 28-20 loss to Bayfield.
Watching from the sideline, Rios took in the experience of a championship atmosphere and knew right away that he never wanted to feel the same pain the Broncos players felt that day.
“I took a lot in,” Rios said. “Even though I didn’t play that year, the group we had was amazing. I just don’t want to have that feeling of losing the title.”
On paper, the two teams look similar in the sense that they both enjoy running the ball. But Rios sees a difference in style, one that he believes can play to Platte Valley’s favor.
“I think we have the advantage with speed,” he said. “They’re very powerful guys and we’ve seen that on film. I think it’ll come down to speed.”
The Tigers (12-0) hope it comes down to experience. This is the third year in a row that La Junta has made an appearance in the 2A title game. They won a thriller over Kent Denver in 2016 and came up short against Bayfield last year.
Jon Nuschy was the quarterback for that championship team two years ago and has made playing in this game somewhat of a habit. Logic would say that Nuschy should be comfortable in a championship game at this point, but each one has played out differently and he knows that 2018 will be emotional for him.
“A little because this is my last one,” Nuschy said. “This is my last game as a Tiger. It has some heavy pressure but we just have to step up and do our jobs and our seniors have to be leaders.”
Nuschy has been the same offensive force for the Tigers that he’s been in the past. Running behind a sizable and talented offensive line, he has rushed for 1,666 yards this year, 494 of those yards have come in the Tigers three playoff wins.
For a team that has now played in a state title game at home and on the road, the idea of a big-venue neutral location is welcome. But even with that being the case, they know they can’t be in a position to appreciate unless they work their way to that championship game.
“It’s always good to play at home, but we’re just happy to be in this game,” Tigers coach Ty Buderus said. “We worked our butts off to be here.”
On Wednesday, they got to enjoy the benefits of that work with a tour of the CSUP facility and a preview of what the atmosphere will be like.
Saturday at 1 p.m. the time for talk and appreciation is over. For both teams, it’s time to get those sleeves rolled up and get to work.
