Fossil Ridge is the top seed in the Class 5A regional softball field. (Pam Wagner)
AURORA — Fossil Ridge, Frederick and Strasburg earned the top overall seeds in their respective classifications when the regional softball brackets were released by CHSAA on Sunday.
Fossil Ridge, 17-1-0, won the always-tough Front Range League in Class 5A by virtue of going unbeaten 11-0. 5A’s No. 2 seed, Legacy (15-4-0), also hails from the Front Range League. Both will host their respective regionals.
In 4A, Frederick was a clear-cut No. 1 seed. The Warriors finished the season unbeaten at 19-0-0, won the Tri-Valley League, and played a very tough schedule which included top teams from 4A and 3A, as well as 5A opponents.
Valor Christian (18-1-0) got the No. 2 seed, while Pueblo West is No. 3. Defending champion Wheat Ridge is the No. 4.
Other regional hosts in 4A are No. 5 Silver Creek, No. 6 Vista Ridge, No. 7 Discovery Canyon and No. 8 Mountain View.
3A’s top-seeded Strasburg (also the defending 3A champion) went unbeaten at 19-0-0 despite playing in District 3, which is arguably the toughest softball league in the state.
That district also features No. 2-seeded Valley — which will also host a region — No. 4 Sterling and No. 5 Eaton. Additionally, Brush (No. 10), Lyons (No. 13) and Greeley Central (No. 18) also qualified for the regional bracket.
Other regional hosts in 3A include No. 3 La Junta, No. 7 Skyline, No. 8 Burlington and No. 9 Cedaredge.
Each of the regional tournaments will begin and complete play next Saturday, Oct. 11. Both the Class 5A and 4A tournaments feature 32-team fields split into eight regions, while 3A has 18 teams split into six.
All three regional tournaments will advance two teams from each region to their respective state tournaments Oct. 17-18 at Aurora Sports Park.
Pomona senior Isaac Marquez (27) looks for some running room while junior Nate Juarbe (15) blocks senior Olabisi Johnson (10) during the Class 5A Jeffco League game Friday. Marquez scored three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 41-14 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
LAKEWOOD — Pomona didn’t miss a beat despite being a little short-handed offensively Friday at Jeffco Stadium.
The Panthers, No. 2 in this week’s Class 5A football CHSAANow.com rankings, played without leading running back Cameron Gonzales against Bear Creek. However, Pomona (5-1, 4-0 in league) had plenty of players pitch in to take a 41-14 victory in the 5A Jeffco League game.
“I think we all just came together,” Pomona senior quarterback Justin Roberts said after the Panthers’ fifth-straight victory. “The line blocked great. My receivers caught it and executed. It was just a good game overall.”
Gonzales (606 yards rushing this season) stood on Pomona’s sideline in a walking boot. According to Pomona coach Jay Madden, the sophomore suffered an ankle injury two weeks ago Mullen.
Pomona senior quarterback Justin Roberts (7) lunges forward after slipping a tackle attempt by Bear Creek junior junior Joshua Gibbs (34) on Friday at Jeffco Stadium. Roberts had a solid game passing for 172 yards and throwing a pair of touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown in the Panthers’ 41-14 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
“He (Gonzales) is such a tough kid. He keeps playing, but it isn’t going to get any better unless we give him some time off,” Madden said. “We’ll probably go another week without him and hopefully he can come back against Ralston Valley.”
Freshman Max Borghi stepped into a bigger role leading Pomona with 13 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns. His 66-yard touchdown run with 9:35 left in the fourth quarter gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the game at 41-7.
Senior Isaac Marquez continued to be a scoring machine for Pomona. The multi-position player rushed for 97 yards, caught four balls for 59 yards and scored three touchdowns. Marquez has 11 touchdowns so far on the season.
Roberts had maybe his best game of the season at quarterback. He finished 14-of-16 passing for 172 yards and two touchdowns. He capped off his game by juggling a snap from shotgun, but had the presence of mind of gather the ball and take it in for a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“Very efficient,” Madden said in describing Robert’s performance. “We probably should have thrown it more often. We trust him and we just need to throw it more.”
