lucky 6 numbers today Streaming giant Netflix Inc NFLX is set to release the highly anticipated second season of "Squid Game" on Dec. 26, adding to an exciting month with its first live NFL games on Christmas Day. A Benzinga reader poll shows the second season might face more of an uphill battle for viewers compared to the first season in 2021. What Happened: Released in September 2021, "Squid Game" shattered viewership records for Netflix with 1.65 billion hours watched in the first four weeks of availability. The series became a massive hit and pop culture phenomenon and fans have eagerly been awaiting a second season. Netflix will premiere all seven episodes of the second season on Dec. 26, beginning at 3 a.m. ET. Benzinga recently polled readers to see how eager people are to watch the new season. "Will you be watching ‘Squid Game' season 2?" Benzinga asked. The results were: No, I don't plan to watch: 70% Yes, I'll binge-watch the entire season when it's out: 21% Yes, I'll watch each episode as soon as I can: 9% The poll found that Benzinga readers are less excited about the second season compared to the interest generated by the first season. The day-after-Christmas release could be a double-edged sword for Netflix. While the timing benefits from people being off work, it also coincides with family gatherings that might limit viewership. Netflix will also be competing with MrBeast 's "Beast Games," a record-breaking game show on Amazon.com 's AMZN Prime Video. “Beast Games” released its first two episodes on Dec. 19 with a third episode coming on Dec. 26. The show features elements similar to the contests featured in “Squid Game.” Read Also: Streamers Max, Paramount+ Won November: Here’s Why Analyst Expects Netflix, Amazon To Win December What's Next: The second season of "Squid Game" will bring back several cast members from the first season. The new season has already been nominated for a Golden Globe and could become a favorite on the awards circuit, given more hype around the show this time. Returning for the second season is the winner of the game in the first season, Seong Gi-hun (aka Player 456), portrayed on screen by Lee Jung-jae. Director and writer Hwang Dong-Hyuk also returns for the second season. The second season features new characters and revolves around Gi-hun, who returns to the game three years after the competition to search for the people behind it and shut it down for good, as reported by Deadline . This time, characters competing for the prize include a former cryptocurrency influencer who loses a large amount of money for his subscribers and himself. The crypto influencer becomes a fugitive before joining the Squid Game competition, according to the report. Another one of the 400-plus contestants in the games is a woman who made bad investments following the advice of the same cryptocurrency influencer taking part in the games. Following the second season, a third and final season of the hit show will be released in 2025. Director Hwang said the second and third seasons were written at the same time and both were produced simultaneously. The third season is currently in the post-production process, the director said. The first season of "Squid Game" has been watched by a total of 330 million viewers and a total of 2.8 billion hours have been streamed since the release, as reported by Variety . The overall metrics and the first four weeks’ totals for the second season will be used to compare the success of the newest season. Read Next: EXCLUSIVE: Netflix To Have Merry Christmas With NFL Games, Will Viewers Tune In? 60% Say... The study was conducted by Benzinga from Dec. 18 through Dec. 19, 2024, and included the responses of a diverse population of adults 18 or older. Opting into the survey was completely voluntary, with no incentives offered to potential respondents. The study reflects results from 145 adults. Photo by DANIEL CONSTANTE on Shutterstock © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.High-flying CEO alleged to have subjected his wife to ‘number of assaults’ and ‘threats to kill her’ Graham Beegan This is the high-flying CEO and former Irish swimmer who appeared in court this week accused of coercively controlling his wife as well as multiple counts of assaulting and threatening to kill or seriously harm her. Graham Beegan (45), who was also previously a board member and treasurer of Swim Ireland, is alleged to have subjected his wife to “emotional, physical and financial control” and “monitored her with cameras” in their home, it is alleged. Beegan, with an address at Pakenham House, Spencer Dock, Dublin 1, is charged with coercive control of his wife, which had a “serious effect” on her on dates between January, 2019 and September, 2022. He is also charged with three counts of assaulting her, causing her harm and four of threatening to kill her at their home address on dates in 2021 and 2022. Beegan is well known in the swimming world and represented Ireland at national level and won numerous medals in the 1990s. He went on to become the treasurer and board member of Swim Ireland from March 2017 to April 2021. Beegan is also a successful business owner and a member of a number of executive boards. Graham