RIFLE, Colorado — Roosevelt head football coach Noland Eastin sees something special brewing for the Rifle Bears.

“They've got some magic going on,” the young coach said. “I'm telling you, something's going on over there.”

Rifle's magic worked against Eastin's team on Saturday.

Behind 100-yard rushing performances from both Ryan Moeller and Brandon Kittle, the fourth-seeded Bears opened the Class 3A playoffs with a 14-7 win over No. 13 Roosevelt.

Moeller finished with 175 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries and Kittle turned in 131 yards and a score on 19 totes as the Bears improved to 11-0 in front of a raucous home crowd. They'll host No. 5 Windsor in the second round next week.

Physical football — and a little magic — got the job done on a frigid Saturday in Rifle. The Bears built a 14-0 lead and held on down the stretch.

Fortuitous bounces certainly helped.

Rifle fumbled the ball three times, but only one of those fumbles resulted in a loss of possession. On the flip side, the Bears recovered two of the Rough Riders' three fumbles.

With Rifle on offense and clinging to a seven-point lead early in the fourth quarter, a botched exchange led to a fumble that was recovered by Roosevelt. A procedure penalty against the Bears wiped out the play, allowing Rifle to retain possession.

Those types of plays are precisely what Eastin is referencing when he talks about magic.

“The ball hits the ground and it's getting bounced to them,” he said. “They fumble and then get a penalty [that negates it]. They've got some magic going. I've seen them on tape. It seems like they're going to get beat and then a fumble pops out and one of their guys jumps on it.”

It wasn't all magic, though. The Bears bring plenty of talent to the field.

Rifle, not exactly a physically imposing team, controlled the line of scrimmage in a big way.

“It just makes me laugh that we can control anything with a bunch of 140-pound kids,” Bears head coach Damon Wells joked. “I'm glad they're ours.”

Eastin certainly left Bears Stadium impressed.

“They're so fast up front,” he said. “That's a good team. They're not big, but they're able to cut you off and get across your face and make some plays you'd normally be able to make against a front like that. They did a great job up front.”

Finding yards behind its offensive front, Rifle took a 7-0 lead just 6 minutes, 47 seconds into the game.

On the Bears' first offensive play from scrimmage, Kittle legged out 36 yards to kick off an 80-yard march. Kittle punctuated the drive with a 13-yard scoring scamper that featured a spin move near the goal line.

Rifle made it 14-0 in the second quarter. This time, Moeller capped an 81-yard drive with a 27-yard burst up the middle.

Roosevelt didn't find its way to the end zone until Juan Sanchez's 1-yard rushing score two minutes into the fourth quarter.

The Rough Riders had their chances after that, but failed to score on any of their final three possessions.

Rifle's defense delivered a series of clutch plays on Roosevelt's last drive, which ended in a turnover on downs.

Kellin Leigh knocked down a Spencer Urban pass on third-and-5 and then, on fourth down, the Bears stuffed a counter play to take possession with 45.9 seconds left.

Quarterback Adam Rice knelt twice to officially end it.

Windsor, which improved to 10-1 with a 41-14 win over Holy Family on Saturday, is now the object of Rifle's focus.

“It seems like nothing's stopping us right now,” said Moeller, a junior. “We've got to keep preparing. You can't underestimate anyone, ever. The playoffs is a totally different game. We just found that out.”

Moeller and the Bears have a fan in Eastin.

“I hope they do well,” said Eastin, whose Rough Riders wrapped an 8-3 campaign. “I like ‘em. They're scrappy. They kind of play old-school football.”

jcaspersen@postindependent.com