2 weeks Ago
PARKER — Magic may have touched Fairview football’s Class 5A quarterfinal game at EchoPark Stadium during last week’s stunner over No. 2 Mountain Vista, but on Saturday afternoon in the same location, it was the No. 7 Knights who were spellbound.
Sixth-seeded Legend just proved too much to handle in the 35-21 finish, especially during the third quarter. The Knights played the Titans toe-to-toe, save for that 12-minute blip to start the second half. And with it, their 12-1 season came to a grinding halt as the Titans now move on to play No.
1 Cherry Creek in the title game next week. Prior to the start of this season, the Knights hadn’t won a playoff game since 2019. They made up for it by winning three.
“We’ve had really good seasons the last few years, and so there was a hunger,” head coach Tom McCartney said. “The guys just didn’t want to be denied. They wanted to win their home playoff game.
They wanted to show that they could beat one of the elite teams, so that kind of hunger and that kind of belief in each other carried us.” The Knights’ stars shined even in defeat, as they had through every victory leading up to the finale. Sophomore quarterback Ki Ellison put together a strong performance with 231 passing yards and touchdown passes to junior defensive back Toray Davis, who finished his afternoon with 49 offensive yards, and senior wide receiver Jordan Rechel.
Rechel added another 123 yards. The score from Rechel down the stretch handed him his 29th touchdown of the season. He entered the contest tied for No.
1 in the state in that category. “Obviously with Jordan, the guy’s been a four-year starter,” McCartney said. “He led the state with touchdowns last year.
He’s now leading the state again this year as a senior. He just finds ways to get in the end zone. He never comes off the field.
He’s had a special four years and he’s going to be hard to replace, meaning you can’t replace someone like him. He’s a once-in-a-generation type player. He’s phenomenal.
” Davis, he said, has an equally bright future ahead of him as he’s fielding Division-I offers left and right. He showcased why from the first snap. Davis kicked the game off with a 15-yard reception from Ellison in the corner of the end zone, but the Titans were quick to respond every time the Knights passed the pylon in the first half.
Legend’s Ryken Banks put together his own receiving touchdown, this time on a monster 48-yard gain, just two minutes after the Knights first altered the scoreboard. Fairview's Toray Davis reaches for the ball as Legend's Freddie Burke defends against him during the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) Fairview's Max Vieth drops Legend's Jaden Lawrence during the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) Fairview's Jordan Rechel flies past Legend's defense during the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) Fairview's Ki Ellison makes a pass during the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) A legion of Titans takes down Fairview's Jordan Rechel during the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) Fairview's Ryder Villareal battles with Legend's Champ Jones during the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) Fairview's Ki Ellison escapes the grasp of Legend's Tatum O'Donnell during the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) Fairview's Bo Waldo (45) and Enzo Pulte (52) lead the team out onto the field ahead of the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) Fairview's Toray Davis reaches for the ball as Legend's Freddie Burke defends against him during the Knights' Class 5A semifinal game against Legend at EchoPark Stadium on Nov. 30, 2024.
(Alissa Noe/BoCoPreps.com) Davis turned his opening score into a heroic effort on defense to save the Knights from their first big error of the game. Legend’s Aaron Carlson, having picked off Ellison’s short pass, sprinted 75 yards back toward the end zone.
But just before he touched the line, Davis knocked the ball out of his hands, then recovered it in the end zone himself. “I looked back and I just saw he had the ball,” Davis said. “I knew I was the only one that would be able to catch him.
I just had to hawk him down and punch the ball out.” Brock Kolstad pushed the Knights back into the lead with a short run into the end zone four minutes into the second quarter, but as the popular saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” That’s exactly what Legend did.
Derek Neuenschwander made Ellison pay for his second mistake midway through the second, taking the interception a short distance back to score and draw the two teams at 14-14 going into the half. The Titans secured that disadvantage with a major defensive stop within the 5-yard line in the closing seconds of the first half, then flipped the script in the third quarter. Legend turned up the physicality coming out of the break, and punished the Knights for every missed tackle en route to a 28-14 lead heading into the final quarter.
Ellison and Rechel helped stop the bleeding with a 35-yard connection in the final eight minutes, but the Knights couldn’t stop the Titans from touching the scoreboard one more time. Fairview’s season ended just one stop short of its first title game appearance since 2013, but this band of Knights achieved a feat that hadn’t been done in five years. Rechel, who said he’ll make his college decision in the next few months, wouldn’t trade the experience.
“This team is very special,” he said. “I’ve never been a part of a team like this team. Things didn’t end the way that we wanted to, but just to be able to come out here and be on this field with this team, there’s just no other feeling compared to it.
It’s just the brotherhood and the camaraderie and just everyone having each other’s backs. We never gave up to the very last whistle.” View a list of Prep sports and high school teams we cover.
.