Beegan (45) He is on the board of directors of UK-based luxury car company H.R. Owen, which has an annual turnover of £556m and sells high-end cars including Aston Martin, BAC, Bentley, Bugatti, Czinger, Ferrari, Hennessey, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Radford, Rimac and Rolls-Royce. He is also the board chairman of Limor ‘Less is More Ltd’ which is the developer of an audio and podcasting app. Beegan is also a director of a number of other firms including Berjaya Property Ireland Ltd, Berjaya Reykjavik Investment Ltd, BBAZ Consultants, Frontier Horizon Holdings Ltd and GBAB Consulting Ltd. He is also listed as a director of Ultimate Submissions Mma Limited but that company is in liquidation. Beegan describes himself as having “board appointments across aviation, NGB, technology etc. Business owner, strategic mindset, managing multiple international projects including largescale portfolios in multiple industries not limited to property, hotels,technology, education, aviation leasing”. He appeared in Dublin District Court this week where Garda Shona Moran told Judge Gerard Jones she arrested the accused for the purpose of charging him. He said “no comment” to each count after caution and was handed copies of the charge sheets. Gda Moran said the DPP directed trial on indictment and time was sought for the preparation of a book of evidence. In a summary of the prosecution’s case, she said the accused and the woman were married and she made a complaint in 2022 alleging “emotional, physical and financial control”, which was “basically coercive control.” The woman “outlined a number of assaults and threats to kill,” the garda said. She had not required any medical attention. It was also alleged he monitored her with cameras and by electronic means in the home. Mr Beegan had gone to a garda station and was questioned. Gda Moran had no objection to bail subject to “strict conditions”. Judge Jones granted bail, with a €500 cash lodgement required. Under conditions, Mr Beegan is to stay away from the alleged victim and have no contact with her by any means including electronic. He is to sign on weekly at Store Street Garda Station, provide gardaí with a primary address and contact phone number and notify them of any change of address. Defence barrister Robert Crowley said the accused had no issue surrendering his passport but travelled regularly for work and asked to be able to apply to have it returned when required. Judge Jones said the passport could be returned with three days notice and proof of travel arrangements. Mr Crowley said the accused was not making a legal aid application. The charges against Mr Beegan are under Section 39 of the Domestic Violence and Sections 3 and 5 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. He has not yet entered pleas to the charges. He was remanded on bail to a later date and will be sent forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court when the book of evidence is ready.Contractor’s Suicide Sparks BJP-Congress Row in Karnataka

Some tech industry leaders are pushing the incoming Trump administration to increase visas for highly skilled workers from other nations. Related Articles National Politics | Trump threat to immigrant health care tempered by economic hopes National Politics | In states that ban abortion, social safety net programs often fail families National Politics | Court rules Georgia lawmakers can subpoena Fani Willis for information related to her Trump case National Politics | New 2025 laws hit hot topics from AI in movies to rapid-fire guns National Politics | How they voted: Ryan, Molinaro on continuing appropriations The heart of the argument is, for America to remain competitive, the country needs to expand the number of skilled visas it gives out. The previous Trump administration did not increase the skilled visa program, instead clamping down on visas for students and educated workers, increasing denial rates. Not everyone in corporate America thinks the skilled worker program is great. Former workers at IT company Cognizant recently won a federal class-action lawsuit that said the company favored Indian employees over Americans from 2013 to 2022. A Bloomberg investigation found Cognizant, and other similar outsourcing companies, mainly used its skilled work visas for lower-level positions. Workers alleged Cognizant preferred Indian workers because they could be paid less and were more willing to accept inconvenient or less-favorable assignments. Question: Should the U.S. increase immigration levels for highly skilled workers? Caroline Freund, UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy YES: Innovation is our superpower and it relies on people. Sourcing talent from 8 billion people in the world instead of 330 million here makes sense. Nearly half our Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Growing them also relies on expanding our skilled workforce. The cap on skilled-worker visas has hardly changed since the computer age started. With AI on the horizon, attracting and building talent is more important than ever. Kelly Cunningham, San Diego Institute for Economic Research YES: After years of openly allowing millions of undocumented