Pomona’s defense contained Bear Creek’s veteran quarterback Nick Madrid for the most part. Madrid was 10-of-19 passing for 60 yards and was sacked four times.
“Our only goal was not to let him (Madrid) get outside and we were blitzing up the middle a little bit more,” Madden said. “It gave us a couple of big plays. The defense seems to give up a lot of yards, but we keep making plays when we need too.”
The Bears got on the scoreboard late in the first half with a 15-yard touchdown run by senior Olabisi Johnson, but Pomona quickly answered with a 18-yard touchdown pass from Roberts to Marquez with a minute left before halftime to give the Panthers a 21-7 halftime lead.
Bear Creek senior Nick Madrid (3) gets a pass off during the first half Friday at Jeffco Stadium. The Bears had their two-game winning streak snapped with a 41-14 loss to Pomona. (Dennis Pleuss)
Bear Creek (4-2, 2-2) pulled out close victories against Chatfield and Lakewood the previous two weeks, but couldn’t pull off the upset Friday.
“Pomona is a really good, physical football team,” Bear Creek coach Zach Morris said. “We’ve played a bunch of nail biters the last couple of weeks. A team like Pomona will make you pay for every single mistake. It kind of caught up with us.”
Bear Creek’s back-up quarterback Stephen Bridgett tossed a 36-yard touchdown pass to junior Michael Dalton midway through the fourth quarter for the final score of the game.
“We haven’t been playing to our potential, but we are going to get there,” said Pomona sophomore linebacker Garrett Zanon, who had two sacks on the night. “We are going to be really good once we get into the playoffs.”
Pomona heads back to its home field at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada to square off against Columbine at 7 p.m. next Friday night.
Madden’s isn’t concerned with his team looking ahead to its showdown against Ralston Valley scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at NAAC. The rivalry game between the two Arvada-area schools will likely determine the 5A Jeffco title.
“Columbine is a big rival of ours. We have probably played them more than anybody in Pomona history it seems like,” Madden said. “We know Columbine is a heck of a team and it’s going to be a battle.”
Bear Creek faces another tough conference test in undefeated and No. 3-ranked Ralston Valley next week. The Bears host the Mustangs (6-0, 4-0) at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at Jeffco Stadium.
Bear Creek junior running back Tomas Randolph (middle with ball) is taken down by seven Pomona defenders Friday at Jeffco Stadium. The Panthers won their fifth straight game with a 41-14 victory against the Bears. (Dennis Pleuss)
Valor escaped with a 23-21 win thanks to a game-sealing interception from Brian Dawkins Jr. in the final minute.
It was the second-straight league game in which Valor (5-1) got all it could handle. Last week, Centennial foe Overland hung until midway through the fourth quarter before the Eagles’ ran off 21-unanswered points to win 35-10.
Valor Christian’s Dylan McCaffrey, pictured earlier this season. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
This week, Eaglecrest led 14-7 after the first quarter as Elijah Ross found Peter Anderson twice on long touchdown passes. Valor then scored 16 straight points to take a 23-14 halftime lead.
But Eaglecrest (3-3) wouldn’t go away. The Raptors’ Glenn Washington scored on a 25-yard run with 7:52 to play in the third quarter to make it 23-21.
After that, each team’s offense stalled as turnovers and penalties ruled the night.
Eaglecrest did get the ball back with just over two minutes to play in the game, but was backed up as Valor downed a punt at the 4-yard-line.
The Raptors weren’t able to move the ball, but the Eagles were flagged for roughing the passer on fourth down, giving Eaglecrest a first down at their own 16. Two plays later, Dawkins picked off the pass to seal the win.
Dylan McCaffrey finished with 184 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and Eric Lee Jr. had 106 yards rushing — including an 84-yard score. Jarred Kendziorski made a 28-yard field goal which proved to be the difference.
Valor Christian’s in-state winning streak now stands at 27 games. The Eagles play Cherokee Trail next week.
[divider]
1A: (1) Paonia 22, (3) Meeker 16
Paonia trailed 16-14 with less than two minutes to play, but was able to drive down and get what was ultimately the winning score when Taylor Walters found tight end Joel Simianer for a 4-yard touchdown with 34 seconds to play.
