THORNTON — The state gymnastics championships concluded on Saturday.
Month: November 2014
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4A football state playoff bracket
Football’s 2014 state playoff bracket for Class 4A.
2014 CHSAA State Football Playoffs CHSAA 4A Football Playoffs
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3A football state playoff bracket
Football’s 2014 state playoff bracket for Class 3A.
2014 CHSAA State Football Playoffs CHSAA 3A Football Playoffs
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State gymnastics results: Individual event finals
THORNTON — Complete results from the second day of the Class 4A and 5A state gymnastics meets, which featured the finals for all individual events.
Results for all events are below.
[divider]Individual event finals
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Pine Creek, Discovery Canyon top seeds in 4A, 3A football playoffs
Pine Creek is the No. 1 seed in Class 4A. Falcon also made the field. (Photo: District 49) AURORA — Pine Creek and Discovery Canyon were selected as the top seeds when the Class 4A and 3A playoff football brackets were announced on Sunday morning.
Both teams went unbeaten at 10-0 during the regular season, and were atop the final Wild Card points standings for their respective classifications.
Pine Creek is the defending 4A champion. The Eagles are riding a 21-game winning streak, the largest of any 11-man team. Their last loss came to 5A Columbine on Sept. 12 of last season. Pine Creek hasn’t lost to a 4A team since dropping a game to Ponderosa in Oct. 2012 — a span of 23 games.
The Eagles went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in CHSAANow.com’s rankings during the regular season. They own wins over five teams which made the playoff field.
Other top seeds, and those hosting first-round games, include: No. 2 Fort Collins, No. 3 Montrose, No. 4 Denver South, No. 5 Pueblo South, No. 6 Dakota Ridge, No. 7 Longmont and No. 8 Windsor.
Montrose was the runner-up in last year’s 4A title game. The Indians (9-1) have yet to lose to a 4A team this season, with the lone loss coming to 5A Lakewood.
Discovery Canyon heads the 3A field. (Pam Wagner) Discovery Canyon, meanwhile, has been No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com poll and the Wild Card points for a few weeks now. The Thunder have a number of key wins, including on the road at Holy Family and over Pueblo East. They also beat Rampart, a 4A playoff team.
On Friday, Discovery Canyon held off an upset attempt by beating Canon City in overtime.
Other first-round hosts in 3A are No. 2 Evergreen, No. 3 Roosevelt, No. 4 Pueblo East, No. 5 Lutheran, No. 6 Rifle, No. 7 Holy Family and No. 8 Conifer.
One thing’s for sure: There will be a new champion in 3A. Coronado, which won last year’s title, moved up to 4A (and made the playoffs). Likewise, last year’s runner-up Silver Creek also moved up.
Find the entire 3A bracket here.
Classes 5A, 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man are already in the postseason. All five of those classification completed their first rounds this past weekend.
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Photos: Faith Christian football moves on in 2A playoffs
ARVADA — No. 8-seeded Faith Christian moved to the Class 2A quarterfinals with a 40-14 win over Bayfield on Saturday.
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Wingard has a field day as Ralston Valley opens 5A football playoffs with win
Ralston Valley senior Andrew Wingard (28) is greeted in the end zone by junior Tanner Hauptman (24) after one of Wingard’s five first-half touchdowns during the Mustangs’ 48-0 victory against Grand Junction on Friday at the North Area Athletic Complex. (Dennis Pleuss) ARVADA — Ralston Valley senior Andrew Wingard did his best Tony Dorsett impression late Friday afternoon at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Wingard had a 99-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter against Grand Junction in the first round of the Class 5A state football playoffs. It was one of five first-half touchdowns for the senior tailback as the No. 1-seeded Mustangs galloped to a 48-0 victory.