entrants into the country, why is there controversy over legally increasing somewhat the number having desirable skills? Undocumented immigration significantly impacts lower skill level jobs and wages competing with domestic workers at every skill level. Why should special cases be made against those having higher skills? Could they just not walk across the border anyway, why make it more inconvenient to those with desirable skills? James Hamilton, UC San Diego YES: Knowledge and technology are key drivers of the U.S. economy. Students come from all over the world to learn at U.S. universities, and their spending contributed $50 billion to U.S. exports last year. Technological advantage is what keeps us ahead of the rest of the world. Highly skilled immigrants contribute much more in taxes than they receive in public benefits. The skills immigrants bring to America can make us all better off. Norm Miller, University of San Diego YES: According to Forbes, the majority of billion-dollar startups were founded by foreigners. I’ve interviewed dozens of data analysts and programmers from Berkeley, UCSD, USD and a few other schools and 75% of them are foreign. There simply are not enough American graduates to fill the AI and data mining related jobs now exploding in the U.S. If we wish to remain a competitive economy, we need highly skilled and bright immigrants to come here and stay. David Ely, San Diego State University YES: Being able to employ highly skilled workers from a larger pool of candidates would strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. companies by increasing their capacity to perform research and innovate. This would boost the country’s economic output. Skilled workers from other nations that cannot remain in the U.S. will find jobs working for foreign rivals. The demand for H-1B visas far exceeds the current cap of 85,000, demonstrating a need to modify this program. Phil Blair, Manpower YES: Every country needs skilled workers, at all levels, to grow its economy. We should take advantage of the opportunity these workers provide our employers who need these skills. It should be blended into our immigration policies allowing for both short and long term visas. Gary London, London Moeder Advisors YES: San Diego is a premiere example of how highly skilled workers from around the globe enrich a community and its regional economy. Of course Visa levels need to be increased. But let’s go further. Tie visas and immigration with a provision that those who are admitted and educated at a U.S. university be incentivized, or even required, to be employed in the U.S. in exchange for their admittance. Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch & Associates NO: While attracting high-skilled immigrants can fill critical gaps in sectors like technology, health care and advanced manufacturing, increasing high-skilled immigration could displace American workers and drive down wages in certain industries. There are already many qualified American workers available for some of these jobs. We should balance the need for specialized skills with the impact on the domestic workforce. I believe we can begin to increase the number of visas after a careful review of abuse. Austin Neudecker, Weave Growth YES: We should expand skilled visas to drive innovation and economic growth. Individuals who perform high-skilled work in labor-restricted industries or graduate from respected colleges with relevant degrees should be prioritized for naturalization. We depend on immigration for GDP growth, tax revenue, research, and so much more. Despite the abhorrent rhetoric and curtailing of visas in the first term, I hope the incoming administration can be persuaded to enact positive changes to a clearly flawed system. Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health YES: But it should be based upon need, not politics. There are several industries that have or could have skilled workforce shortages, especially if the next administration tightens immigration as promised and expected. Over the years, there have been nursing shortages that have been met partially by trained and skilled nurses from other countries. The physician shortage is expected to get worse in the years to come. So, this visa program may very well be needed. Jamie Moraga, Franklin Revere NO: While skilled immigration could boost our economy and competitiveness, the U.S. should prioritize developing our domestic workforce. Hiring foreign nationals in sensitive industries or government-related work, especially in advanced technology or defense, raises security concerns. A balanced approach could involve targeted increases in non-sensitive high-demand fields coupled with investment in domestic STEM education and training programs. This could address immediate needs while strengthening the long-term STEM capabilities of the American workforce. Not participating this week: Alan Gin, University of San DiegoHaney Hong, San Diego County Taxpayers AssociationRay Major, economist Have an idea for an Econometer question? Email me at phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com . Follow me on Threads: @phillip020Trump wants pardoned real estate developer Charles Kushner to be ambassador to France

