3A football championships: Palmer Ridge, Pueblo East tour facility in preparation for Saturday’s title game
PUEBLO – The buzz before the 3A state championship intensified Wednesday as representatives from Palmer Ridge and Pueblo East met for an exclusive tour of Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl Stadium — the site of Saturday’s state championship showdown.
Nearly the entire Palmer Ridge football senior class attended Wednesday’s media day event as coach Tom Pulford said each senior is equally deserving of the experience. They toured the locker room, facilities, and checked out the turf as both teams’ logos flashed on the north scoreboard, ready for Saturday.
“It’s nice psychologically to know where you’re playing,” said Palmer Ridge quarterback Ty Evans. “This is great because I’m going to know the locker room and the vibe of the field and how everything is going to be set up. I don’t know why, but it’s comforting.”
After the tour, media gathered to hear from CSU-Pueblo football coach John Wristen, and the head coaches from Palmer Ridge and Pueblo East.
“You guys have a chance to go live a dream,” Wristen said. “Go enjoy the moment for 48 minutes and go have some fun with your brothers. That’s what it’s all about. You guys work too darn hard to not enjoy it.”
Pulford and East coach Andrew Watts talked about their respective seasons and the hope that they would meet again in the playoffs after their Week 3 matchup.
Palmer Ridge lost at home 28-21 to Pueblo East, but has not dropped a game since. East on the other hand, lost two straight after its win over the Bears. Both teams enter the state championship 11-2.
“I think that we’ve had valuable learning opportunities and identifying things we can do better after that week three loss,” Pulford said. “We really believe that champions don’t do extraordinary things, we believe they do the normal things better than anyone else. That’s been our focus coming out of that week three loss.”
Watts said his team did some soul searching after their 3-0 start turned into 3-2 midway through the season.
“We challenge the boys to trust us and trust the process and keep their head down and grind, and here we are,” Watts said. “We’re very fortunate that CSU-Pueblo landed the site. We knew when it was announced that we had a shot to be in this position and fortunately for us it is that hometown environment and it’s going to be more like a home game.”
The Colorado High School Activities Association said officials are expecting upward of 6,000 fans to pack the ThunderBowl on Saturday and are urging fans to purchase tickets in advance in order to avoid long lines before kickoff.
Palmer Ridge is considered the home team, but will likely enter a hostile environment of football fans from across Pueblo.
“I think it’s a shock to nobody that I say it’s not really neutral this year, but it wasn’t really a neutral site last year either,” Evans said, speaking of last year’s state title game played at Air Force Falcon Stadium — just 9.3 miles from Palmer Ridge High School. “We know most of the fans are going to be Pueblo people. We’re going to be walking in wearing blue, but still be the visitors, but that’s OK. Once you get on the field it’s the same 120 yards I’ve been playing on my whole life.”