Ralston Valley senior Dalton Pribble (15) turns up field after catching a pass from quarterback Cooper Loyd in the first quarter Friday. Pribble scored a pair of touchdowns in the Mustangs’ 48-0 victory over Grand Junction. (Dennis Pleuss) “Ninety-nine yards, I’ve dreamed about that. Not many people have been able to do that. To go 99 yards is a great feeling,” said Wingard about his run that put the Mustangs up 41-0 and induced a running clock for the remainder of the game. “I owe it all to my teammates and offensive line. I just had to get through the hole and finish the rest.”
Wingard, who committed to the University of Wyoming a few weeks ago, admitted he nearly ran out of steam during his attempt to match the feat Dorsett accomplished during a Monday Night Football game for the Dallas Cowboys back in 1983.
“I was completely gassed,” said Wingard, who hurdled diving defender to make it into the end zone. “I felt like I was running the final 50 meters in a 400 on the track.”
He became the 15th player in state history with a 99-yard run, the third this season, and is now officially tied for the state record when it comes to the longest touchdown run from scrimmage.
Wingard didn’t see the field after halftime. His six carries for 163 yard and three touchdowns, along with a 78-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Chase Heffley and 60-yard punt return for a touchdown was enough to allow the two-way player to take in the second half from the sideline.
“He’s has got some work to do,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd joked about Wingard’s first-half performance. “He probably ran 130 yards when all was said and done on the (99-yard TD) run. He can make guys miss. He makes it look effortless.”
It wasn’t a one-man show by any means for the Mustangs. Ralston Valley quarterback Cooper Loyd threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior Dalton Pribble to start the scoring in the first quarter. Pribble had the lone score in the second half with a 31-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
Ralston Valley’s defense was just as impressive pitching a shutout against No. 8 Grand Junction (4-6). The Mustangs put pressure on Grand Junction senior quarterback Michael Poland early and often. Five different Mustangs (Nick Eberly, Anthony Vessa, Jack Martin, Kyle Emery and Collin Root) each recorded a sack in the first half.
“Today we threw in a new blitz going ‘A’ gap and it was wide open. We made the plays,” Eberly said. “Give credit to the defensive line. They opened up the gaps for us.”
Grand Junction quarterback Michael Poland (3) tries to ward off Ralston Valley defenders Jack Martin and Parker Gregston near the sideline Friday night. (Dennis Pleuss) The Mustangs’ stingy defense hasn’t allowed an in-state opponent to score more than 15 points in any game so far this season. La Serna in California put 24 points on Ralston Valley in its season opener, but the Mustangs’ offense posted a 47-point performance.
“That undefeated regular season means nothing if you don’t come out here and prove it,” Matt Loyd said after his team improved to 10-0 on the season. “I was pleased with the focus. Offensively we came out sharp. Defensively we made plays like we have all year.”
Ralston Valley, one of the four No. 1 seeds, plays the winner of Eaglecrest/Legacy in the second round next week. The Legacy Lightning hosted the Raptors at North Stadium on Friday night.
Back-to-back wins over Hinkley and Gateway to close out the regular season got Grand Junction into the 32-team field. The Tigers had a 0-5 record against 5A teams that made the postseason tournament.
“You can’t overlook anyone,” Wingard said looking forward. “Grand Junction is tough every year. We came out with a really good passion this week.”
Ralston Valley senior Collin Root (9) gets behind Grand Junction’s defense Friday at the North Area Athletic Complex. Root had two catches for 48 yards, along with a sack on the defensive side of the ball in the playoff victory against Grand Junction. (Dennis Pleuss) 
Ralston Valley junior Nick Eberly, left, puts pressure on Grand Junction quarterback Michael Poland during the first quarter Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. The Mustangs recored five first-half sacks in the 48-0 victory in the first round of the Class 5A state football playoffs. (Dennis Pleuss) -
Photos: Fairview football handles Castle View in 5A playoffs
BOULDER — No. 2 Fairview football easily handled No. 7 Castle View, 41-21, in the first round of the 5A playoffs.
