Football is an important part of life in Southwest Colorado and Hutton Broadcasting’s Cortez station KRTZ (98.7FM/106.3FM) is at many local games bringing the action to listeners’ radios. That was the case in the exciting state championship game the day after Thanksgiving.
“From a quiet mountain valley emerges a bold state champion!” Kelly Turner, director of operations and programming for Hutton’s Four Corners region, exclaimed. “The Mancos High School Bluejays football team, for years, has had the motto of ‘Brotherhood’ — and they turned Black Friday to Blue Friday, as the Brotherhood won the school’s first-ever 8-man state football championship.”
Bringing Football Games Home to Listeners
KRTZ (98.7FM/106.3FM) was the exclusive radio broadcaster at the historic event, complete with a special hour-long pregame show and postgame on-the-field interviews with the champions, who defeated long-time rivals Haxtun 40-0.
The two-person crew of Kelly Turner (play-by-play) and Ben Bradley (analyst/postgame field interviewer) originated the broadcast from the ThunderBowl at Colorado State University-Pueblo, with the kickoff temperature of a brisk 21 degrees.
“We want to thank our advertising sponsors, the local communities in southwestern Colorado, and our families for supporting us on this broadcast on Thanksgiving weekend,” Kelly said.
Those in the community who couldn’t make it to the game, no doubt, were listening to the radio or the livestream. It was the third year in a row that KRTZ has broadcast this championship game, and the second in a row in which a local team has brought home a state championship trophy. Dove Creek High School took home the trophy in 2022 and Mancos in 2023).
In fact, KRTZ, along with sister station KVFC (News-Talk 740 & 92.3), has been broadcasting local high school sports since 1983 and has taken the show to a global audience on the live 24/7 station streams. Kelly Turner has been doing play-by-play sports on the radio for 26 years.
If a local team is in a championship game in upcoming years, you can count on KRTZ to bring the game to your radio.