Cherry Creek enters the Class 5A state football playoffs as the No. 1 seed after finishing the regular season 9-1, according to Sports Illustrated's bracket breakdown.

The Bruins received a first-round bye and will face the winner of the No. 16 Heritage vs. No. 17 Cherokee Trail game in the second round. That first-round matchup was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, according to CHSAANow.com.

No. 2 Valor Christian also earned a bye. If both top seeds advance through the bracket, they would meet in the 5A championship game Dec. 5 at Colorado State University's Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins.

That potential rematch carries weight. The Bruins have won six of the last seven 5A titles under head coach Dave Logan, who holds a state-record 13 career championships at four different 5A schools, according to CHSAANow.com's 2025 title recap. Cherry Creek's only title-game loss in that stretch came against Columbine in 2023. The Bruins are 15-time state champions overall.

September's thriller still echoes

Cherry Creek and Valor Christian already met once this season, and it took a last-second field goal to separate them.

In a Sept. 18 game at Valor Stadium in Highlands Ranch, the Eagles led for all but the final nine seconds before falling 16-15, as The Denver Post reported. Senior kicker Jolon Quintana executed an onside kick with 2:03 remaining, and junior tight end Jack George recovered it. Quintana then drilled a 27-yard field goal after an 18-yard scramble by quarterback Montae Johnson set up the kick.

"I was most proud tonight that there were three or four times we could've just let go of the rope," Logan said in The Denver Post's September coverage. "Down 12-0, things not going our way, sure-handed guys dropping passes. We just found a way."

Valor Christian head coach Mike Sanford said his team needed to learn from the loss.

"We've just got to finish the game, bottom line," Sanford told The Denver Post. "We had opportunities. … The next step as a program is learning how to win those games."

Talent on both sidelines

Cherry Creek's roster includes Colorado's top-rated senior recruit, 6-foot-5, 305-pound lineman Jackson Roper, and the No. 2 recruit in the Class of 2028, running back Elijah Cromwell, per 247Sports rankings cited by The Denver Post's playoff preview. The Bruins boast four of Colorado's 19 FBS recruits in the Class of 2027.

Valor Christian counters with junior quarterback Titus Huard, whom The Denver Post identified as the top Colorado recruit in next year's class. In the September meeting, Huard connected with senior wideout and Notre Dame commit Jackson Coleman on a 68-yard pass, the longest play of the game.

The Eagles won five 5A titles in a seven-year span from 2012 to 2018 before Cherry Creek took over. Cherry Creek holds an 8-6 edge in 14 all-time meetings between the programs, which first played in 2014. The Bruins eliminated Valor Christian in the semifinals each of the past two seasons.

The 5A bracket includes 24 teams, with the top eight seeds receiving first-round byes, according to CHSAA's bracket release. Mountain Vista and undefeated Fort Collins hold the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds.

Cherry Creek's second-round opponent will be determined by Friday night's Heritage-Cherokee Trail result.