No. 3 Brush softball exploded for five runs in the fourth inning of a 2-2 ballgame with No. 9 Faith Christian to win 7-3.
Sydney Odle had three RBIs and a homerun, and Hailey Unrein got the win in six innings on the mound.
Unrein and Kamryn Leoffler also added RBIs for the Beetdiggers.
Brush sits behind Strasburg and Eaton in the latest CHSAANow.com softball rankings, but the Beetdiggers will get a shot at both teams before the end of the season. Twice.
Brush plays Strasburg on Sept. 22 and 26, then Eaton on Sept. 30 after a Sept. 12 matchup.
In fact, six of the eight teams in Class 3A’s District 3 have been ranked this season. The league has the top four teams in the rankings in Eaton, Strasburg, Brush and University.
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Montrose sophomore Micah Stangebye is quickly staking his claim as one of the better ball strikers on the Western Slope.
Stangebye shot a five-under-par 66 to claim the win at Wednesday’s Montrose Invitational. His round at the Bridges at Black Canyon included six birdies and just a single bogey.
He got help from his teammates during the tournament as well. Dawson Hussong and fresham Jordan Jennings each shot a 73, helping Montrose claim the team win at its own tournament.
Fruita Monument’s Blake Andersen was the only other player under par on Wednesday as he shot a 68.
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Woodland Park conquers Cheyenne Shadows as a team
Woodland Park came away with a huge team win at Wednesday’s Gladiator Invitational. The Panthers shot 31-over as a team, five strokes better than second place Pine Creek.
The Classical Academy’s Liam O’Halloran took the individual win, shooting a 77.
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Pueblo County, La Junta winners at Elmwood
Pueblo County grabbed the overall team win while La Junta’s Cody Schrock shot a 72 to take the solo victory at Wednesday’s Pueblo South Invite at Elmwood Golf Course.
Brock Rodrigues shot a 74 for County and teammate Andrew Egan shot a 78 to lead the Hornets to the win.
Mead grabs Tri-Valley tournament title
Kellen Kudrna, T.J. Shehee and Tanner Strong all shot in the 70’s as Mead came away with the win at Wednesday’s Tri-Valley league tournament.
Roosevelt’s Tyler Severin was the best overall golfer of the day as he shot a 71 to claim the solo win.
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Resurrection Christian is making a climb up the ladder. The Cougars traveled to Sterling and came away with a big 25-13, 25-19, 18-25 25-21 over the Tigers.
Morgan Watson, Kaitlyn Newbanks and Katelyn Anderson all recorded double-digits in kills, providing a balanced attack for the Cougars.
Bryce Lienemann was the one feeding the machine as she notched 37 assists.
Sterling will look to rebound on Thursday when it travels to Frontier Academy. Resurrection Christian will also see action on Thursday when it plays host to No. 3 Faith Christian.
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Eaton 3, Faith Christian 0
Top-ranked Eaton will stay on top for now. The Reds cruised to another win on Tuesday, beating Faith Christian 25-19, 25-17, 25-13.
Thursday will be another tough test for the defending 3A champions as they host No. 5 University.
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Valor Christian 3, Chatfield
Valor Christian made a heck of a statement on Tuesday night, as 4A’s No. 5-ranked Eagles took down 5A No. 2 Chatfield with a clean sweep.
It was the first loss for Chatifeld who will try to get back in the win column on Thursday against Denver East.
The Eagles will host Fruita Monument on Saturday.
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Holy Family 3, Berthoud 1
After two, Holy Family and Berthoud each held a set in hand.
Then the Tigers went on quite the run, outscoring the Spartans 50-33 in the last two sets to take Tuesday’s match.
It was the first league win of the year for the No. 2-ranked Tigers who will look to build on that momentum when they travel to Roosevelt on Thursday.
Berthoud will aim for their first league win on Thursday when it hosts Erie.
Kailey Wilson added some insurance for Eaglecrest in the sixth in the form of a three-run homerun to push the lead to 7-2.
Fossil Ridge tried to claw back into the game in the top of the sixth, but Eaglecrest’s Braelyn Crenshaw got a huge strikeout with the bases loaded to keep the Raptor lead.
