Most Colorado High Schools Begin Football Playoffs Thursday

For most Colorado high schools, football playoffs begin later this week.

Five of the seven high school classifications will start the first round of postseason playoffs as early as Thursday. Two classifications – Class 4A and Class 3A – have one more weekend of the regular season before starting playoffs.

In Class 5A, the Grand Junction Tigers have made it into playoff contention, and will play against No. 1 Ralston Valley at 4 p.m. Friday at NAAC Stadium in Denver.

In Class 2A, Moffat County, Gunnison and Montezuma-Cortez are among the 16 teams making it into playoff contention. Montezuma-Cortez will kick off the weekend by hosting St. Mary’s Friday night. Moffat County and Gunnison both have Saturday afternoon games, with Moffat County traveling No. 1 Brush and Gunnison hosting Sterling.

In Class 1A, four Western Colorado teams are in the top 16, with three of the four games set for Saturday afternoon. Hotchkiss will travel to Buena Vista for their game on Friday. Cedaredge also travels this weekend and will take on Resurrection Christian on Saturday. Meeker will host Ellicott, and No. 1 Paonia will host Wiggins.

In Class 8-man, No. 2 Norwood will host Fowler Saturday afternoon. And in Class 6-man, only eight teams are going into the first round of playoffs, with all games scheduled for Saturday. The eight teams include No. 1 Arickaree/Woodlin hosting No. 8 North Park.