FORT COLLINS – The opening minutes inside a pressure cooker can spit out some extreme results.

Dakota Ridge and Palmer Ridge found themselves on opposite ends of that spectrum in Saturday’s 4A football championship game, which the top-seeded Eagles won, 38-14, at Canvas Stadium at Colorado State University.

Within four minutes, Palmer Ridge trailed by a touchdown.

Less than four minutes later, the deficit was 14.

Before the quarter ended, the Bears found themselves down 21-0.

Palmer Ridge, unbeaten entering this frigid contest, didn’t give up three touchdowns in a game during the regular season.

“I don’t know,” Bears coach Zac Carlton said, contemplating what led to the rugged start that included two interceptions and Dakota Ridge touchdowns of 44, 84 and 6 yards in the opening 12 minutes. “I just think we didn’t execute, really.

“We didn’t play as fast as we usually did in the weeks prior, and we just weren’t executing at a high level. Second half, I think we did a better job. … We were slow moving in that first half, and it took us a half to get our feet underneath us.”

Dakota Ridge outgained Palmer Ridge 194-36 in the first quarter. The Bears led 327-266 in yardage the rest of the way, but the direction of the game was largely established by the first quarter.

This isn’t to suggest nerves were at play. Motivation, in a state championship game, also isn’t a question. If anything, chalk it up to a few broken tackles on big plays, a few athletic moves to come up with interceptions, and that hard-to-describe impact of pressure that can exaggerate things in a hurry.

“That was the thing that set us up for the entire game,” said Dakota Ridge quarterback Kellen Behrendesen, who threw for 253 yards and four touchdowns. “After we get hot, we’re hard to stop. After all our guys know what we can do and we do it, there’s no turning back.”