ORLANDO, Fla. — UCF coach Gus Malzahn is resigning after four seasons with the school. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the move, which will see Malzahn to leave to take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State. Malzahn previously worked with FSU coach Mike Norvell during their time at Tulsa under then-coach Todd Graham from 2007-08. The Knights ended a disappointing 4-8 season in which they lost eight of their last nine games, the longest losing streak since 2015. Malzahn, 59, was in the fourth year of a contract through 2028. His buyout, it is reported, would have been $13.75 million. He finished 27-25 at UCF but lost 16 of his last 22 games and was a dismal 4-14 in two seasons in the Big 12. After back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2021-22, the Knights went 6-7 in 2023 and 4-8 in 2024. This season started with high expectations as Malzahn made sweeping changes to the program. He retooled the strength and conditioning department and hired Ted Roof and Tim Harris Jr. as defensive and offensive coordinators, respectively. He also added nearly 50 new players to the roster, leaning heavily on the transfer market. UCF started by winning its first three games against New Hampshire, Sam Houston and a thrilling comeback at TCU, but offensive struggles saw the Knights tumble through a TBD-game losing streak to finish the season. Terry Mohajir hired Malzahn on Feb. 15, 2021, six days after he was hired to replace Danny White. The move came eight weeks after Malzahn had been fired at Auburn after eight seasons of coaching the Tigers. The two briefly worked together at Arkansas State in 2012 before Malzahn left for the Auburn job. “When he [Mohajir] offered the job, I was like, ‘I’m in.’ There wasn’t thinking about or talking about ...,” Malzahn said during his introductory press conference. “This will be one of the best programs in college football in a short time. This is a job that I plan on being here and building it.” UCF opened the 2021 season with non-conference wins over Boise State and Bethune-Cookman before traveling to Louisville on Sept. 17, where quarterback Dillon Gabriel suffered a fractured collarbone in the final minute of a 42-35 loss. Backup Mikey Keene would finish out the season as Gabriel announced his intention to transfer. The Knights would finish the season on the plus side by accepting a bid to join the Big 12 Conference in September and then by defeating Florida 29-17 in the Gasparilla Bowl. Malzahn struck transfer portal gold in the offseason when he signed former Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee. Plumlee, a two-sport star with the Rebels, helped guide UCF to the American Athletic Conference Championship in its final season. However, Plumlee’s injury forced the Knights to go with Keene and freshman Thomas Castellanos. The team finished with losses to Tulane in the conference championship and Duke in the Military Bowl. Plumlee would return in 2023 as UCF transitioned to the Big 12 but would go down with a knee injury in the final minute of the Knights’ 18-16 win at Boise State on Sept. 9. He would miss the next four games as backup Timmy McClain took over the team. Even on his return, Plumlee couldn’t help UCF, on a five-game losing streak to open conference play. The Knights got their first Big 12 win at Cincinnati on Nov. 4 and upset No. 15 Oklahoma State the following week, but the team still needed a win over Houston in the regular-season finale to secure a bowl bid for the eighth straight season. From the moment Malzahn stepped on campus, he prioritized recruiting, particularly in Central Florida. “We’re going to recruit like our hair’s on fire,” Malzahn said at the time. “We’re going to go after the best players in America and we’re not backing down to anybody.” From 2007 to 2020, UCF signed 10 four-star high school and junior college prospects. Eight four-star prospects were in the three recruiting classes signed under Malzahn. The 2024 recruiting class earned a composite ranking of 39 from 247Sports, the highest-ranked class in school history. The 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 41 and has commitments from three four-star prospects. Malzahn has always leaned on the transfer market, signing 60 players over the past three seasons. Some have paid huge dividends, such as Javon Baker, Lee Hunter, Kobe Hudson, Tylan Grable, Bula Schmidt, Amari Kight, Marcellus Marshall, Trent Whittemore, Gage King, Ethan Barr, Deshawn Pace and Plumlee. Others haven’t been as successful, such as quarterback KJ Jefferson, who started the first five games of this season before being benched for poor performance. Jefferson’s struggles forced the Knights to play musical chairs at quarterback, with true freshman EJ Colson, redshirt sophomore Jacurri Brown and redshirt freshman Dylan Rizk all seeing action at one point or another this season. This season’s struggles led to several players utilizing the NCAA’s redshirt rule after four games, including starting slot receiver Xavier Townsend and kicker Colton Boomer, who have also entered the transfer portal. Defensive end Kaven Call posted a letter to Malzahn on Twitter in which he accused the UCF coaching staff of recently kicking him off the team when he requested to be redshirted. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Are you in the market for a cutting-edge smartphone without breaking the bank? 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NFL NOTES

