An Aurora firefighter’s prodigious pumpkin was recognized as the heaviest ever grown in the state of Colorado on Saturday, topping the list at more than a ton.

The lord among gourds — named Winifred Sanderson after the character of the same name from the 1993 film “Hocus Pocus” — weighed in at 2,083 pounds when it hit the scale at the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off held Saturday at Nick’s Garden Center in Aurora.

Fire medic Brad Bledsoe said 2024 marks his family’s third year growing competition-sized pumpkins on their property in Fort Collins.

The former plant nursery employee described carefully managing the growing process, from measuring the nutrients present in the soil, to researching the genetics of the Atlantic giant pumpkin seed used, to watering his plant every day.

“It’s a whole can of worms,” Bledsoe said.

He said his friend brought a skid steer to help load the pumpkin onto a trailer that Bledsoe used to haul Winifred Sanderson from Fort Collins to Aurora.

“It was my favorite thing to do, was driving with the pumpkin and seeing people’s faces light up,” he said. “You can see the curiosity, like people asking if it’s even real and asking if they can take pictures with it.”

Aurora Fire Rescue announced in a news release and Nick’s Garden Center confirmed that the pumpkin took first prize at the weigh-in organized by The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth.

Bledsoe claimed Colorado’s pumpkin record earlier this year with the first of three competition-sized pumpkins, named Mary Sanderson after another of the Sanderson sisters from “Hocus Pocus,” which weighed in at 1,955 pounds.

The record was briefly taken by another grower last month before Bledsoe took it back with the first Colorado pumpkin to weigh more than a ton Saturday. A third competition-sized pumpkin grown by Bledsoe, Sarah Sanderson, is slated to be weighed in Fort Collins on Oct. 12.

As for the heaviest recorded jack-o’-lantern, Bledsoe said Travis Gienger’s world-record-breaking pumpkin was carved into one in 2023.

“But, there’s always next year,” Bledsoe said.

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Originally Published: October 6, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.

CORVALLIS — After Oregon State beat Colorado State 39-31 in double overtime Saturday to move to 4-1 on the season, Beavers coach Trent Bray talked about the game’s wild finish and what OSU can take away from it.

Here’s a transcript of Bray’s postgame interview session with reporters, edited for brevity and clarity.

Bray: That showed me a lot. Yeah, watch the film. There’ll be lots to clean up and lots we got to do better, but the way they came on and responded is big time.

Q: To start the game with two turnovers and then for it to go to double overtime, how do you feel about the resiliency of your team through that?

Bray: Yeah, I feel great about it. And Gevani (McCoy), same thing. He shows up in those moments. When we need him to make the throws and lead the offense, he does it. That’s probably his best quality.

Q: Trent, you’ve had four games now where the fourth quarter really the game was pretty much in hand. Was this fun tonight? I’m just curious how you felt about how the way this thing went?

Bray: Right after the fourth-down stop, it was a lot of fun. But no. I mean, you’re in the moment, you aren’t recognizing it, but it’s great win, because it is our first real challenge in the fourth quarter to have to go win the game. To watch them do that was great.

Q: Defensively, in the fourth quarter you guys gave up a lot, but then in overtime, what do you think got into your defense a little bit there? Because they did pretty much shut down Colorado State there at the end.

Bray: They did. I think it’s just, we’re just in that same kind of, there’s going to be ups and downs right now with our youth and inexperience. They’re gaining a lot of it, but I think that’s probably the biggest thing. We got to get to a level where we can sustain throughout the whole game. That’s the biggest improvement we need to make on defense.

Q: Trent, that final drive to set up the Everett field goal. Looking back on it now, how big? A) Josh gray jumping on that fumble, and then B) Everett hits a big kick like that. In that moment when your guys were trailing, was there any doubt, or was there complete confidence and mindset in this team they’d go down the field and get in field-goal range?

Bray: There was no doubt for those guys. They believed, they knew they were going to do it, they went down and did it. And then, like I said on, I think Monday, I have every faith in Everett’s ability to make those kicks. And we gave him good protection, which helps the kicker a ton, and he was able to knock it through. Clutch kick.