“It was just kids making plays, and we were fortunate enough to come out on top,” Paonia coach Brent McCrae told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show. “We actually had a big fourth-down conversion (on the final drive), where we just trusted our O-line; they pushed the pile. And then we had a pretty big pass play … on a third-down and long. Two biggies there.”
Meeker did drive down and had the ball in the red zone, but Paonia held on for the win.
“We were fortunate enough to have a linebacker to make the tackle just as time expired,” McCrae said. “I think they were on the (5-yard-line) at that point.”
[divider]
2A: (1) Brush 32, (4) Platte Valley 28
Brush got its first real big test of the year, and passed.
“It was a heck of a battle,” Brush coach Randy Dreitz told the Scoreboard Show. “They’re a very good football team.”
The Beetdiggers had a great third quarter, where they expanded a 13-7 halftime lead to 28-14, and then Michael Gutierrez’s 20-yard rushing score with eight minutes to play made it 34-21.
Platte Valley did cut things to a six-point game with two minutes remaining, but Brush held on and defended its No. 1-ranking.
“The difference was that we held them more than they held us. If you get one play here or there where you can hold them and take it down and score, I think that was the key,” Dreitz said. “Our kids played really well tonight, but their kids played hard. It was a definite battle.”
[divider]
1A: Wray 14, (5) Burlington 12
The Eagles pulled off the upset.
“We’ve play each other so many times over the years. We know what we’re doing against each other,” Wray coach Levi Kramer told the Scoreboard Show. “It really comes down to who’s going to make the plays at the end of the games, and turnovers. We had one tonight, and they had a couple. It comes down to that.”
Wray started 1-3 but is now 3-3 after two straight wins.
“(The kids) could have very easily just said, ‘This is the year we’re going to be down,’ or whatever, but they refused to do that,” Kramer said.
[divider]
2A: (9) Gunnison 39, (10) Bayfield 14
The Cowboys led 24-0 at halftime, and 31-6 midway through the fourth quarter. They cruised from there.
“Offensively, we just got off the bus tonight … and our boys were just ready to play,” Gunnison coach Bob Howard told the Scoreboard Show. “We had a pretty good mix tonight of run and pass.”
[divider]
8-man: (1) Dayspring Christian 32, (2) Akron 20
For the second week in a row, Dayspring came out on top of a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.
The Eagles were up 20-6 at halftime, but Akron battled back to tie the game at 20 after three quarters. Dayspring then rattled off the game’s final 12 points to stay unbeaten.
[divider]
4A: (8) Greeley West 14, (4) Windsor 0
The Spartans are now 6-0, and have a feather in their cap after this win. They led 14-0 early in the second, and the score held up.
Running back Alex DeLaCroix had both of Greeley West’s touchdowns, the first on a 14-yard run, the second on a 7-yard catch.
[divider]
Notables
D’Evelyn quarterback Owen Burke had another record performance on Friday night. He threw for 530 yards and four touchdowns as D’Evelyn lost to No. 10 Conifer, 38-35, in 3A. Burke threw for 535 last week. The 535 yards were No. 5 all time last week, while the 530 are No. 6 this week. In his last two games, Baker has thrown for 1,065 yards and nine touchdowns. He has 1,762 yards this season.
Antonito beat Cotopaxi 83-56. The 139 combined points are now the ninth-most in state history.
Luke Nethercot threw for six touchdowns in Canon City’s 45-27 win over Lewis-Palmer on Friday. Technically, that’s tied for eighth-best all-time, though 28 others have done it, as well. He’s a sophomore.
TeQuan Baker rushed for 344 yards and three touchdowns in 5A No. 10 Doherty’s 34-14 win over Legend. He now has 1,328 yards this season, which is second in the state. Baker’s gone over 100 yards in all six games, and over 200 yards in five of six. His 18 touchdowns lead the state.
No. 4 Holy Family handled No. 8 Berthoud 43-7 in a battle of ranked 3A teams. Holy Family actually trailed 7-6 after the first quarter. “I think the hype of the game got to our kids a little bit,” coach Mike Gabriel told the Scoreboard Show. “But then we kind of settled in and pulled away.” Ultimately, the Tigers scored the game’s final 43 points.
