Tyler Thompson ran for 27 yards and had a 2-yard touchdown run, helping the South to a 33-25 comeback victory over the North in Saturday's Colorado High School Coaches Association all-state football game at the University of Northern Colorado.

"The holes were there, so I just ran," said Thompson, who was one of several running backs on the roster.

Thompson, who finished up a storied prep career at Rifle in the fall, and the South engineered a massive comeback, scoring the game's final 25 points - in a 17-minute span - to sneak out of Greeley triumphant.

The Bear's short burst came in the fourth quarter and pulled the South to within two points at 25-23.

Thompson also contributed on defense at outside linebacker.

"It was a lot of fun," said Thompson, who'll play football at Chadron State in Nebraska next year. "Coming together as a team with people you just met, that's football at its prime."

The football all-staters got into Greeley on Tuesday, June 5, and practiced in the days preceding North-South clash. Thompson said that after an initial bout of shyness everyone clicked.

"It just got better and better in the dorms and stuff," he said. "Everybody was clicking, getting along real good. I made a lot of friends."

Also a wrestling and track star at Rifle, football was Thompson's best game.

He rushed for close to 2,011 yards and 26 touchdowns during his senior season, earning Class 3A Western Slope League Back of the Year honors. In Rifle's two playoff games alone, the speedy back rushed for six scores.

Thompson and the Bears advanced two rounds deep into the 3A playoffs in 2006, on the heels of a state title game appearance in 2005 and a state championship in 2004.

McKinley helps White team dominate boys hoops final

Sam McKinley must have felt right at home with his all-state basketball team.

The Grand Valley senior, whose Cardinal team ran and gunned its way to a Class 2A title, and fellow all-staters on the White team employed a high-octane offense in a 108-87 win over the Blue team.

McKinley contributed four points in the championship of the four-game all-state tourney at UNC's Butler-Hancock Pavilion. Fittingly enough, the Card's one field goal was a 3-pointer, something he shot plenty of during his high school days.

McKinley plans on attending UNC in the fall and will attempt to land a walk-on roster spot with the Division I program.

Other area hoopsters participating in the boys all-state games were Glenwood Springs' Ryan Foraker, who suited up for the Red team and Roaring Fork's Kyle Raaflaub and Kade Gianinetti, who played for the Black team.

Glenwood Springs post Sam Ciani represented the local hoops scene in the girls all-state games. She and her Black squad teammates did not advance past the semifinals.