Football: Championship Matchups Determined in 2A, 1A, 8-Man, 6-Man After Saturday’s Semifinals
Photo: Barry Smith
AURORA – The championship game matchups have been set for the Colorado High School Activities Association’s 2025 Football State Championships in 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man. All four championship games will be played Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and 29, at the CSU Thunderbowl in Pueblo.
The 6-man championship game between No. 1 Idalia and No. 2 Stratton will kick things off at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, while No. 1 Akron and No. 2 Haxtun will then take the field at 5 p.m. for the 8-man championship game. On Saturday, the 1A championship game will feature No. 1 Buena Vista and No. 2 Limon at 1:30 p.m., and in the 2A championship game at 5 p.m. it will be No. 2 Wellington and No. 4 Elizabeth.
Tickets can be purchased online through the CSU Pueblo box office. There is a Friday or Saturday combination ticket where one ticket is good for both games on a particular day.
In 2A, No. 2 Wellington, last year’s runner-up, defeated No. 3 The Classical Academy 29-7 in a rematch of last year’s championship game. The new Wellington High School will be looking to bring a state championship back to the community for the first time since the former iteration of the school won back-to-back C (6-man) titles in 1952 and 1953. Those two titles marked the the only times the former school had ever played in a football title game.
The Eagles’ opponent will be No. 4 Elizabeth, which downed No. 9 Eaton 35-13. Elizabeth is seeking is second state football title, having won in 3A in 2010.
In 1A, No. 1 Buena Vista advanced to the championship game with a 27-12 win over No. 4 Centauri. The Demons are shooting for their third state championship in football, having also won in 1999 and 2015.
Their finals opponent will be No. 2 Limon, which dethroned defending champion and No. 6 Wray 42-21. Limon leads Colorado with 22 state football championships, eight more than second-place Cherry Creek, with the most recent having come in 2023.
Buena Vista won a regular-season meeting with Limon 13-10 on Sept. 26.
In 8-man, there’s a state-championship rematch as No. 1 Akron will play No. 2 Haxtun. Akron was a 39-16 winner over No. 4 Sanford to advance to the final. The Rams have never won an 8-man state championship, but they’ve played for three 8-man titles and have won six 1A state championships, the most recent coming in 2008. Akron advanced to eight of nine 1A title games from 2001-09, and won five of them to move their state championship total to six in football.
Defending champion Haxtun defeated No. 3 McClave 50-8 on Saturday to reach the title game for a fourth time in the last five years. The Bulldogs won their seventh 8-man state title last year, which was the program’s ninth overall state football championship.
Akron was a 28-24 winner over Haxtun back on Oct. 10.
In 6-man, No. 1 Idalia posted a 52-0 victory over No. 4 Peetz to advance to the championship game. Idallia is seeking its ninth state football championship, but it would be the program’s first since 2010. All of the Wolves’ title came in a 13-season span starting in 1998.
No. 2 Stratton returned to the title game with a 28-24 win over defending champion and No. 3 Cheyenne Wells. Stratton is playing in its ninth straight 6-man state championship game, having won the title three times (2018, 2022, 2023) in that stretch and 10 times overall. This will be Stratton’s 20th state championship game.
Idalia won a regular-season meeting with Stratton 80-32 on Sept. 26.
