Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Eaglecrest held onto its spot atop the CHSAANow.com softball poll, but things are getting close at the top of the Class 5A ranking.
Four different teams received first-place votes this week: Brighton (No. 2), Douglas County (No. 3) and Fossil Ridge (No. 5). Loveland was the lone newcomer to the poll, at tenth.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Rock Canyon 17, Grand Junction 16, Standley Lake 12, Arvada West 10, Pine Creek 9, ThunderRidge 7, Chatfield 4, Rampart 4, Columbine 3, Rocky Mountain 3, Cherokee Trail 2, Mountain Vista 2.
Dropped out
Rock Canyon (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Wheat Ridge (12)
9-1-0
120
1
1-1-0
2
Erie
7-2-1
96
3
2-0-0
3
Pueblo East
7-2-1
90
2
2-0-0
4
Ponderosa
8-1-0
77
4
2-0-0
5
Frederick
6-3-0
61
5
2-1-0
6
Silver Creek
7-3-0
51
6
1-1-0
7
Berthoud
7-2-0
50
8
3-1-0
8
Broomfield
5-4-0
24
7
1-0-0
9
D’Evelyn
6-2-0
20
9
3-2-0
10
Pueblo South
7-2-0
17
–
1-1-0
Others receiving votes:
Valor Christian 14, Discovery Canyon 13, Pueblo West 12, Mullen 4, Roosevelt 4, Niwot 3, Thomas Jefferson 2, Thompson Valley 2, Falcon 1.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Fruita Monument has worked its way into the CHSAANow.com volleyball poll.
Fruita, 4-1 this season, is ranked tenth in this week’s Class 5A ranking.
Each of the five top-ranked teams remained atop their respective polls for the second week in a row. They are Doherty (5A), Lewis-Palmer (4A), Valley (3A), Lutheran (2A) and Caliche (1A).
Complete rankings for all classes are below.
[divider]
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Ralston Valley junior Collin Root (9) and ThunderRidge linebacker Clay Johnson (10) both leap for a pass in the first half Saturday at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss)
ThunderRidge’s early game of keep-away set the tone for the Grizzlies’ 36-18 victory over Ralston Valley on Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
In the football matchup between the No. 2 and No. 3 Class 5A teams in this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll, ThunderRidge ran 25 offensive plays to Ralston Valley’s three in the first quarter.
“We just came out a little bit flat and we weren’t executing,” Ralston Valley senior quarterback Jacob Knipp said. “ThunderRidge had a good scheme. They ran the ball, took a lot of time off the clock and we couldn’t get a roll going.”
The Grizzlies moved the ball systematically most of the night on the ground with the power running of Matt Stanley. The tailback had 31 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown.
ThunderRidge quarterback Brody Westmoreland had a strong night on the ground with 14 carries for 89 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The senior’s 4-yard diving effort into the end zone with 3:50 left in the fourth quarter gave the Grizzlies their biggest lead of the night at 36-12.
Westmoreland was effective through the air, too, going 7-for-10 for 85 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.
“I’m more satisfied with how well we played as a team,” Westmoreland said when asked if the two passing or two rushing touchdowns were more rewarding. “Our defense stepped up big time to shut Ralston Valley down and our offense came together.”
ThunderRidge (2-0) will host Grandview (2-0) next Friday night in an attempt to keep its unblemished record intact.
“I still think we have stuff to work on, but we are getting there,” Westmoreland said.
Ralston Valley junior Anthony Vessa (36) hangs on to tackle ThunderRidge running back Matt Stanley during the Class 5A non-league game Saturday night at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss)
Ralston Valley (2-1) suffered its only regular season loss to ThunderRidge last season before advancing to the 5A semifinals. The Mustangs went on a nine-game winning streak last year after the setback to the Grizzlies.
“You’ve got to take the positives along with the negatives,” said Knipp, who finished 13-for-19 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns. “This whole game will make us better.”
The Mustangs’ offensive managed a pair of big plays in the fourth quarter while playing catch-up. Knipp connected with senior Kevin Meadows for touchdowns of 53 and 51 yards in the final quarter. Junior running back Andrew Wingard scored the Mustangs third touchdown while carrying the ball 16 times for 90 yards.