Is this the biggest turnaround in 2014? Mountain Valley is now 6-0 in 6-man football. The Indians were 1-7 last year, and didn’t field a team in 2012 because of low numbers. Wow.
Mountain Vista is 6-0 in 5A following a 34-7 win over Rock Canyon on Friday night. The Golden Eagles — who had a pink-out on Friday — should be sniffing the top-10 come Monday.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Chewing clock is what No. 3 Montrose does best with its run-heavy offense. And it proved to be the difference in a 31-30 win over No. 9 Vista Ridge Friday night at Vista Ridge High School.
The Indians (5-1 overall, 1-0 4A Foothills League) stayed true to the offense that has kept them a winning team and ran the ball often and effectively. They once against put the load on the back of their bruising fullback Mike Rocha, whose two touchdown runs proved to be key in the win.
“It’s not just me, you have to have a solid offensive line and a quarterback that takes care of the ball,” Rocha said. “We just pound the ball, it’s what we do.”
(Jon Tuttelman)
Rocha and the Indians marched their way down the field on the first drive of the game before the Vista Ridge (4-2, 0-1) defense clamped down inside the red zone, holding Montrose to just a field goal, the only score of the first quarter for either team.
The second series proved to be better defensively for the Wolves. The Indians — once again riding on the back of Rocha — drove to midfield, but were forced to punt. Down 3-0, Elway Tubbs and the Vista Ridge offense were looking for something happen.
Finding early success on quick wide receiver screens proved to be deadly as Tubbs went to the well on the first play of the drive, resulting in cornerback Mitch Freismuth jumping the route and trotting into the end zone for a pick-six.
“You look at that and as soon as it happens you wish you could have it back,” Wolves coach Jeremi Calip said. “You have a kid and set him up to make a play, sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t and you look at that pick-six and we were a block away from having a big play.”
But the swing in momentum didn’t last long as Eric Stowers responded with an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the ensuing drive to get the Wolves on the board. The Wolves’ defense went back on the field with some fire, and forced a fumble that was recovered by Vista Ridge defensive lineman Josh Coppock.
Tubbs and the offense couldn’t find their feet and were forced to punt the ball back to the Indians who marched 78 yards down the field, all on the ground. Rocha ended the drive with a touchdown run, giving Montrose a 17-7 halftime lead.
The Indians opened the second half with another Rocha touchdown to go up 24-7, putting the Wolves against a wall. Tubbs and his offense finally responded with a quick scoring drive to cut the Montrose lead to 10.
“We had three starters out on defense which didn’t help us, it was a physical game,” Indians coach Todd Casebier said. “We were scrambling a little bit on defense but give Vista Ridge credit, their kids kept fighting and they ran some good up-tempo on us.”
(Jon Tuttelman)
Montrose would find the end zone one more time in the game with a touchdown pass from quarterback Kameron DeVincentis to Freismuth for 31 yards.
But the rest of the game belonged to a gutsy performance by Tubbs and his offense. He responded with a touchdown pass to Marquez Trunnell, the second scoring hookup for the duo. A missed extra point put the Wolves down 31-20. The score would hold until the waning minutes of the game.
The Indians held the ball with less than three minutes to go and willingly took a safety to give the Wolves the ball back down 31-22. Montrose opted for a short kick, giving Tubbs the ball with a short field to work with. He found the end zone in no time and following a two-point conversion, Vista Ridge had pulled to within one point.
But they couldn’t recover the onside and for the second straight week, Vista Ridge had fallen at home.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Casebier said. “When you ride a bus for seven hours, you don’t care. 31-30 will work for us or 2-0 will work for us. We’re 1-0 in league and that’s all that matters.”
WESTMINSTER — Ayden Karraker rushed for two touchdowns and 93 yards, Dominick Castiglione had 159 yards and a score, and Horizon beat rival Mountain Range in football on Friday, 31-7.
BROOMFIELD — No. 1 Brighton softball scored 3 runs in the top of the 7th inning to inch past Holy Family 3-2 on Saturday. Brighton is now 18-1 this season, while Holy Family drops to 7-12.
Melissa Rahrich hit a 3-run home run in the final inning and pitched a one-run complete game for Brighton.
