Pine Creek beats Pueblo West in 4A semifinals to reach title game
COLORADO SPRINGS — Saturday afternoon at District 20 Stadium, the Colorado winter weather showed its ugly head with brisk temperatures and a lot of wind. However top-seeded Pine Creek was up for the challenge, rushing its way to a dominant 35-0 win over No. 5 Pueblo West in the Class 4A semifinals.
“With it being so windy, it’s just difficult — especially when you were going into the wind,” Pine Creek coach Todd Miller said postgame. “You always want to establish yourself in a physical manner, and I thought our kids did a real good job upfront of doing that. They were loading the box, they knew what was coming, but in the end, our physicality kind of wore them down later on in the game.”
Leading the physical attack in the backfield, senior David Moore III had his way all afternoon against the Cyclone defense. He carried the ball 31 times throughout the afternoon, and scampered to a 269-yard total behind his large, athletic offensive line.
“My offensive line is filled with some dogs,” Moore said after the game with a smile. “They work their butts off for me. They do it in practice, and it shows in the game.”
The Eagles’ defense played well, as well, allowing just 203 yards on 47 plays (4.3 yards per play) and pitching their third shutout of the season. Senior shutdown corners Max Lofy and Eddie Kyle set the tone for the other eight defenders that controlled the middle of the field — where Pueblo West struggled.
“They are out there by themselves on islands. That allows our front eight to run around and make plays,” Miller said. “It’s huge when you can do that, and those guys really allow us to use the abilities of our guys in the front eight with their ability to lock kids down on the outside.”
Pine Creek will play Broomfield in the 4A championship game on Dec. 7 at 11 a.m. The game will be a rematch of the 2016 final.
Pine Creek looks for its fourth state title under Miller. The high-powered matchup will be played at Empower Field at Mile High.
“It’s hard to get to this point,” Miller said. “They (Broomfield) have a great program and we are just going to try and get up to the challenge.
“I’m so excited. I’m glad I get to do this with my class because it has been an awesome experience,” Moore said. “I’ve been playing with them since the eighth grade and this is fun.”
