LONGMONT — Defense was key for Longmont as the Trojans intercepted Broomfield twice in the second half and stopped the Eagles’ offense from converting on several fourth downs en route to a 21-14 victory in a Class 4A state semifinal Saturday at Everly-Montgomery Field.
“They held us on third-and-short, and two fourth-and-shorts … they did a great job at taking some stuff away from us,” Broomfield coach Gary Davies said. “It’s really tough to win when you have opportunities you don’t get any points on.”
Barrett Ingvaldsen and Ryan Rulon intercepted Broomfield quarterback Logan McCormick, who returned as the starter after leaving last week’s game against Montrose with an ankle injury.
Ingvaldsen’s interception in the fourth quarter led to Longmont scoring on a 10-yard run by quarterback Clint Sigg to give the Trojans a 21-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“They were huge,” Longmont coach Doug Johnson said of the defense. “We were a little banged up coming out of last week and some guys got healthy this week. … A credit to my kids and my coaches, they’re super. They took care of things out there.”
Sigg completed 18-of-26 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 55 yards and another score.
Broomfield’s defense gave the Trojans problems all game. Sigg threw an interception and fumbled the ball on the 1-yard line in the third quarter.
“We could’ve played better on offense,” Sigg said. “We turned it over a few times, but our defense really saved us. We rely on each other and our defense picked up the pace today. They would get the ball right back for us and give us chances.”
Longmont (10-3), the No. 7 seed, will play defending 4A champion Pine Creek (13-0) for the state title at 11 a.m. next Saturday at Sports Authority Field.
Longmont680 7—21Broomfield7007—14
B — McCormick 6 run (Tanigawa kick). L — Coyle 1 run (failed 2pt). L — Sullivan 22 pass from Sigg (Sigg run). L — Sigg 10 run (Rothe kick). B — Panicucci 21 pass from McCormick (Tanigawa kick).
Joe Nguyen: jnguyen@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joenguyen
