COLORADO SPRINGS — In a matchup of top-10 Class 4A football teams, No. 6-ranked Pine Creek came out on top 39-14 over No. 5-ranked Vista Ridge on Friday
[divider]
Month: September 2016
-
Photos: Roper leads No. 9 Erie football past Centaurus
ERIE — Noah Roper rushed for 216 yards and three touchdowns as No. 9-ranked Erie beat Centaurus 47-19 on Friday night in football.
Erie quarterback Ruben Portillo threw for a touchdown and rushed another.
Centaurus quarterback Shaquille Ebadi led his team with 267 passing yards yards and three touchdowns.
[divider]
-
Photos: Pomona football tops Valor Christian in thrilling comeback
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Pomona was down late, but staged a thrilling fourth quarter comeback to top Valor Christian 23-16 Friday night.
[divider]
-
Columbine hitters deliver in softball win over Pomona
Columbine shortstop Shania Lopez forces out a sliding Pomona junior Alexus Spinks during the Rebels’ 5-1 win Saturday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) ARVADA — Clutch hitting by the bottom of Columbine’s line-up guided the Rebels to a nice Class 5A Jeffco League softball road victory Saturday morning.
Sophomore Daysha Mendez and junior Amber Davis — Columbine’s eight- and nine-hole hitters — combined to drive in four runs to lift the Rebels (8-7, 2-1 in league) to a 5-1 victory over Pomona (7-7, 2-1).
“I liked our approach at the plate,” Columbine coach Brooks Roybal said after the win at Pomona High School. “They made some adjustments after striking out early. Everyone put the ball into play.”
The Rebels broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth inning with a big two-out rally. Lynsie Scheid, Shania Lopez, Mendez and Davis strung together four straight singles to plate a pair of runs to give Columbine a 3-1 lead.
Columbine was able to crank out 13 hits off Pomona pitchers Alysa Wilner and Makaila Chadwick.
“Our line-up has definitely improved from top to bottom,” said Columbine junior pitcher Erin Smith, who added it was a “must-win” situation for the Rebels on Saturday. “Everyone is getting hits and doing their job.”
Columbine junior Erin Smith gave up just four hits against Pomona. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) The Rebels added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning. Senior Kasey Cruz led off the inning with a double to deep right field. Mendez drove in her second run on a fielder’s choice and Davis ripped a single to left field to extend Columbine’s lead to 5-1.
“It was a game where we couldn’t get that key hit and (Columbine) got the key hits. We couldn’t make that one key defensive play and (Columbine) made key defensive plays,” Pomona coach Jim Biddle said after the Panthers’ had their three-game winning streak snapped. “It was a pretty good softball game. They played a little bit better than us and they deserved to win the game.”
While the bottom of the line-up delivered for Columbine, Smith settled in after giving up a walk and pair of singles in the first inning. Pomona junior Jessica Espinoza drove in the Panthers’ lone run with a single in the bottom of the first.
Smith, a lefty, retired 11 straight batters and finished with seven strikeouts.
Columbine junior Zoey Cruz, left, slide into home Saturday, Sept. 23. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “She (Smith) has been doing a great job all year. She has kept us in every ballgame she has pitched in,” Roybal said. “Today she gave up just four hits. She was able to adjust and find the zone.”
Pomona threatened in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Panthers loaded the bases with two outs, but Mendez raced in from centerfield to grab the final out on a fly ball by Pomona senior Nicole Sullivan.
“It’s always a little nerve-racking, but I know I have a good defense behind me,” Smith said of Pomona bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning. “I trust them to make the play.”
Columbine is back at home Tuesday, Sept. 27. The Rebels host Lakewood at 4:30 p.m. Pomona has a tough test at home against defending 5A Jeffco League champion and rival Ralston Valley at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27.
“In our league every game is tough. Anybody can beat anybody,” Biddle said. “You just have to play your best and hope for good things.”
