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Hayden — The nine seniors on the Hayden High School football squad are fully aware of where they stand.

After their last playoff run ended Nov. 11, 2006, at the hands of the Limon Badgers, they set a goal of not only returning to the Class 1A state playoffs, but also doing what no other Hayden Tigers team has done in the history of the school's program - advance past the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

"This is the first group of seniors, ever, to go to the playoffs all four years in a row," senior Sam Kopsa said before Wednesday's practice. "We want to make something memorable - make history, pretty much."

But Kopsa is fully aware of the task ahead, and knows that it will "take good D and explosive offense" for the Tigers to make their mark in the state record books. As the No. 5 seed, with a 35-27 win against Sanford last weekend, Hayden advances to play at No. 4 Byers at 1 p.m. Saturday in a quarterfinal match-up. Byers earned an 8-1 record in the tough South Central League, with only a one-point loss to No. 2-seed Limon.

The Byers squad is an equally determined bunch - their roster features 17 seniors, 10 of whom are in the starting lineup.

"They've never made it past the quarterfinals either," Hayden coach Shawn Baumgartner said. "So this is just as big for both programs."

The Hayden front line has seen the gaudy weights that Byers stacks, bigger than any Western Slope League opponent they've faced - 240, 250 and 260 pounds. But the Tigers seniors aren't heading into the game with the David-versus-Goliath mindset that characterized last year's quarterfinal against the vaunted Badgers.

"It's just another game," Hayden senior Garrett Murchison said. "And this one's more doable."

"We're definitely looking at this one better than we did Limon last year," Hayden senior Aaron Haskins said. "It's our senior year and we want nothing more than to get to the third round and then, hopefully, beyond.

"I know we're going to give it everything we have and, hopefully, everyone else does, too."

- To reach Dave Shively, call 871-4253 or e-mail dshively@steamboatpilot.com