Unfortunately for the Rock Canyon boys lacrosse team, the Jaguars brought a pocketknife to a lightsaber duel on May 10.
The ones who had those flashier, more advanced weapons? That would be the three-time and defending state champion Valor Christian Eagles.
In a physical Class 5A second-round game, JT Cross, Christian Eframo and Blake Ham each scored four goals to propel the Eagles to a 16-2 win at a sun-splashed Valor Stadium.
The third-seeded Eagles will now host Denver East in a quarterfinal contest on May 14.
Valor topped East, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, 10-2 a month and a half ago. That was the regular season, though. This is the postseason, and Eagles coach Jeremy Noble knows nothing comes easy when teams are vying for state jewelry in May.
“[The score of the previous game] is not indicative of how talented East is,” Noble said. “They’re very well-coached and have a lot of talented players. I’m excited to enjoy the win tonight with our guys and then start preparing for a really talented, young, hungry team [in East].”
That pocketknife actually worked for 19th-seeded Rock Canyon for a bit — with nearly half the second quarter gone, Valor’s lead stood at just 2-1.
That’s because Quinn Cooke was busy denying shot after shot in front of the Jaguars’ cage. He was the player of the game early on.
A goalie can fend off the kind of shooting pressure the Eagles (14-2) were applying only for so long, though (Valor outshot Rock Canyon 45-15 by the time it was all said and done).
The Eagles’ swings started to land four minutes into the second period, when a leaping attempt by Eframo found the back of the net for a 3-1 Valor lead.

Five seconds later, after a faceoff win, Harry Luong whipped a shot past Cooke.
The Eagles got four more goals — two from Ham and one each from Cross and Karter Robichaud — in the last four minutes of the half to take a commanding 8-1 lead.
Just like that, it was a rout.
“Everyone was contributing all around,” Eframo said. “The ball was flowing, everyone was open, everyone was talking. I feel like it was only up from there.”
The only thing that stopped — er, slowed down — Valor’s scoring onslaught was a running clock implemented late in the third quarter.
Cross and Ham each scored twice in the period while Eframo and Rush LaSelle added one goal apiece. Rock Canyon’s (7-10) Joey Sabia also netted a shot on an assist from Tanner Bird in the third.
Eframo scored once more in the fourth quarter and Cross punched in a shot with a few ticks left in the game to round out the scoring.
Eframo and teammate Thomas Webb were the Eagles’ goal scorers in the opening period. Dylan Genuario’s bounce shot into the nylon for Rock Canyon made the score 2-1.
Valor will now turn its attention to the Angels, who beat Cherokee Trail 18-11 in their second-round game to advance.
Eframo believes his squad has what it takes to get a win against East in the rematch — and possibly two more wins after that.
“If we continue playing well and just doing what we’re doing,” Eframo said, “I feel like we can go all the way.”
Check CHSAANow.com for all updated boys and girls lacrosse brackets and scores.