Crenshaw pitched a complete game in the win. Sabourin and Wilson each had three runs-batted-in.
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“We felt good about the win,” Durango coach Dalon Parker said to the Durango Herald. “We’re happy to get out of there with a win. We’re still trying to find our feet and identity and how to execute the identity we want. A game like this at the beginning of the year helps us.”
The 1-0 overtime win moves Durango to 2-0. The Demons travel to Fruita Monument on Tuesday for a Southwestern league matchup.
Sophomore Brooklyn Mueller led with 10 kills as Swink beat Sargent in five sets (25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 16-25, 15-7) on Saturday.
The Lions took the first two sets, apparently seizing control before stuttering in the second two. They were able to regain momentum and take the third set, and the match.
Tierra Holland helped out on the offensive end with 22 assists to go with Mueller’s kills. Mueller was also big along the net as she led the team with six blocks.
Holland recorded 23 digs and Brianna Denton helped on that front with 20 of her own.
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Palisade 3, Battle Mountain 1
In an early-season league match, Palisade grabbed a 25-23, 26-28, 25-11, 25-20.
According to the Grand Junction Sentinel, Alexandra MacAskill led the Bulldogs with 17 kills.
Palisade will head to the Colorado Springs area next weekend to compete in the Mesa Ridge Tournament. Battle Mountain will see league action on Saturday when it hosts Rifle.
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Centauri 3, Sangre de Cristo 0
Centauri grabbed a 25-19, 25-18, 25-23 sweep over Sangre de Cristo on Saturday to move to 4-0 on the regular season.
An early three-touchdown lead for Fruita Monument is exactly how the Wildcats were looking to pace their second win of the year.
That lead took Discovery Canyon away from the running game that got them to the 2016 Class 3A state title game and ultimately led to a 49-14 for Fruita.
“We’re ahead of where we were last year,” Wildcats coach Todd Casebier said. “I thought our defense good a job of taking away the inside run game. It kind of forced them to go outside and we have really good athletes on the edge.”
By the time Treyton Queen trotted into the end zone to make it a 21-0 game, the Thunder (0-1 overall) was forced to do something it doesn’t do often: go to the air.
But that’s about as close as the game would get. The Wildcats (2-0) came out firing on all cylinders in the second half and got the season off with a win against a traditionally tough opponent.
“It’s no more or less important than the win last week,” Casebier said. “It’s a good sign of where we’re at.”
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(1) Pine Creek 23, ThunderRidge 7
David Moore III ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns as Class 4A No. 1 Pine Creek topped 5A’s ThunderRidge 23-9.
Quarterback J.C. Coulter found Gene McFarland through the air for the Eagles’ other touchdown on the day.
(5) Peyton 49, Byers 0
Trevor Walker ran for 108 yards and scored one of six rushing touchdowns for Peyton in its 49-0 win over Byers.
The seventh touchdown for the Panthers came on a Charles Sparks punt return.
Rocky Mountain Lutheran 65, Custer County 18
Charlie Hahm had himself a nice little Saturday as he ran for 244 yards and six touchdowns. He added one catch for 60 yards that also went for a touchdown.
The Eagles are 1-0 to start the year in 8-man play.
Luke McCaffrey rushed for two touchdowns as Valor Christian got its first-ever win over Mullen on Friday night.
The Eagles, top-ranked in and two-time defending champions of Class 5A, beat the No. 4 Mustangs 31-7.
With senior Blake Stenstrom out due to a concussion, it was the first career start at quarterback for McCaffrey.
“Any player that comes into the game just wants to do everything that they can,” McCaffrey told Altitude TV after the game. “I don’t really focus on the snaps, just making the snaps count. I really just went out there and tried to do everything I could.”
Valor Christian was 0-2 against Mullen in the short history of their rivalry, having lost to the Mustangs last season and in 2012.
“It was incredible, just to do something that nobody at Valor has done before,” McCaffrey told Altitude. “That was one of our themes all week, just focusing on that: do what’s never been done, and do everything you can for your brothers.
“I thought each and every player contributed. … It was special to see.”