Columbine coach Brooks Roybal, far left, talks with players during the sixth inning Saturday at Pomona. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) -
Highlights: Mead football upsets No. 3 Longmont
Highlights of Mead football’s upset win over Longmont in Class 3A football on Friday.
-
Palmer Ridge field hockey snaps Colorado Academy’s 78-game unbeaten streak
Palmer Ridge beat Colorado Academy on Saturday. (John Priest/CHSAANow.com) Palmer Ridge beat Colorado Academy 1-0 on Saturday, and ended one of the most impressive runs in the sport’s history in the process.
The loss snapped a 78-game unbeaten streak for Colorado Academy, which includes four consecutive state championships. Colorado Academy field hockey last lost in the 2011 championship game.
Since then the Mustangs had gone 74-0-4 over parts of five seasons, and had a 51-game winning streak as part of that run.
Colorado Academy was ranked No. 1 in the latest CHSAANow.com field hockey poll, while Palmer Ridge is No. 3.
Palmer Ridge is now 7-0-1 this season.
Colorado Academy field hockey was 74-0-4 over parts of five seasons. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com) -
4A No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain volleyball sweeps 5A No. 9 Coronado
More photos. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) COLORADO SPRINGS — Cheyenne Mountain coach David Barkley knows that he doesn’t have the experience this year as he did on his 2015 Class 4A state championship team. So he has to measure success very differently.
The most important thing to see from his current set of Indians is if they were able to improve through the course of a game.
So while a 25-23, 25-17 and 25-22 win over 5A’s ninth-ranked Coronado might seem like they’re right on pace to contend for another title, Barkley knows that his team still has a ton of work to do to once again reign over the 4A field.
“Every win is going to make us better,” Barkley said. “But the thing we measure early in the season is did we get better playing today. What did we do better? Now what do we improve on?”
How about taking care of a primary offensive threat, not just for the Cougars (9-3 overall) but perhaps maybe in the entire 5A Colorado Springs Metro League.
Mara Abernathy came into the game with 116 kills, but could not find a rhythm against the Indians (5-3). Knowing he couldn’t shut her down, Barkley tried to do everything he could to contain her and his players were able to do just that.
“Mara’s an amazing middle (blocker),” Ellie Gubser said. “She’s very strong, her hits are good, her blocks are good. So we wanted to make sure we were on top of her when she was hitting and and stay away from her on the sets that we chose.”
And offensively the Indians were able to successfully get the balls to their main offensive weapons. Gubsuer connected on 10 kills while Casey Ahrendsen led the team with 12.
More photos. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) The Cougars showed early that they were not going to be an easy team for Cheyenne Mountain as they were to stay neck and neck for the first set before the Indians pulled away.
Cheyenne Mountain then jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set and were able to keep the Cougars at bay to take a 2-0 lead.
It looked like the Indians were going to cruise in the third set, jumping out to a 8-2 lead, but the Cougars began to show some resolve, battling back to tie it up at 13 apiece. Coronado would eventually take a 21-20 lead, but the Indians battled back to win it 25-22, a sight that Barkley was very pleased with.
“What helped us tonight was there were times where they charged and took a lead,” Barkley said. “We were able to settle down and take it back and that’s the sign of a team that knows how to compete.”
But they were far from satisfied with the win. Despite seeing plenty of good things coming out of the game, Cheyenne Mountain knows there are still areas to work on in order to successfully defend a state title.
“Our covering is something that we need to work on the most,” Ahrendsen said. “There are a lot of balls that went short and we weren’t ready for it. Each time that happens, it’s something that we need to improve on immensely and it’s going to help us in the future.”
For the Cougars, it was a good a chance to solidify themselves as a volleyball powerhouse in Colorado Springs. While coach Stormie Wells knows there is no shame in losing to a team like Cheyenne Mountain, she wants her team to be ready to seize their opportunities early.
“We need to start ready to play,” she said. “I feel like maybe we really weren’t ready to play and our first contact wasn’t there tonight.”