Washington : The US House Ethics Committee has accused Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and purchasing and using illicit drugs as a member of Congress, as lawmakers released the conclusions of a nearly four-year investigation that helped sink his nomination for attorney general. The 37-page report by the bipartisan panel released on Monday includes explicit details of sex-filled parties and vacations that Gaetz, now 42, took part in from 2017 to 2020 while representing Florida’s western panhandle. Matt Gaetz was “un-cooperative” throughout the probe, the Ethics Committee panel said. Credit: AP Congressional investigators concluded that Gaetz violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office, though not federal sex trafficking laws. They also found that Gaetz “knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct” the committee’s work. “The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favours or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report states. Ahead of the report’s release Gaetz denied any wrongdoing and criticised the committee’s process. “Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he posted on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. “There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.” Gaetz, a Republican first elected in 2017, spent the majority of his time in Washington enmeshed in scandals that ultimately derailed his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump as attorney general. His political future is uncertain, although Gaetz has indicated he would be interested in running for the open Senate seat in Florida. Gaetz was President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general. Credit: AP Lawmakers paint a damning portrait of Gaetz’s conduct, using dozens of pages of exhibits, including text messages and financial records, travel receipts, cheques and online payments, to document a party- and drug-fuelled lifestyle. The committee said it compiled the evidence after issuing 29 subpoenas for documents and testimony and contacting more than two dozen witnesses. In addition to soliciting prostitution, the Ethics Committee report states that Gaetz “accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts”. That same year, investigators say Gaetz arranged for his chief of staff to obtain a passport for a woman he was sexually involved with, falsely telling the US State Department that she was his constituent. In some of the text exchanges, Gaetz appears to be inviting various women to events, getaways or parties, and arranging airplane travel and lodging. At one point he asks one woman if she has a “cute black dress” to wear. There are also discussions of shipping goods. One of the exhibits is a text exchange that appears to be between two of the women concerned about their cash flow and payments. In another, a person asks Gaetz for help to pay an educational expense. Regarding the 17-year-old girl, the report states there’s no evidence that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee she didn’t tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time and that he didn’t know how old she was. Rather, the committee said Gaetz learned she was a minor more than a month after the party. But he stayed in touch with her after that and met up with her for “commercial sex” again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee. But Florida law, which states it is a felony for a person 24 or older to have sex with a minor, does not allow a claim of ignorance or misrepresentation of a minor’s age as a defence. Joel Leppard, who represents two women who told the committee that Gaetz paid them for sex, said the findings “vindicate” the accounts of his clients and “demonstrate their credibility”. “We appreciate the Committee’s commitment to transparency in releasing this comprehensive report so the truth can be known,” Leppard said in a statement. At least one Republican joined all five Democrats on the Ethics Committee earlier this month in voting to release the report about their former colleague despite initial opposition from GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to publishing findings about a former member of Congress. While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare. On behalf of the Republicans who voted against releasing the report, Representative Michael Guest of Mississippi, Ethics chairman, wrote that while the members do not challenge the report’s findings, “we take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards” to drop any investigation when a person is not longer a member of the chamber. “We believe that operating outside the jurisdictional bounds set forth by House Rules and Committee standards, especially when making public disclosures, is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences,” Guest wrote. Mounting a last-ditch effort to halt the publication of the report, Gaetz filed a lawsuit on Monday