Standley Lake junior Kellen Muller (33) does his best to bring down Denver South sophomore Marcus Lindsay (22) during the first half Thursday. Lindsay had three rushing touchdowns in the win for the Rebels. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Denver South football made an early statement as the Rebels opened up conference play in the Class 4A Mountain League on Thursday.
“We just needed to stay up playing at our level,” Denver South senior running back Trevonte Tasco said after the road victory that improved the Rebels to 4-2 on the season, 1-0 in conference.
Denver South senior Trevonte Tasco (24) looks for an opening during the first half Thursday against Standley Lake. The running back had 15 carries for 242 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Rebels’ 54-7 win. (Dennis Pleuss)
Tasco has been playing at an extremely high level this season. The 250-pound back has already gone over the 1,000-yard mark on the season through six games. He had 15 carries for 242 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Gators (2-4, 0-1).
Tasco also had a huge game last week in the Rebels’ 39-28 victory against top-10 ranked Pueblo South. He carried the ball 28 times for 305 yards and four touchdowns.
“He (Tasco) is supposed to be the man this year. I know he is a college-caliber player,” Denver South coach Tony Lindsay said of Tasco. “He is a really good kid and a good kid in school. I’m glad he is on my team. He is a load.”
The Rebels racked up 383 yards rushing against Standley Lake’s defense. Sophomore Marcus Lindsay had 10 carries for 62 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Malcom Wright scored on a lateral in the first half and Tasco’s second touchdown run with 19 seconds left in the second quarter gave Denver South a 34-7 lead at halftime.
Standley Lake’s lone touchdown came off a 16-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jacob Naranjo to senior Anthony Moore in the second quarter.
Sophomore Devante Loggins was another standout for the Rebels. The cornerback had the assignment of attempting to shut down Standley Lake senior Connor Durant, one of the top receivers in 4A this season.
“I was really focused,” Loggins said of covering Durant one-on-one. “I watched a lot of film on him (Durant) to see what he does best.”
Loggins intercepted Naranjo on the Gators’ first offensive drive on a pass intended for Durant. It was the first of four turnovers by Standley Lake.
Durant finished with six catches for 56 yards, but didn’t have a catch more than 14 yards.
“That is our shutdown cornerback,” coach Lindsay said of Loggins. “He is an athlete. He is a true corner with a lot of speed.”
Standley Lake senior Connor Durant (81) is tackled by Denver South sophomore Devante Loggins after a catch Thursday at the North Area Athletic Complex. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
Loggins put an exclamation point for the Rebels with a 79-yard touchdown run when he came in at quarterback to begin the fourth quarter. Denver South’s back-up quarterback took the option play the distance for the final score of the game.
“I was asking at halftime if I could play a little quarterback,” Loggins said.
Denver South returns to NAAC next week. The Rebels face Golden at 7 p.m. Oct. 9.
Standley Lake continues its league schedule with a date noon Oct. 11, at Jeffco Stadium against Wheat Ridge. The Gators got off to a rough start with losses to Pueblo Central and Monarch before rebounding with wins over Green Mountain and Littleton.
Durant had a monster game with 10 catches for 223 yards and a pair of touchdowns last week in the Gators’ 66-33 loss to No. 5 Dakota Ridge. Naranjo also threw for 300-plus yards, but the Gators’ defense couldn’t slow down Dakota Ridge junior Jeremy Lujan. The running back scored six touchdowns while racking up 415 all-purpose yards for the Eagles.
“I know Standley Lake it a little hurt over there. We needed to keep focused on staying up,” coach Lindsay said. “These last three games have been tough.”
Denver South suffered back-to-back losses to 5A’s Eaglecrest and Regis Jesuit before the win over Pueblo South last week.
Denver South sophomore Devante Loggins (10) intercepts a pass intended for Standley Lake senior Connor Durant on Thursday afternoon at the North Area Athletic Complex. The Rebels took a 54-7 victory over the Gators in the Class 4A Mountain League opener for both teams. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)Standley Lake senior Anthony Moore hauls in a touchdown catch Thursday for the Gators’ lone touchdown in a 54-7 loss to Denver South. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)