The Eagles’ Joshia Davis had a key touchdown late in the first half when he scored off an option pitch with three seconds remaining. Davis had set the Eagles up at the 2-yard-line with a long run just before the half.
Valor Christian travels to play at Greater Atlanta Christian next week, while Mullen continues a tough early slate of its own by playing No. 5 Regis Jesuit. The Mustangs lost to No. 2 Pomona in Zero Week.
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3A: (3) Holy Family 56, (8) Palisade 20
(@HF_Athletics/Twitter)
Holy Family went on the road and put on a show.
Palisade actually had rallied from an early 14-0 hole to tie the game at 14-14, but then Holy Family connected on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Stone Samaras to Kyle Helbig on 4th down and 1.
Samaras finished with four touchdown passes and a rushing score. Helbig had three receiving touchdowns.
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2A: (7) Sterling 42, (8) D’Evelyn 28
Sterling moved to 2-0 with yet another big top-10 win on Friday night.
The Tigers beat No. 6 Resurrection Christian in Zero Week.
“We’ve had a pretty good run these two games of being able to put together enough to win a football game,” coach Rob Busmente told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show after the game.
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4A/5A: Boulder 27, (9) Denver South 25
(Jeff Tucker/jefferywtucker.zenfolio.com)
Boulder won on the final play of the game after an 80-yard kickoff return set up a 1-yard touchdown.
On Friday, the Panthers jumped out to a 16-0 lead, and also led 18-6 at halftime. Denver South battled back and eventually took the lead, but last-second heroics from Patrick Fletcher on his return set up the winning touchdown by Shane Provost.
It was a great note to start the 2017 season for the Panthers. Last season, Denver South beat Boulder 56-17 to open the season. Boulder went on to finish 1-9.
“There was 12 seconds left and I wanted to score and I wanted to get that ‘W’ because I knew it would change the program and change the environment,” Fletcher told BoCoPreps.com of his kick return.
In a rematch of the 6-man title game, No. 3 Cheyenne Wells beat No. 1 Flagler 70-20. It’s complicated, but many of Flagler’s players played at Hi-Plains last season when Flagler dropped its program. This season, Hi-Plains dropped its program, and now many of those players are playing for Flagler.
In a big 5A game, No. 5 Regis Jesuit fought off No. 3 Cherry Creek, 25-20. The Raiders led 12-0 after the first quarter, but the Bruins slowly chipped away. They cut it as close to 19-14 in the fourth quarter but Kiahn Martinez had a TD that sealed the game with a minute to play for Regis.
2A No. 3 La Junta beat Gunnison 42-0, and 1A No. 1 Strasburg beat No. 8 Burlington 24-6. That extended each team’s winning streak to 14 games, which is the most in the state.
Caliche snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 50-28 win over Kiowa.
Another local rivalry: Fort Collins beat Fossil Ridge 17-6. Fort Collins finished minus-5 in turnover margin but still won. “Our defense stuck their neck out there, and they played hard the whole night,” coach Eric Rice told the Scoreboard Show.
In 1A, Monte Vista upset No. 9 Cedaredge 31-8. “We just kind of wore them out in the second half,” coach Manny Wasinger told the Scoreboard Show.
In 2A, No. 9 Faith Christian edged No. 6 Resurrection Christian 9-0.
4A No. 5 Windsor beat Vista Ridge 14-3 in the return of coach Chris Jones. Jones took a year off of coaching before returning to the sidelines this fall.
6-man: No. 6 Stratton/Liberty ran away from No. 7 Genoa-Hugo 51-14. “It was a weird 6-man game,” coach Toby Kechter told the Scoreboard Show. “Usually, it’s a two-or-three touchdown game and you’re nervous as heck, but our defense was so good that it just felt really good and our kids were really confident in what we were doing.”
8-man: No. 3 Hoehne edged No. 4 Sargent 30-27. “Things went our way in the end,” coach Gabe Dasko told the Scoreboard Show. “I just kept telling our kids: ‘You guys have got to learn to finish in the end.’ Our two big leaders, Jacob Yates and Trystan Moltrer, stepped up and made some big plays for us.”
