2A football: Eaton goes back-to-back, outlasting Brush in championship game

PUEBLO – It’s always tough to defend a state title and the reigning Class 2A champion Eaton football team got all it could handle from upset-inclined Brush on Saturday night.

But just like last year, Eaton rose to the occasion in the critical moments of a tight game.

In the championship game at the CSU-Pueblo Thunderbowl, top-seeded Eaton took control in the second half to win 26-14 over the seventh-seeded Beetdiggers. It was the second title in a row for the team, the program’s third overall, and an affirming moment for this year’s senior group to go out as unbeaten champions.

“This one is definitely huge for us seniors because we came back and did it again,” Eaton senior Ethan Florez said. “We did it again, you know. It’s just an amazing feeling. A lot of winning last year was the seniors last year because that’s a big part of a football team in high school. For them to leave and for us to be able to come back here, that’s what’s so special to us.”

Florez, who was named Most Outstanding Player after the game, led the way.

Following an interception by Brogan Barr midway through the first quarter, Florez opened the scoring with a two-yard run that gave the Reds a 7-0 lead with 5 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first quarter. Early in the second, Brush’s Cesar Hinojos tied the game with a diving score and the teams went into halftime tied.

With just under four minutes left in the third quarter, Brush’s Alejandro Maltos-Garcia threw a touchdown pass to Kale Stegner that gave the Beetdiggers their first lead of the night. Eaton’s Ryan Dirksen answered with a 43-yard score but the kick was missed and Eaton still trailed by one point to open the final frame.

In the fourth, Florez found the end zone for a second time and after a missed two-point try, the defending champions had a 19-14 lead. With 1:36 remaining, Ryder True punched in a short-yardage touchdown to give Eaton a comfortable 26-14 lead that held up until the clock ran out.

“We knew it was going to be a fight, we absolutely did,” Eaton head coach Zac Lemon said. “We’re just happy with the way our team overcame it in the second half. It was really about consistency. Once we were able to string together some first downs and get some momentum, we were much more confident and we played much better.

“The COVID championship was just a relief to be at that point. Now, we’re just happy to have as normal a season as possible and to have all of our fans here. It’s a totally different feeling. For two state championships, they feel completely different and it’s just amazing to be in this situation again.”

As different as this season felt to Eaton, the fall of 2021 couldn’t have felt more different to a Beetdiggers team that had its 2020 campaign cancelled after four games because of COVID-19. Just finishing the regular season would have seemed like a blessing after last fall, but the Beetdiggers instead shoved their way into the postseason. As the No. 7 seed, they proceeded to eliminate Nos. 10, 2 and 6 on the way to the championship game.

They may have come up short, but head coach Lance Schwindt said he and all the Beetdiggers will look back proudly on this season’s wild ride.

“Last year, our season ended because of COVID and we only got four games in,” Schwindt said. “This year, we came into the season unranked. We were just hoping that if we could get a few breaks, we could make the playoffs. Once we got into the playoffs, we just figured it’s a brand-new season, everybody’s zero-zero and why not us? The kids played hard, they did great and we just fell a little short tonight.”

Saturday’s game was the Brush’s 13th state championship game appearance in their program’s history. The Beetdiggers last won a football state championship in 2014.