FORT COLLINS >> Broomfield’s Mikhail Benner dragged a toe inbounds for a touchdown catch in the final seconds of the first half on Saturday.

His teammate, Elliot Less, followed it up on the other side of the break by dragging a defender along with him into the end zone.

No doubt, the start to the Class 4A title game at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins was a drag for Broomfield, which found itself down three touchdowns less than a minute until halftime. But in response — call it a drag-and-drop of big plays and scores — enough of which to rally the No. 5 Eagles past No. 2 Montrose, 35-28, for their second title in three seasons.

“We never batted an eye,” said Less, who scored in all four of Broomfield’s postseason games and twice in the title-game win. “We got punched in the mouth in the first. But we never gave up.”

Broomfield trailed 28-7 with 40 seconds left in the opening half before answering with the game’s final 28 points.

At the final whistle, Eagles players and coaches mobbed each other. Then they all went to celebrate with their their fans, who draped down from the front of the stands to collect hugs and high-fives.

The championship was the sixth in program history and came in Year 2 for coach Robert O’Brien.

“They played a phenomenal first half. We played a phenomenal second half,” a Gatorade-soaked O’Brien said. “We just had enough plays at the end of the game to win that thing.”

Darien Jackson — CHSAA’s player of the game — threw for two scores, and his 2-yard run with 4:30 remaining gave the Eagles their first lead of the afternoon.

Gio Toledo — who sealed the Eagles’ place in the 2022 finals by forcing Erie’s Blake Barnett to fumble at the goal line — added to his high school legacy with a sprawled-out interception on the ensuing drive for Montrose.

And fittingly enough, it was Jackson-to-Benner to end it. Needing to burn the rest of the clock, Jackson, from inside his own 10, split two defenders with a throw down the middle of the field. Benner stretched out and tipped the ball to himself for the game-clinching, 36-yard catch.

“Everyone is going to say that catch was the game-winning play,” O’Brien said.

But he knew it was Benner’s earlier highlight grab that changed everything.

Back when things had gone from bad to worse for Broomfield and Montrose had just taken a three-touchdown lead in the final minute of the half.

A dagger, it wasn’t.

Broomfield’s lightning-quick, six-play, 80-yard scoring drive swung momentum.

Benner’s toe-grabbing, 10-yard TD catch against the front pylon came with 3 seconds left on the clock had given the Eagles life.

“Ball players are going to make plays, so I had to go out there and make a play and set the tone at halftime,” Benner said. “We got the ball after half, then had a nice comeback.”Broomfield was dominant from there on. It tied the game on touchdowns from Less and Joseph Larsen in the third quarter. It actually fumbled right before the goal line in the fourth, but Benner got the ball back with a fumble recovery of his own on the next play, which set up Jackson’s game-winner.

“This feels great,” Jackson said. “I was fourth string two years ago. I was a backup last year and came in when they needed. And now I’m the starting quarterback for a state (championship) team.”

Earlier in Fort Collins, Mead lost to Thompson Valley in the 3A title game. Cherry Creek faced Legend in the 5A game later on.