LAKEWOOD — The Classical Academy girls flag football team had a heartbreaking end to a historic inaugural season as they fell short to Mountain View in the 4A state championship game.
For a recap of the first two playoff games, click here.
Semifinals:
TCA 19, Green Mountain 16
It was a slow start for the Titans in their first game of championship weekend. TCA’s defense had allowed zero points this post season up to this point but Green Mountain only needed one drive to end that streak. Green Mountain’s touchdown gave them a 6-0 lead and the Titans were held scoreless in the first quarter.
TCA found their rhythm in the second quarter as Kelsey Peterson found Reagan Harter for a ling touchdown pass to put them on the board and give them a 7-6 lead. Green Mountain was threatening to score with under a minute to go in the half but Brooklyn Blair picked off their quarterback to prevent a go-ahead touchdown.
One play later the Titans scored as Brinley Mezey caught the pass before pitching it back to Lilian Grothe and she took it nearly 60-yards to put TCA up 13-7 at the break.
Green Mountain reclaimed the lead early in the third quarter after capitalizing on a TCA turnover. The Titans answered back on a third and long play as Peterson found Harter for another lengthy touchdown grab and run. Harter’s second touchdown gave TCA a 19-14 lead.
Things got more interesting with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Green Mountain picked off TCA inside their own territory and had a chance to upset the number one seed. A few plays later and Blair came up with her second interception of the game, setting up the TCA offense at their own one-yard line.
TCA was not able to escape the pressure as they were backed up into their own end zone and Green Mountain came up with a safety. With les than a minute to play, Green Mountain needed a 66-yard game wining drive but the Titans defense held strong and pushed TCA into the title game.
Championship:
Mountain View 26, TCA 0
The Titans struggled to move the ball on offense and Mountain View took advantage of that. Mountain View scored 13 unanswered point in the first quarter, putting TCA in the biggest hole they’ve seen in the post-season.
The Titans defense held strong and kept TCA in the game as long as they could. With Mountain View on the door step of the goal line as the first half was winding down, TCA came up with a big stop to avoid trailing by three scores going into half time.
The explosive pass game TCA is known for was just not working in this game. They had a few hook ups in the third quarter that picked up a chunk of yards but it never led to any points going up on the board.
The score remained 13-0 going into the fourth quarter but crucial turnovers on TCA’s part allowed Mountain View to score twice more in the final period of the game.
The Titans are one graduating four seniors so the young core will return next year with a lot of experience and a chip on their shoulder.
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