asking a court to intervene, citing what he called “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his “standing and reputation in the community”. Gaetz’s complaint argues he’s no longer under the committee’s jurisdiction since he resigned from Congress. “The Committee’s position that it may nonetheless publish potentially defamatory findings about a private citizen over whom it claims no jurisdiction represents an unprecedented expansion of Congressional power that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s lawyers wrote in their request for a temporary restraining order. The often secretive, bipartisan panel has investigated claims against Gaetz since 2021. But its work became more urgent last month when Trump picked him shortly after election day as his first choice to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Gaetz resigned from Congress that same day, putting him outside the purview of the Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction. But Democrats had pressed to make the report public even after Gaetz was no longer a member and had withdrawn as Trump’s pick to lead the US Justice Department. A vote on the House floor this month to force the report’s release failed; all but one Republican voted against it. The committee detailed its start-and-stop investigation over the past several years, which was halted for a time as the Justice Department conducted its own probe of Gaetz. Federal prosecutors never brought a case against him. Lawmakers said they asked the Justice Department for information about its probe, but the agency refused to hand over information, saying it doesn’t disclose information about investigations that don’t result in charges. The Committee then subpoenaed the Justice Department for records, but after a back-and-forth between Justice Department officials and the Committee, the department only handed over “publicly reported information about the testimony of a deceased individual”, according to the report. “To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses,” the committee said. In releasing the report, the panel added that Gaetz was also “un-cooperative” throughout the probe. He provided “minimal documentation” in response to the committee’s requests, it said. “He also did not agree to a voluntary interview.” AP Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter .

GREENWOOD VILLAGE — The Bruins are, once again, inevitable. Cherry Creek dominated Valor Christian on Saturday in the Class 5A semifinal at the Stutler Bowl, 42-17. That sent coach Dave Logan’s squad to its seventh straight title game as the Bruins seek to get back on top after Saturday’s game was never close as the Bruins dominated in all facets. Quarterback Brady Vodicka and fellow junior running back Jayden Fox paced the offense while the Cherry Creek defense had a pair of takeaways that helped the Bruins pull away early. Fox’s 2-yard TD run put Cherry Creek up 7-0 late in the first quarter. Then an interception by Bruins senior safety Dwight Johnson, who sat down in coverage and read Dawson Olk’s pass, set Cherry Creek up in the red zone and led to Vodicka’s 23-yard touchdown run a few plays later to make it 14-0 in the waning seconds of the first. The Bruins defense had another highlight midway through the second quarter when senior linebacker Ashton Shepardson picked off a screen pass and ran it back 25 yards for a TD to extend the lead to 21-0. Valor Christian (11-2) then used an interception by senior safety Israel Waitman off a failed trick play to set up a scoring drive that culminated in do-everything junior Cash Spence’s 1-yard TD run out of the wildcat. That put the Eagles on the board at 21-7 with less than five minutes until half. But Cherry Creek had a response via Alijah Landrum-Hamilton’s 17-yd TD reception with 28 seconds left in the half. Even though the Eagles were able to muster a 45-yard field goal from senior Mason Walters at the halftime buzzer, Cherry Creek went into the locker room in command, 28-10. The Bruins got the ball to open the third quarter and marched down the field on a time-consuming drive that took 5 minutes, 11 seconds, and was polished off by Fox’s 5-yard TD run to push the score to 35-10. By the time Cherry Creek went on another clock-killing scoring drive that ate up 6:37 and was capped by freshman Elijah Cromwell’s 5-yard TD run, the Valor Christian fan section was thinning. Cromwell’s TD made it 42-10 with 9:42 left, and about seven minutes later, Olk threw a late TD pass to sophomore Jackson Coleman. Saturday marked the 12th overall meeting between the two Colorado powerhouses since they first met in 2014. Cherry Creek’s victory evened the all-time series at 6-6, though the Bruins hold a 4-1 advantage in title matchups. That included three straight wins over Valor Christian in the big game from 2020-22, as well as highlighted by a Bruins rally and late two-point conversion to deny the Eagles their sixth straight title. Cherry Creek plays Legend in next Saturday’s title game at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, after the Titans beat Fairview 35-21 at EchoPark Stadium. There, the Bruins (12-1) will be favored to win their fifth title in the last six years.