Grand Junction beat local rival Grand Junction Central 21-0.
Buena Vista and Alamosa didn’t kick their game off until 9:32 p.m. due to a shortage of officials. They ended at 11:45 p.m., a 37-7 Alamosa win.
Denver South’s Yonatan Kefle raced away from the field to capture the Wash Park Invite on Friday afternoon.
The junior won in 16:29, ahead of Jefferson Academy senior Ryan Lehmuth, who was second in 16:52. SkyView Academy’s Ryan Butler was third along with Castle View sophomore Aidan Scott (both finished in 17:12).
Castle View won the Invite on the boys side, with five runners placing in the top 13. Denver South, the host school, was second, and SkyView Academy placed third.
Castle View also won the girls team race as their five scorers all placed in the top 21. The Sabercats were led by senior Erin Kraus, who won the individual event in 19:53.
Brighton junior Kiran Green was second (20:21), and Dakota Ridge senior Skylar Lodice (20:32) finished third.
Dakota Ridge was second in the girls team race, and Longmont finished third.
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Devil’s Thumb Hill Climb
Grand Junction freshman Dolcie Hanlon narrowly won the Devil’s Thumb Hill Climb on Friday, edging Rifle senior Sarah Wagler by 0.57 seconds to win.
Hanlon won the race in 27:53.30. Wagler finished second in 27:53.87.
Gunnison won the girls team race by having runners finish third through sixth, led by sophomore Bria Rickert (29:06.85). Rifle was second as a team.
On the boys side, Gunnison senior Colton Stice led the field and won in 22:36.77. Rangely senior Patrick Scoggins was second in 23:01.11 — narrowly edging Montrose senior Evan Graff, who finished in 23:01.76.
Gunnison also won the boys race. Paonia was second.
Bryson Long, Logan Sircy and the Peetz Bulldogs kicked off their 2017 football season in style.
Long, a junior, rushed for 178 yards and four touchdowns as his fourth-ranked team in 6-man beat North Park 63-13. He also threw 57-yard touchdown pass, and forced a fumble on defense.
Logan Sircy also contributed in a big way for the Bulldogs with three total touchdowns, including two receiving scores, as well as 11 tackles and an interception on defense. He also blocked a field goal.
The win was extra significant because North Park had upset No. 2 Fleming 31-25 in Zero Week.
On Thursday, Peetz jumped out to a 30-0 lead at halftime, then put up 33 more points in the third quarter.
Tre Fehringer also threw a touchdown pass for the Bulldogs, and Hunter White rushed for a score and intercepted a pass.
Gage Travis had 11 tackles on defense, including two for a loss.
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5A: (10) Fairview 38, Horizon 14
Sophomore Aidan Atkinson had quite the debut for the Knights. The new quarterback threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns as No. 10 Fairview beat Horizon 38-14.
He most often found junior Bryce DesJardins, who caught nine passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Fellow junior Matt Greenwald also caught five passes for 111 yards and a score.
“It just feels like the chemistry is already there (with Atkinson) and we think it’s going to continue to improve through the season with route-reading and whatnot,” DesJardins told BoCoPreps.com after the game.
Senior Mariano Kemp also rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
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3A/4A: (4) Silver Creek 14, Dakota Ridge 0
Silver Creek held a slim 7-0 lead after three quarters, then got a sealing touchdown from Austin Knechtel late in the fourth quarter to secure a big win, according to BoCoPreps.com.
“I’m proud of the offense persevering through the second half and our defense shut them out, so we’ll try to build on that piece,” Silver Creek coach Mike Apodaca told the outlet.
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Notables:
5A No. 8 Columbine improved to 2-0 with a 38-13 win over Rocky Mountain.
Grandview and Chaparral were tied at 7 after the first quarter, but the 5A No. 6 Wolves pulled away for a 21-7 win.
Kennedy beat DPS rival George Washington for the first time since 2017 with a 42-7 win.
Skyview pulled away to beat Centaurus 33-14. It was just a 13-12 lead in the second quarter.
Clear Creek jumped out to a 22-0 lead at halftime and never looked back in beating Lake County 42-7 on a rainy night.