Fairview struck first, scoring on their first drive on a deep pass from Johnny Feauto to Tim Ryan. On Castle View’s first drive, James Cortese returned an interception back for a touchdown, and Fairview was quickly up 14-0.
Castle View fought back, cutting the score to 17-13 with two rushing touchdowns from Erik Taylor in the third quarter. Then Fairview piled on 24 straight points to take a commanding 41-13 lead in the fourth quarter.
Fairview moves on to face No. 3 Overland in the second round.
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Mountain Vista football advances with win over Cherokee Trail
HIGHLANDS RANCH — It was Halloween night, so it seemed only fitting the game started with a bit of trickery.
The Mountain Vista Golden Eagles, a No. 3-seed in this year’s Class 5A football playoffs, scored on a flea flicker on the first play of the game and never trailed Friday night, beating the No. 6-seeded Cherokee Trail Cougars 24-17 to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
The 80-yard completion from wide receiver Brendan Ike to fellow wide receiver Christian Benavides was almost as big of a surprise to the Golden Eagles as it was the Cougars, according to quarterback Brock Rubley.
“It was a bit of a surprise. We didn’t know we were going to do it until like two minutes before the first play happened,” said Rubley, a senior. “But it worked. We ran it maybe once in practice, but it worked.”
“I wouldn’t say we’ve been thinking about it all week,” said Golden Eagles head coach Ric Cash. “We’ve had that play in our arsenal for a while now, haven’t used it. So we decided to go ahead and take a shot on the first play, and it came up big.”
Mountain Vista would add a field goal from kicker Mitchel Anderson, and in the second quarter, another touchdown pass, this one from Rubley to sophomore wide receiver Tristen Dean. Backed by a run-stuffing defense, the Golden Eagles carried a 17-0 lead into halftime.
Ross said his squad came into the night focused on stopping the Cougars ground game, specifically senior running back Izaiah Lottie.
“Everybody we talked to said you’ve got to shut down number 25,” said Cash. “That was a big part of the game-plan, because they were really dependent on the running game, specifically his speed.
“Our kids did a great job bottling him up and then forcing them to some different things they weren’t as comfortable doing.”
And because Mountain Vista’s front seven was stopping the run, it allowed their defensive backs to make plays on the ball whenever Cougars quarterback Blake Butler attempted to throw downfield.
“We watched a lot of film this week, keying on number 25,” said Vista cornerback Will Flynn, who tipped multiple long passes away from Cougar receivers. “Huge shout-out to our guys up front. We owe it all to them.
“We did what we always do. We come in, we shut people down. That’s what we’re going to keep doing.”
Mountain Vista’s defense was playing well, but Cherokee Trail adjusted at halftime and came out in the third quarter with a new offensive focus. Running back Quincey Voss broke off a 44-yard run down the sideline, and a few plays later, plunged into the end zone to get the Cougars on the board.
Still down two scores, Cherokee Trail would turn to Butler, who had a long scramble and completed passes on a fourth down and later a third and long to keep a Cougars drive alive. After Voss plunged in from 5 yards out for his second touchdown of the night, Vista’s lead shrunk to three.
But late in the fourth, Mountain Vista’s defense would come up big again. A sack by junior noseguard Matt Yockey pushed the Cougars back to third and 25 with just over two minutes remaining. Two incompletions and a turnover on downs later, the Golden Eagles got the ball back on offense and would add a touchdown to effectively ice the win.
“We felt like that was a great team, obviously coming out of a very tough league,” said Cash of Cherokee Trail. “For us we felt like, ‘gosh, that’s a tough first round game’. So for our kids, without a lot of playoff experience to come out and play the way they did, I thought they did a great job.”
The Golden Eagles will face an even tougher test in the second round, when they take on No. 2-seed Valor Christian, a five-time defending champion.
“We’re extremely excited,” said Rubley. “We’re going to keep watching film, work hard in practice, and hopefully we get the W next week.”