DENVER — In a tough, Saturday morning battle, Colorado Academy once again found a way to pull out a close win over another highly ranked opponent. The Mustangs improved to 49-game winning steak with their 2-0 victory over Kent Denver.
The two teams seem evenly matched as both rank in the top three of the CHSAANow.com field hockey poll. The No. 3 Sun Devils (2-3-3 overall, 1-2-2 in league) dominated throughout the whole game but couldn’t turn anything into goals.
The top-ranked Mustangs (8-0, 5-0) were able to find a way to score two goals in the second half within a four-minute span, helping them remain unbeaten on the season.
It was senior captain Maddie Webster who scored the first goal of the game to give the Mustangs a much-needed lead.
“I think we played really well considering we changed a lot things in the last practice after we played them last Friday,” Webster said. “We adjusted really well on to how Kent plays.”
After the first half the Mustangs looked to try and gain some type of momentum. The Sun Devils continued to control the ball for most of the second half, but still couldn’t score. Kent Denver looked like they were on the verge of scoring as they had more opportunities and shot attempts than Colorado Academy.
“We dominated until 25 minutes into the second half. I think we just had a 2 minute lull and it just so happened Colorado Academy was able to capitalize on that,” said Sun Devils coach Kathy James.
Shortly after the first goal, junior captain Nellie Turnage scored with an impressive shot down the middle giving the Mustangs 2-0 lead. Kent Denver immediately picked up intensity after the score and continued to control the game.
“I think the girls did a really good job after our timeout. Coming back out we reevaluated and were able to come out strong. It’s just unfortunate we weren’t able to get anything in the net,” said James.
Colorado Academy goalkeeper Bridget Sutter was a big factor in preventing Kent Denver from scoring. Sutter was kept busy mostly in the first half blocking numerous shots.
“They had so many opportunities to score and thanks to Bridget and the defense we narrowly avoided that,” she said.
With the win, the Mustangs have now rattled off 49 consecutive victories. Colorado Academy coach Veronica Scott doesn’t let the huge milestone affect her teams’ mentality.
“Every game is so different and we have to play every game. At the end of the day you need to what you need to do to get to the playoffs and then that’s when it all counts,” said Scott. “The fact that we have a winning streak is lovely but it doesn’t give us anything extra.
Pine Creek beat Pueblo West in football on Saturday. More photos. (Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — After forcing a three-and-out on the very first Pueblo West drive, it only took the Pine Creek Eagles three plays and 56 seconds to take a 7-0 lead. That was about how the rest of the day would go for each team.
The Eagles held the momentum all afternoon en route to a 47-7 win at District-20 Stadium.
It was another game in which the Eagles (4-0 overall) showed they are indeed the favorites to bring home the Class 4A football title and still No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com 4A football rankings. But ahead of a highly-anticipated matchup with the Vista Ridge Wolves, Eagles coach Todd Miller knew his team was far from perfect on Saturday.
“If you don’t clean up (your mistakes), you don’t win,” Miller said. “Every time you get an opportunity to make a play you gotta seize that moment. (Dropped balls and penalties) are things we need to work on and be better about.”
The one thing that Miller didn’t have to worry about on Saturday was his offense’s ability to move the ball. On the first drive for the Eagles, Brock Domann connected with Damario Rogan-Portillos for a 67-yard touchdown pass.
Two Pine Creek drives later, Brock found his older brother, and Nebraska commit, JoJo for a 22-yard touchdown pass to give Pine Creek a quick 14-0 lead.
“We were just reading the defense and taking whatever they gave us,” JoJo said. “We both saw the same thing and we executed and it turned into a touchdown.”
The Cyclones (2-2) had difficulty moving the ball for most of the first half. When they finally got inside the red zone, ball security became an issue and linebacker Kacin Nowlin was able to take a fumble recovery 81 yards for a touchdown. Before the end of the second quarter Brock was able to break for a 46-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a 28-0 lead at halftime.
“We had to control the ball,” Cyclones coach Monte Pinkerton said. “(We had to have) ball security and control the clock and those things didn’t happen.”
The Cyclones got their first break at the start of the second quarter as the Eagles fumbled the kick-off. Pueblo West was able to get inside the five-yard line and get the ball in the hands of running back Shane Larson who ran from three yards out to give the Cyclones their first – and only – points of the game.
But the second half, like most of the game belonged to the Eagles. Running back DeAndre Toliver ran for two touchdowns and JoJo Domann added a 51-yard touchdown run of his own to bring the final to 47-7.
