This year’s 2017 3A state championship game will be the Erie Tigers and the Palmer Ridge Bears at The Air Force Academy this Saturday. Both teams have had outstanding seasons with the Bears going undefeated and the Tigers with only only two losses on the season.

The Tigers blew away the Longmont Trojans last Saturday during their home semifinal game with a score of 31-14. The Tigers offense plowed through the Trojan defense letting Noah Roper run for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Jacob Mansdorfer also had two touchdowns on the game with 15 carries.

Ty Evans, Palmer Ridge’s star QB, will be the best quarterback that the Tigers will have faced. He had committed to Arkansas before their coaching change and has several other D1 offers. Evans has 3,318 passing yards this year with 721 of them coming in these last three playoff games. Palmer Ridge also has Zach Hester who is their defensive end and tight end. He has had 25 tackles with 8 sacks just in these last three games.

The last time Erie won a championship was twenty years ago back in 1997 when the school was 1A. The last time Erie made it to the championship was in 2008 and Erie lost to Olathe in overtime at the 2A state game. This will be the first ever title game for Palmer Ridge.

Coach Cooper, for the Erie Tigers, has made a big impact on the school’s football team since he took over as head coach last year. He made several changes that took the Tigers to the playoffs last year and that have now brought the Tigers to the state title game for the first time in 20 years.

Come down to the Air Force Academy this Saturday to watch both teams battle it out for the 3A state title. You can be in the parking lot at 9AM to hangout and tailgate but the gates to the stadium do not open until 11. The game will start at 1PM.