Bayfield High School’s path to a third football state championship was revealed Sunday morning.
The Wolverines moved up one spot to No. 3 in the final week of the season in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings that determine state playoff seeding. Bayfield (9-0) jumped La Junta (8-1) to claim the third spot in the 2017 CHSAA 2A State Football Playoffs.
Bayfield will welcome No. 14 Elizabeth (6-3) to Wolverine Country Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals have experience against the top teams in the state already. They lost to No. 2 Kent Denver 35-0 on Sept. 29 and lost 21-13 to No. 4 La Junta on Sept. 15.
Platte Valley (9-0) earned the No. 1 seed in the bracket thanks to its strong RPI. The Broncos, who lost to Bayfield in the 2015 state championship game, will open against No. 16 D’Evelyn (5-4) and are on track to meet La Junta in the semifinals.
The winner of the Bayfield-Elizabeth game will face the winner of No. 6 Basalt (8-1) and No. 11 Salida (7-2) . Also on Bayfield’s side of the bracket are No. 7 Faith Christian (8-1), No. 10 Bishop Macebeuf (8-1), No. 15 Resurrection Christian (5-4) as well as No. 2 Kent Denver (9-0), who the coaches voted the top-team in the state all season. Coaches also voted Bayfield the No. 2 team in the state all year.
Pagosa Springs (6-3) made the bracket as the No. 13 seed and will open at La Junta. Eaton (7-2) earned the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Sterling (7-2) in the opening round.
Also on Platte Valley’s side of the bracket is No. 5 The Classical Academy (8-1), which will host No. 12 Aspen (8-1) in the first round.
Of the top four teams in the 2A playoffs, Bayfield scored the most points (359) and gave up the fewest (49) in the regular season.
The Wolverines have won 17 consecutive games at home, including the postseason, since Oct. 24, 2014. That is a program record.
In the CHSAA playoffs, the higher seed hosts first-round games. After that, a team that has yet to be home will earn the right to host a game. If both teams in a matchup were home the previous week, the higher seed will host.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