“That’s why I play football, it’s so fun,” Brock Domann said. “I love it because (JoJo and I) get to share the experience together and he’s my security blanket.”
The Eagles now turn their attention to next week’s home game against Vista Ridge. The Wolves came away with a 40-28 win over Palmer Ridge Friday night in a game that turned into a quarterback shootout. Should the same situation arise, Brock Domann is confident the Eagles can keep pace with Elway Tubbs and Vista Ridge.
“We’re ready,” Brock said. “I think the last two weeks, we’ve shown that we can pass. I think we’re ready. If they put up some points, we’ll be putting those points up too.”
Holy Family senior Chris Helbig. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)
There’s not a football player in the state of Colorado that has turned heads as quickly as Chris Helbig has this season.
The Holy Family quarterback got the attention of fans statewide when he threw for a state record 607 yards in the first week of the regular season. He followed that up with another aerial attack the following week, allowing a teammate to join him in the record book.
There is little doubt now at this point of the season, the Tigers offense is a must-see attraction this season.
Ahead of their Week 4 showdown with Frederick, Helbig took the time to chat with us about Holy Family’s record-breaking performances and which schools are trying to lure him their way.
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Q: When this season started, did you or coaches have an idea about just how explosive this offense is going to be?
Chris Helbig: Kind of. We knew the guys we had and we knew that if we put them in the right situation to succeed then we could score on any play. Whether it’s from our own 1-yard-line or the 50-yard-line, we knew that if we put guys in the right spot, good things would happen.
Q: What is it about the offense? Is is just the way you put the right guys in space or is just the scheme overall that opens it up for you?
Helbig: I think it’s that, in the scheme of things, when we execute then it’s going to work out well in the end. I guess it’s just the scheme and when the guys get into the open space, they know what to do with the ball.
Q: When you first heard that you set a state record with 607 passing yards in Week 1, what was your initial reaction to that?
Helbig: I thought it was crazy. Considering I didn’t throw many deep balls and it was more of the receivers catching and running, I thought it was crazy for sure. That’s a lot of yards.
Q: Has anyone else taken notice? Have you gotten more recruiting calls than you were getting before the game?
Helbig: Not really. It’s more of the same colleges that I’m talking to, I guess I’m just talking to them more often than before.
Q: Which schools are talking to you?
Helbig: Wyoming and then some FBS schools. There’s Montana, (Northern Colorado) and then I have some offers from some RMAC schools.
Q: A week following that Week 1 performance, one of your receivers, Joe Golter, set a state record for receiving yards in a game and after Week 3, you’re in the record books again for most touchdown passes in three games. When you’re able to think about that for a second, what kind of confidence does that give you in your team as you get further along in the season?
Helbig: It shows what we’re capable of doing. We try to get better each week so our expectations are that we (play like that every week). We just try to come out and compete and do the same thing week in and week out.
Q: When you think of high school football, it’s still more of a run-first game. What is about guys like you and Dylan McCaffrey down at Valor Christian that the high school game is, if even slowly, shifting into a more pass-heavy attack?
Helbig: I think it’s part of the game evolving. You’re getting more athletic guys that are playing football. And people are learning when you get guys in open space it’s easier. Throwing the ball downfield and having the receivers make plays on balls, it can help out a lot. It’s definitely a big momentum shifter when you complete a big pass for sure.
Q: When you’re putting up the kind of numbers you are, these are numbers that NFL guys can’t reach and they have more time and more possessions, what does that say about your talent relative to the level of competition that you face?
Helbig: It says a little bit about my talent. But it’s more of a team thing. Everyone has to work together to succeed at those things. It starts with the line. The line has to give me time, which they’ve done all season and then you have to have guys who can catch the ball and make plays with the ball. It really speaks more of a team thing than an individual thing.
Q: With the way the team has played since moving up to Class 3A (in 2012), how great has that been for the school to still have the team chemistry and the talent to compete with the top teams in your classification?
Helbig: It’s nice. It shows that we can compete no matter what the numbers are. We’re going to come out and look past all that stuff and game in and game out and we’re just going to try and compete and win the game.
COLORADO SPRINGS – At this rate, not even a drive all the way across Colorado Springs in the middle of rush hour could slow down Cheyenne Mountain.
The Indians, who came in at No. 3 in this week’s Class 4A CHSAANow.com poll, got off to strong start, allowing them to cruise to a 3-0 (25-10, 25-10, 25-15) win over Doherty Thursday night. Cheyenne Mountain’s (8-1 overall) only blemish this season came in a 3-0 loss to the seemingly unstoppable Eaton Reds.
