4A Soccer

Jessica Maestas

Football
12/7/2024 6:02:53 PM

Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps

FORT COLLINS — Just as it appeared Montrose was about to score a game-tying touchdown in the final moments of the Class 4A state championship, Broomfield senior strong safety Gio Toledo soared through the air at Canvas Stadium to prevent it from happening against the second-seeded Red Hawks.

Two years after delivering the play that propelled the fifth-seeded Eagles to the state championship — which they ultimately won — he clinched their sixth state title overall with a stunning interception. This pivotal play on the Eagles’ own 14-yard line capped off a remarkable 28-point comeback in their exhilarating 35-28 victory over the Red Hawks.

“Gio is that guy, and Gio does that every day in practice,” head coach Robert O’Brien remarked. “I wasn’t at all surprised to see him make that play in the state championship. He does it every day in practice. No surprise at all to me.”

In 2022, Toledo recovered a fumble from Colorado touchdown leader Blake Barnett on the 1-yard line on his home field. A week later, the Eagles triumphed over Loveland at Mile High Stadium. He was a hero once more in his last game with Broomfield.

“I anticipated the pass was coming,” Toledo explained. “I mean, (Aidan Grijalva) and (Chase Mehan) are the quarterback’s primary targets. I didn’t see him throw to anyone else. After halftime, we adjusted our strategy and returned to our base defense with four DBs. So I focused on my assignment, turned back for the ball, it was right there, and I made a play on it.”

He wasn’t the sole Eagle rising to the occasion in the title game. Senior quarterback Darien Jackson received the Most Outstanding Player award after throwing for 181 yards and two touchdowns, as well as rushing one in himself. Senior cornerback Mikhail Benner, who will head to Air Force next year, added 112 yards and his own touchdown on offense while also shutting down Montrose defensively.

The Red Hawks’ offense dominated Broomfield during the first half, scoring with each possession. The Eagles struggled against Grijalva, who rushed for two touchdowns with 71 yards on eight carries. Montrose quarterback Cade Saunders added to the Eagles’ woes with 63 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Whenever the Eagles managed to score, they counted on Jackson to boost the scoreboard. He recorded 106 yards passing in the first half alone, connecting with Elliot Less and Benner in the end zone.

The Red Hawks held a lead of 21 points with 40 seconds left in the first half, but momentum began to shift after that. The Eagles traveled 81 yards in that brief timeframe before Jackson completed a perfect pass to Benner, who barely reached the pylon.

“Everyone will say that catch at the end of the game was the game-winning play, but that end zone score with six seconds left in the half was the pivotal score of the game,” O’Brien stated. “We surged 81 yards in 40 seconds to narrow this to a two-score game, and we regained possession in the second half.”

Broomfield came out like a tidal wave following its 28-14 halftime deficit.

The strongest waves came from Less, Joe Larsen, and Jackson, who accounted for the last three touchdowns of the game through their runs. Meanwhile, Broomfield’s defense halted the Red Hawks’ progress completely.

Benner was the first to subdue Montrose’s offense. Soon after Less fumbled the ball into the end zone, resulting in a touchback for the Red Hawks, Benner returned the favor with a fumble recovery on the very next play.

Toledo finally ended the Red Hawks’ chances with the interception with 2:06 left on the clock. Broomfield’s senior class demonstrated its formidable prowess once again.

“You really can’t ask for anything more, right?” O’Brien remarked. “Like the strip down here, Gio Toledo’s diving interception, Mikhail Benner’s one-handed tip-to-himself catch. Darien Jackson declaring with a minute and a half on the clock, ‘Let me throw the ball. I’m going to complete this ball. We’re going to win this football game’. And that’s exactly what he did.

“It’s all about culture. It doesn’t matter who the coach is or who the players are. Broomfield High School consistently excels. And that’s culture right there. We practice that every day, and a huge thanks to our administration for supporting our culture every single day.”