AURORA – Out of an abundance of caution due to adverse road and weather conditions expected for this Friday across the mountain corridor, and following consultation with the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado High School Activities Association and CSU-Pueblo Foundation have mutually decided to move its Class 2A Football Championship Game between No. 1 Delta and No. 3 Rifle to Grand Junction.

The game will now be played on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. at the Ralph Stocker Stadium. Tickets can be purchased here. Any tickets purchased for the 2A game in Pueblo will be honored at the gate in Grand Junction. 

“We would like to thank the CSU-Pueblo Foundation, the City of Grand Junction and Mesa County Valley School District 51 for their quick work and partnership in making this very difficult and challenging, but mutual decision,” CHSAA Commissioner Michael Krueger said. “This decision was obviously made with great care and thoughtful consideration and is certainly not taken lightly.

"CHSAA strives to create exciting and memorable championship experiences for each of its sports and activities. A variety of conditions and factors are taken into consideration when choosing neutral site venues for these events. Just like with the Super Bowl or the NCAA Championship, a neutral site is predetermined well in advance to give communities and venues ample time for preparation in order to ensure a valuable championship experience is met for participating teams. Months and even years of preparation and comprehensive multi-year contractual agreements go into these efforts to make sure that each player and school community have an extraordinary experience.

"CHSAA will remain committed to honoring the contracts and partnerships it has made with our selected championship sites toward meeting this goal. We look forward to hosting all of these games next year in Pueblo and we remain very grateful for the countless number of people who are assisting us in allowing this unprecedented circumstance to move forward.”

The 6-Man, 8-Man and Class 1A Championship Games will remain in Pueblo at the CSU-Pueblo ThunderBowl on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 24-25. The 6-man game between No. 1 Stratton and No. 6 Cheyenne Wells will kick off at noon on Friday, followed by the 8-man game between No. 1 Mancos and No. 3 Haxtun at 5 p.m. The 1A championship between No. 1 Limon and No. 6 Strasburg will be played on Saturday at noon.