Q: Trent, so much happened there at the end. Obviously the overtimes, the final two minutes. Just off the top of your head, your mind’s eye. What are the plays that stand out in your mind?

Bray: We had three third and longs in the touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. We get off the field there, the game’s over. That stands out in my mind. We got to get off the field in third and extra long, third and long. We can’t let teams stay in there.

Q: Is that just part of being a head coach that you only see kind of where there’s room for improvement?

Bray: Oh, absolutely, that’s just who I am anyway, yeah.

Q: You’ve been talking about it already, but just the resiliency of this team. What did they show to you tonight, and what did they sort of say about the team overall?

Bray: Yeah, I think it says a lot about their ability, again, to handle these tough moments, handle adversity. When things aren’t going great for us, they respond and with toughness and grit. And it’s a great quality to have. And so there’s going to be games, I mean every year you can point out a couple games in those tight, one- or two-point games that swing a season. And I think so. That’s why I think this win was so big to be able to pull it out.

Next game: Oregon State (4-1) at Nevada (2-4)

• When: Saturday, Oct. 12
• Time: 4:30 p.m. PT
• Where: Mackay Stadium, Reno
• TV channel: CBS Sports Network
• Stream: Fubo (free trial) or DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have a cable provider, use your login information to watch this game on cbssports.com.
• Oregon State football 2024 season schedule, scores
• Sign up for The Beavers Beat newsletter

Q: The throw to the tight end has not been big the first four games. Was that a big part of the plan today? Or did it just sort of evolve to get it to Jermaine (Terry)? Because I think he had six or seven catches tonight.

Bray: Yeah, it evolved. And then I think, Purdue was going to be tough, because of all the man-to-man coverage they played, the defense that they played. We got a little bit more zone tonight than what we’d seen from the last couple of teams, so I think that helped the tight ends get free a little bit more. So it was an effort to involve them in the passing game, but it also was part of just what we got. They were open to that.

Q: Jam leaves the game early. How big was Gevani’s play to be able to run the ball effectively the way he did? I mean, he had three touchdowns.

Bray: Yeah. I mean, he’s really — and Coach (Ryan) Gunderson’s doing a great job of using his legs to help us move the ball to score. And then, you know, it is unfortunate what happened to Jam, but that backfield, Hankerson coming in and running extremely well. And then we got to get solid going more now, they’ll have more opportunities. So that’s the good part about it, is the depth in that room.

Q: You hadn’t thrown the ball much all night, except in the fourth quarter, when you absolutely had to, showed some ability to throw the ball. Can you build off that and continue to throw the ball, maybe more than we’ve seen so far this season?

Bray: Yeah, I think so. Again, throwing the ball and not throwing the ball, you look at how the game’s going, and we’re, I mean, what was it? Eight minutes down to score the touchdown that put us up 11? So when you can do that to a team. Again, I think Gundy does a great job of calling the game that’s happening and not trying to force things. Oh, I need to have throws, or I need to have runs. He stays within what’s working. I think he does a great job.

Q: You talked about the depth in the backfield. Any update on Jam (Griffin)?

Bray: To be determined.

Q: What stands out to you about that defensive sequence in double overtime and what do you think that can do for this defense?

Bray: Yeah, I think that that should be huge for our confidence, the ability to close the game out and pull up when we need to. I think that should be a big-time confidence for them. Because there’s a lot of ability on that side of the ball. We just got to get it more consistent for the whole game, but, but I like the way they play and they step up when it counts.

Q: It’s the second time in as many games where you’re seeing kind of Gevani be able to put the team on his back in a critical situation. Is he just a gamer? Is that just how he’s wired in those situations?

Bray: Yeah, I think he is. You look at what we were able to do to close out both halves — the first half, and then the second half and really all season we’ve scored or put ourselves in positions to score in every single game, and left no time for the other team. Yeah, he’s just a clutch player.

— Nick Daschel covers the Oregon State Beavers. Reach him at 360-607-4824 or @nickdaschel. Listen to the Beaver Banter podcast or subscribe to the Beavers Roundup newsletter.

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