“I just try to play with as much heart as I could. We gave it all we had,” Meadows said. “We’ve got some things we’ve got to work on.”
Ralston Valley next chance to improve will come on the Western Slope when it faces Grand Junction (3-0) at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Stocker Stadium.
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY — The second game of Air Academy’s 20th Annual Kadet Kickoff Classic came down virtually the last second before the home team prevailed 3-2 over Greeley Central Friday afternoon.
In a game that remained close throughout, the teams matched goals midway through the first half when Air Academy’s Blake Doran scored an unassisted goal at 23:53. The Kadets kept the lead at 1-0 for nearly 10 minutes. At 34:33, Central’s Juan Ceja evened the game at 1-1 sliding a shot past the AA keeper.
At the 59:23 mark, Air Academy’s Gabriel Stuger scored to give the Kadets a 2-1 lead. It was a lead that held for nearly the rest of the game as the teams traded shots for the next 20 minutes. Tough defense and stronger goalie play kept either team at bay.
The Wildcats’ Angel Moncada, though, felt the pressure of a dwindling clock and fired off a shot from about 30 yards out, catching the AAHS defense by surprise. When the ball settled in the back of the net at 76:24, GCHS had a tie at 2-2.
It looked as if time would expire with the game still at 2-2, but the Kadet’s Brittain Romes had other ides and netted a hard 15-yard shot from the right side at 78:21 to give Air Academy the 3-2 win.
In addition to AAHS and GCHS, other teams in the Kadet Kickoff Classic include Discovery Canyon, Fruita Monument, Fossil Ridge, Montrose, Sand Creek and St. Mary’s (Colo. Spgs.).
Pomona senior Chris Marquez (14) breaks loose during the opening kickoff Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada. In the tilt between the No. 4 ranked Cherry Creek Bruins and No. 6 ranked Pomona Panthers, the Bruins were able to scratch out a 19-15 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Pomona nearly pulled off a fourth-quarter rally for the second straight week on the football field.
Senior running back Chris Marquez’s 1-yard touchdown run with 5:34 left in the fourth quarter Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex trimmed Cherry Creek’s lead to 17-15. However, a failed 2-point conversion didn’t allow Pomona to tie the game and the No. 4 Bruins (2-0) got a late defensive safety in the waning minutes to hold on for a 19-15 victory.
“I’m hoping this will take the pressure off,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said after his Panthers (1-1), ranked sixth in this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll, lost the non-conference game in their home opener. “Now we can go back to just being Pomona and getting better every week.”
Cherry Creek’s offense got better in the second half after managing just a 37-yard field goal from junior Henry Lyon as time expired in the first half. The Panthers led at halftime 6-3 thanks to an 18-yard touchdown pass from senior Konner Burns to sophomore Elija Leyva early in the second quarter.
Bruins’ junior tailback Milo Hall gave Creek on the opening possession of the third quarter with a 25-yard touchdown run. Hall carried the loin’s share for the Bruins. He finished with 27 carries for 170 yards and the one touchdown.
“We are hard workers and competitors,” Hall said. “We are going to keep going.”
Creek’s other junior running back, DJ Luke, came up big late in the fourth quarter when Bruins’ coach Dave Logan took a gamble. On a fourth-and-one from Creek’s own 35-yard line, Luke managed a 3-yard gain to prevent from turning the ball over on downs to Pomona.
Hall was actually the decoy in the biggest play from scrimmage of the game. On what appeared to be a sweep right, Hall pitched the ball to junior wide receiver Joseph Parker on a reverse. Parker took the ball 53 yards for the touchdown, opening up a 17-9 lead for the Bruins.
A 68-yard kickoff return by Pomona junior Isaac Marquez put the Panthers in great field position at Creek’s 31-yard line after Parker’s touchdown. Six plays later, Chris Marquez scored on his final carry of the night, but it wasn’t enough to pull off a second straight four-quarter comeback win.
“We know we don’t want to feel like this come next week,” said Pomona’s leading rusher, who finished the night with 78 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
The Panthers return to NAAC next week to face Lakewood (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14. The Bruins will host Douglas County (2-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Stutler Bowl.
