Just one victory separates Palmer Ridge from a coveted 4A golden football plaque.

Palmer Ridge will head to the championship game after the No. 3-seeded Bears eked out a 31-29 victory at No. 2 Montrose in Saturday’s semifinal matchup.

With the win against the Red Hawks, Palmer Ridge has won 29 consecutive road games and will extend that streak to at least 2026 since the Dec. 6 title game will be played at a neutral location.

The Bears’ last road loss occurred Nov. 7, 2019, in a 3A tilt with Discovery Canyon. Palmer Ridge’s win also means the Bears improved to 6-0 away from Don Breese Stadium and last dropped a road game more than 2,200 days ago.

In their 4A semifinal game against Montrose, that streak appeared in jeopardy as Cole Harris threw an interception on the Bears’ first drive and the Red Hawks built an 8-0 first quarter lead off the turnover.

But the Bears (13-0) reached pay dirt the following drive after Jackson Mabe carried the ball 2 yards for a score to make it 8-7 in the opening frame. Montrose (12-1) took a 22-20 lead into the break after the teams traded a pair of touchdowns in the final 14 minutes of the first half.

Magnus Newman, who scored twice for the Bears in the first half, cut the Red Hawks’ lead to 22-20 after he received a pass from Harris, took it from the middle of the field at Montrose’s 15 to the Bears’ sideline and remained inbounds for the touchdown as the clock hit zeros.

The Bears forced a turnover on downs on the Red Hawks’ first possession of the second half and required just two plays to take their first and final lead.

Harris tossed the ball to Zak Crisler, who faked the run and threw it to Newman to give the senior wideout the hat trick on touchdowns and built a 28-22 Bears lead with 6:08 left in the third.

Crisler added three more with a 20-yard field goal in the fourth to make it 31-22 with 7:01 left in the game. Although the Red Hawks scored swiftly on their next possession and trimmed the lead to 31-29 with 5:44 on the clock, they could not recover their onside kick, which the Bears grabbed at the 50.

Palmer Ridge drove to the Montrose 13 where the Red Hawks forced a fourth-and-6 with 1:52 left, but Harris found Crisler on a pass, which he took to the Red Hawks 1 for the first down and that allowed the Bears to kneel out the clock. The victory puts Palmer Ridge in the 4A title game for the second time in three years and third time since 2020.

The Bears will face top-seeded Dakota Ridge (13-0) in the championship game at Colorado State University’s Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins at 1 p.m. Saturday.  This is just the second meeting between the schools. Palmer Ridge beat the Eagles in their lone meeting in 2015.