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By Spring Atchison
Office Manager 

Fleming set to defend State title following semifinal win over Granada

 

December 2, 2020

(Herald photos by Spring Atchison)

Wildcat and Bobcat fans alike watched a State Championship quality showing in Saturday's 6-man semifinal contest - a showing that was the season finale for one team; and was nearly the fan-attended finale for the other. A statement released late last week by the Colorado High School Activities' Association announced that variances previously approved by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment had been revoked in Pueblo County and the general public would be prohibited from attending State Championship football games for all classifications this year due to COVID-19.

CHSAA announced their intentions of holding all Colorado State Football Championship games at CSU-Pueblo in early November; Pueblo County has since reached Level Red status and as of press time, CHSAA had yet to budge on venue changes. The organization did announce on Tuesday, that after petitioning the CDPHE, a maximum of 75 spectators per team would be allowed for the State Championship games. And so the show goes on to State, with limited spectators - for the Fleming Wildcats - who earned their spot in the 6-man Championship after a Saturday-afternoon victory over the Granada Bobcats for the second time this season.

Granada entered Saturday's semifinal round as the fourth-ranked team at 6-1; the one being at the hands of the undefeated, top-ranked Fleming Wildcats just a few short weeks ago in a contest added late in the season. The last showing between the two teams proved the closest of the year for both squads and finished with Fleming on top, 49-44.

Saturday's semifinal game opened with the visiting Bobcats receiving the opening kickoff. They'd take a touchback and begin their possession at the 15-yard line. Granada would run a couple plays before their third down would put them on Fleming's 20-yard line. Junior Joel Muller brought down the tackle to save the touchdown - at least for three more plays. Granada struck first, on their opening possession, with just over three minutes off the clock. Their extra-points attempt failed giving them the 6-0 lead.

Granada's kickoff that followed found Fleming's offense at the 15-yard line and the Wildcats returned the ball 10 yards to the 25. A pass from senior quarterback Kade Comstock connected with senior Brady Kuntz for a first-down 55-yard touchdown. Sophomore kicker Kenny Bandy put his first attempt through the uprights and Fleming would take an 8-6 lead with 6:43 left in the first.

Granada received Fleming's kickoff at their own five-yard line and returned it to Fleming's 26, but a holding call on the Bobcats would bring the ball back to their own 11-yard line. Granada ran three plays and went for the conversion on fourth down and couple. A completed pass on fourth down put them at first down on their own 33, but a second down pass was intercepted by Muller at the Fleming 20-yard line.

A first-down call to junior Charles Hobbs gave Fleming a quick six with 3:18 left in the first and Fleming led, 14-6.

The Wildcats attempted an onside kick, but Granada recovered at mid-field. They'd pick up first down after three plays and the first quarter ended following no gain on second down at Fleming's 20-yard line. The third down pass would fall incomplete and a fourth-down touchdown from Fleming's 20-yard line would be called back on a block in the back flag against Granada. The flag brought up fourth down and 15 and the Bobcats answered the call with a gain of 16 yards for the first down. That first down would give them six followed by two from an extra-points kick to tie the game at 14-all with under a minute off the second quarter.

The Bobcats followed up with an onside kick that Fleming recovered on their own 36-yard line. They'd run one play, a pitch to sophomore Nolan Japp, that resulted in their third TD of the game with just nine seconds ticked off the clock. With a good points-after kick by Bandy, Fleming went up 22-14.

Fleming's kickoff that followed met Granada at their five-yard line. They returned it 20 yards to the 25-yard line where a first-down long pass was intercepted by Comstock and Fleming took over at their own 10-yard line.

The Wildcat offense came out for first down and suffered a flag for an illegal pass to push them back five yards. They gained three yards on second down, but an incomplete pass on third down brought up fourth down and 17 and Fleming would punt away.

Granada received on their own 36-yard line and ran three plays when a completed pass on fourth and four gave them a first down at the Fleming 22-yard line. After a couple short plays, they'd convert another first down that put them at first and goal on the Fleming six-yard line. The second down that followed gave the Bobcats another six on the scoreboard and they would come within two points of the home team with 3:09 left in the half, 22-20.

The Wildcats took over on their 15-yard line after a touchback on the Bobcats' kickoff. Japp ran in a touchdown on first down, but a holding call brought the Wildcats back to their seven-yard line for a repeat first and 20. Senior Chris Goss chipped off the majority of those yards on first down with a catch off the arm of Comstock. Fleming earned the remaining yards in the following three plays and ran a first down play that put them at their own 32-yard line. They'd run another four plays before turning the ball over on downs at mid-field.

Granada took over with :19 left in the half. They ran a couple unsuccessful plays before the half ended at 22-20, Fleming.

