Archive for Monday, November 9, 2009
Steamboat Springs High School quarterback Austin Hinder celebrates during the final seconds of Steamboat’s Friday night game against Glenwood Springs High School. The Sailors (10-0) earned the No. 4 seed in the Class 3A playoffs and will face No. 13 seed Berthoud (7-3) on Saturday.
Game time announced for Sailors football playoff opener
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Steamboat vs. Glenwood Springs highlights
Highlights from Friday's game against Glenwood Springs.
Steamboat Springs — In what amounts to somewhat of a head-scratcher, the Steamboat Springs High School football team was awarded the No. 4 seed in the 16-team Class 3A state playoff bracket Sunday.
Steamboat, which finished the season 10-0 and won the Western Slope League championship, will play Berthoud in the first round. The game is at 7 p.m. Friday at Gardner Field in Steamboat.
“It is what it is,” Steamboat football coach Aaron Finch said. “You’ve got to beat good teams to win the state championship. That’s got to be our focus. Berthoud is a good football team with good tradition.”
Berthoud finished the season 7-3 and is the third-place team out of the Tri-Valley conference. Two years ago, however, Berthoud won a state championship.
The Spartans started the year 1-2 before winning six of their next seven.
Steamboat and Berthoud share one common opponent.
Berthoud lost to Moffat County, 20-14, in the first game of the season, and Steamboat beat Moffat, 42-14, this season.
Despite that common opponent, Finch said Berthoud is a much better team than it was during the first game of the season.
Finch said he knows little about Berthoud at this point, beside the fact the Spartans run out of a spread formation on offense.
“We have a lot to learn,” he said.
Most thought Steamboat was in line to earn a top-three seed in the playoffs, with the real possibility of being the No. 1 overall seed.
The Colorado High School Activities Association did the seedings solely based on Wild Card standings.
The Wild Card standings are based on win-loss record and the teams schools played.
Steamboat’s schedule included Class 2A teams Holy Family and Buena Vista. Part of the Wild Card points is based on what classification a team plays against. Essentially, teams are awarded more points for playing a higher classification.
Although that certainly played a part in Steamboat’s seed, Finch said the Steamboat mantra is still the same: win four football games to win a state championship.
“We have the opportunity to do that,” he said. “It’s exciting. It’s one game at a time. Berthoud is a really good football team.”
— To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com
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