The Road to a Colorado State Football Title Starts Now

Colorado’s Western Slope is well represented in the 2026 high school football playoff picture. Schools located West of the Continental Divide are part of the 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A brackets.

Playoff matchups are already underway, with several teams playing this weekend. Keep scrolling to see what the opening round looks like for teams representing Grand Junction, Montrose, Palisade, Fruita-Monument, Rifle, Delta, Durango, and Summit in the postseason.

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Grand Junction Gets a First-Round Bye in the Class 5A Playoffs

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Grand Junction enters the Class 5A playoffs with an 8-2 record and the No. 8 seed, earning a first-round bye. The Tigers will host the winner of the opening-round game between No. 9 Ralston Valley (7-3) and No. 24 Castle View (4-6) on November 13.

Western Slope Teams Take Different Paths To the Class 4A Playoffs

• Montrose is the strongest contender after finishing 8-2 and earning the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. The Redhawks will host the winner of No. 15 Frederick vs. No. 18 Air Academy on November 13.
• Fruita Monument, meanwhile, finished 6-4 and earned the No. 24 seed. The Wildcats open the playoffs against No. 9 Golden on Friday, November 6.
• Durango finished 5-5 but gets a postseason opportunity against No. 12 Columbine on November 6.

Palisade, Rifle and Summit Look to Make Their Mark in Class 3A

• Palisade leads the Western Colorado contingent in Class 3A after finishing 9-1. They’ll begin the playoffs with a bye.
• Rifle finished 5-5 and has a home opening-round matchup against No. 20 Cañon City on November 6. The winner takes on Mead.
• Summit also finished 6-4 and enters the postseason with a first-round matchup with Fort Morgan. They’ll play on November 7; the winner goes to Palisade.

Delta Takes On the Class 2A

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• Congrats to Delta High School for earning the #4 seed in the 2A. Delta enjoyed a first-round bye and awaits their upcoming game against University High School (Greeley, CO) on Saturday at Panther Stadium.

When Are the Colorado High School Football State Championships?

The Class 3A, 4A, and 5A state championship games are scheduled for Saturday, December 5, at Canvas Stadium on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins. The 2A championship is scheduled for November 28 at CSU Pueblo's ThunderBowl.

Tickets for CHSAA playoff games (3A, 4A, and 5A) are sold digitally. The easiest way to purchase them is with the CHSAANOW app for iOS & Android. The app also lets you follow live scores and link to video streams when available. All postseason streaming is exclusive to the NFHS Network.