The Wildcats returned to receive an onside kick to open the second half. Goss recovered at mid-field where a first down call to Hobbs resulted in six points with just :13 off the third quarter clock. Bandy's attempt sailed through the uprights and Fleming grabbed a 10-point lead, 30-20.

The Bobcats received Fleming's kickoff at the 10-yard line and returned it 15 yards to their own 25. They'd pick up seven on the first down and a second-down long pass put them at Fleming's seven-yard line where Comstock saved the touchdown. They'd take two downs before finding the end zone to bring the score to 30-26 with just under two minutes off the third-quarter clock.

The Wildcats took Granada's kickoff at their 17-yard line and returned it 11-yards before being brought down by the Bobcat defense at the 28. They gave the first two calls to Japp, but a holding call on a would-be first down kept them at second and 10. A third-down hand off to Goss gave Fleming the first down, but the first-down hand off to Japp resulted in a loss of one. Incomplete passes on second and third downs brought out the Wildcat punting team on fourth and 16.

Granada earned 11 yards on a first down play to put them at their own 25-yard line. They picked up the first-down conversion on third down. After an incomplete pass on first down and a gain of eight on second down, they completed a pass to put them at first and 15 on Fleming's 24-yard line. The Bobcats converted another first down over the following three plays and found themselves at first and goal on Fleming's three-yard line. They handed one off to go up the middle and found the end zone with :30 left in the third quarter. Muller blocked the Bobcats' extra-points attempt to hold them to a two-point lead, 32-30.

Fleming followed up with a kickoff received at the 10-yard line that was returned for a TD by Hobbs, but that 70-yard run would be called back to Fleming territory by a flag. The Wildcats would complete one play before the end of the third quarter.

The final quarter of play opened at second and four for the Wildcats on their own 28-yard line. They picked up three on the play and a third-down call to Goss resulted in a first down. Goss caught the first down pass that followed and took it to Granada's 12, but a personal foul call for a blind side block called on the Wildcats brought the ball back to mid-field for a repeat first down. Goss would take the call again and find the end zone with 8:59 left in the fourth. The good kick by Bandy that followed put the Wildcats back on top 38-32.

Granada regained control of the ball at Fleming's 37-yard line following a Wildcat onside kick. They picked up eight yards on the first two downs when a completed pass put them inside Fleming's 10-yard line. A holding call against the Bobcats brought the ball back 10 yards and brought up first and 15 at the 17-yard line. They'd capitalize on first down and add six to tie the score at 38-all. Granada followed up with a one-point conversion pass to go up 39-38 with 7:19 left to play.

The Bobcats made good on the onside kick that followed and recovered at mid-field. They ran three plays before picking up a first down at Fleming's 22-yard line. A couple more plays and Granada found themselves at first and goal on Fleming's six. They ran two plays when they found the end zone from two yards out to go up 46-38 with 3:05 left in the game.

Granada's kickoff was picked up by Hobbs at the 15-yard line and he returned it 15 yards to the Wildcat 30. A first-down pitch to Hobbs from quarterback Comstock gave him 49-yard touchdown run to put Fleming within two, 44-46, with 2:49 left to play. After a couple flags and a lot of confusion on the points-after attempt, the score would stand with Fleming down by two.

Granada took a touchback on the kickoff and opened their next possession at their own 15. A first down play fumbled by the Bobcats would be recovered by the Wildcats and they took over on Granada's 19-yard line. Japp picked up five on second down and Kuntz caught a pass from Comstock for the TD to put Fleming back on top, 50-46, with 1:34 left. Bandy came through with the extras and Fleming went up by six, 52-46.

The Bobcats had time and they took a touchback to start their final possession. They gained eight yards over the first three downs and drew a personal foul call on fourth down to give them half the distance to the goal. The ball was spotted at Fleming's 33-yard line; a first down pass with :23 fell incomplete; a second down pass with :16 fell incomplete; and a third-down pass with :10 was intercepted by Comstock, but a personal foul call against the Wildcats gave the Bobcats a first down at Fleming's 18-yard line with :2 left to play. Granada's quarterback kept the ball and made a run for it. When he found trouble by the Wildcat defense, he attempted to pass the ball back, but the pitch fell short hitting the ground, the clock ran out and Granada's season ended six points shy of a semifinal win.

The defending State Champion Wildcats are set to move on. They'll face off - for the second Championship in a row - against the Stratton/Liberty Knighted Eagles.

Number-two ranked Stratton/Liberty defeated number-three ranked Cheyenne Wells on Saturday, 36-15, which puts numbers one and two in the Championship on Thursday, Dec. 3. Per CHSAA's scheduling, the 6-man Championship will be played at CSU-Pueblo's Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl at 2 p.m. on Thursday with limited spectators permitted.

 

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