But beyond that, David Barkley’s team is proving that once again they can hang with the best that 4A and 5A has to offer.
“I think we’re a good team and like I’ve said, three of the best teams in the state are in 4A,” Barkley said. “I think we’ve proven that we’re going to be one of those candidates and I hope that shows up with whatever determines that.”
The Indians remained at No. 3 in the 4A polls despite Ponderosa traveling out of state last weekend and dropping four matches.
But Barkley only remains focused on his team and leading a group of girls that he enjoys coaching on a daily basis.
“These kids have played volleyball a long time,” he said. “They’re in good club programs and when they come here and all that talent comes together, they make each other better. The just love playing the game which is what they were doing tonight, they were smiling a lot.”
Cheyenne Mountain jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead in the first set against the Spartans (2-7). Doherty bounced back with back-to-back points, including an ace from Melissa Ferrell, but it was enough to battle back.
The Indians took the first set 25-10 and the score of the second set ended the exact same way.
Cheyenne Mountain was getting points from a variety of methods. Casey Ahrendsen led the Indians with eight kills while Ellie Gubser and Bethany Cullity each contributed seven. Gutser added eight solo blocks with two more assisted, totaling 10 on the night.
If the Spartans were going to fall, they weren’t going to do it without a fight. They came out strong in the third set, going toe to toe with the Indians at the start. With the score close, the respective student sections started amping up their energy to help their squads.
They traded cheers back and forth using everything from which classification their football team plays in to their ACT scores.
“We love having our fans out here,” Indians middle blocker Elizabeth Wayne said. “We like having it loud and we really feed off that energy.”
Spartans coach Allison Krug felt the same way and was grateful for the fans support her team received through the match.
“Our crowd that comes is absolutely fabulous,” she said. “There’s always about 10 kids that come to everything and it’s awesome because they support us and they’re all about Spartan pride.”
Although it was a tough loss for the Spartans, Krug knows that a match against a team as talented as Cheyenne Mountain will help her girls down the stretch.
“It is important,” Krug said. “When it comes to playoff time, it’s important to play those bigger, better teams that have always been regarded as good programs. It helps us not only get better in the future, but just improve as a team.”
Meanwhile, the Indians will move on to league play. They’ll start off against Discovery Canyon, who Barkley has noticed has been in the winning column very frequently this season. They’ll host the Thunder Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
WHEAT RIDGE – Ralston Valley rallied from an early 5-0 hole to defeat Wheat Ridge 10-9 in a cross-classification Jeffco matchup on Thursday.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, beat 4A No. 4 Wheat Ridge 10-9.
“Today was not a good game for us,” said Ralston Valley coach Wendy Davies. “The defense wasn’t very strong at the very beginning. The positive is that we came back and scored ten after being down by five.”
It was Ralston Valley’s ninth win in a row, while the loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Wheat Ridge.
“As long as we can continue to grow, I think the sky is the limit,” Davies said.
Ralston Valley began its comeback in the third inning, when it loaded the bases twice.
First, two runs were brought in by a nice hit from Eldredge. Then senior Rylie Strong plated two more runs to cut the lead to 5-4. Ralston Valley then carried that momentum with three quick outs in the bottom half of the inning.
Asked what she was thinking down 5-0, Eldredge said, “Keep pushing, keep going no matter what was the score, no matter the errors, keep going until the end.”
Ralston Valley caught fire in the fifth inning and was able to tie the game, then quickly take a 6-5 lead. A big hit from sophomore Giana Browdy in the outfield lead to three runs, giving Ralston Valley nine unanswered runs.
Even after giving up a big lead, Wheat Ridge was going to finish strong. Down 10-6 in the seventh, the Farmers gained momentum from their defense with three quick outs.
Ralston Valley got two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh, and looked like it was going to get a third — until Wheat Ridge senior Christina Nelson homered to cut it to 10-7. Shortly after, senior Devin Bushner hit a two-run home run to make it 10-9.
Just when it looked like Farmers were going to duplicate a comeback, the Mustangs were able to get their third and final out, ending the game.
Wheat Ridge coach Marty Stricklett was disappointed in his team’s loss and felt that they let one get away from them.
“We need to work on our defense,” the coach said. “We hit the ball well at the beginning and at the end. We took a five inning nap and made a couple of critical errors.”
