Playoff football roundup: Mesa Ridge wins for first time in football playoffs

4A FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

No. 10 Mesa Ridge 35, No. 7 Montrose 14

At Montrose: Mesa Ridge put up two goal-line stands in the first quarter, then proceded to hammer Montrose for the school’s first postseason football victory.

“The boys played great,” coach Rob Braaten said. “We really finished.”

The Grizzlies (8-3) scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, then added two more in the third quarter to build a 28-0 lead in windy, rainy conditions on the other side of the state.

Tremell Stanley scored two rushing touchdowns, Curtis Crockett added a score on the ground and Cody Groff threw touchdowns to Morris Gilbert and Devon Miller.

Miller’s touchdown came after he had thwarted a Montrose (7-4) drive with an interception.

The key to the game came early, as the Indians marched inside the Mesa Ridge 10-yard line on separate occasions but couldn’t punch it in.

“They run the ball really well, and we did a nice job against them early of keeping them in check,” Braaten said.

This was Mesa Ridge’s third trip to the football playoffs — the most recent coming in 2010 — and the first time it has advanced to the quarterfinals.

The Grizzlies will host No. 2 Ponderosa at 7 p.m. Friday.

No. 5 Monarch 24, No. 12 Falcon 14

At Monarch: Falcon couldn’t hold onto a 14-7 halftime lead, as Monarch stormed back with 17 unanswered points to advance.

The clinching touchdown came on a second-effort from Monarch quarterback Cole Watson on a short keeper with 2:44 remaining. That score came after a Coyotes interception that was returned from midfield to the Falcon 25 with 7:12 remaining and the Falcons trailing 17-14.

Both Falcon scores came from junior running back Kalen Ballage, who ran for 108 yards in the first half — 53 coming on the first play from scrimmage.

Monarch will visit No. 4 Vista Ridge next week, while Falcon’s season ends at 7-4.