The Cougars had won seven straight games coming into Thursday. They’ll look to start a new streak when they travel to Pine Creek next week.
-
Photos: Cheyenne Mountain volleyball sweeps Coronado
COLORADO SPRINGS — Cheyenne Mountain fought off some Coronado charges to beat the Cougars 25-23, 25-17 and 25-22 on Thursday night.
[divider]
-
No. 3 Columbine football grinds out win over 4A’s No. 1 Chatfield
LAKEWOOD — By ground or by air, it didn’t matter which way Columbine’s football team found its way into the end zone Thursday night at Jeffco Stadium.
The Rebels, No. 3 ranked in this week’s Class 5A CHSAANow.com poll, used two first-half touchdown passes from senior quarterback Mikey Griebel to junior Ted Mullin and a 2-yard scoring run by senior Tim Mullin to jump on 4A’s No. 1 Chatfield. Columbine (3-1) raced out to a 21-0 lead at halftime on the way to a 28-7 victory in the south-Jeffco rivalry game.
“I don’t really care if Chatfield is 5A or 4A, that is always going to be a good football program,” said Griebel, who also ran for a 1-yard touchdown run to ice the game in the fourth quarter. “We came in ready to roll tonight.”
Ted Mullin caught touchdown passes of 6 and 12 yards in the final three minutes of the first half to open up a 21-point lead at halftime. The older Mullin brother, Tim, started the scoring capping off a 12-play, 80-yard drive on the opening possession of the game.
Columbine junior Ted Mullin caught a pair of second-quarter touchdowns. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “If it wasn’t for the Columbine run game I wouldn’t be able to go up and get those,” Mullin said of his touchdown catches. “Having a player like Mikey really puts the defense on their toes and allows for other guys to step in when they need to.”
Columbine’s defense was outstanding in the first half, allowing just three Chatfield first downs before halftime. The Chargers (3-1) had scored more than 50 points in their first three games.
“It took a lot of work to stop them on defense,” Columbine senior defensive end Bradley Kinzer said. “We played our assignments and if we do that it gets the job done.”
Chatfield came up with its most impressive drive of the game with a 96-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown run by Chatfield junior quarterback Colton Arne in the third quarter. The touchdown came after an interception by Chatfield junior Keland Rumsey.
However, Columbine answered with a signature scoring drive to seal the victory.
“It’s kind of what the doctor ordered,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry said of the Rebels’ 70-yard, 16-play scoring drive that ate up more than 10 minutes of the second half.
Ted Mullin nearly caught his third touchdown off the night, but the Rebels had no problem settling for a 1-yard touchdown run by Griebel with 6:37 left in the fourth quarter.
Griebel has three passing and five rushing touchdowns on the season, but gave a ton of credit to his offensive line when it came to the offensive success Thursday night.
Chatfield junior Colton Arne (5) gets off a pass with Columbine senior Bradley Kinzer (45) in his face. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “We kept preaching about putting the nail in the coffin,” Ted Mullin said. “That 10 minute drive and putting points on the board in the end really sealed the deal for us.”
Chatfield drove down inside Columbine’s 20-yard line in the final minutes thanks to a 52-yard run by senior Dalton Keene, but the Chargers eventually turned the ball over on downs.
“This isn’t the end of our season. We had three goals to the season — beat Columbine, make the playoffs and make it to state,” Keene said. “This was just one goal. We have a long season ahead of us.”
Chatfield’s last victory over its rival was back in 2009. The Chargers edged the Rebels 16-13. Columbine has now won seven straight in the south-Jeffco rivalry game.
Both Chatfield and Columbine have one final non-league game remaining before heading into conference play.
The Chargers head to Colorado Springs next week to face Widefield at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30. Chatfield then turns its attention toward play in the 4A Plains League that begins Oct. 7 at Jeffco Stadium against Golden.
“We can’t put our heads down after this,” Keene said. “We’ll regroup and hit it next week.”
The Rebels finish off non-league play hosting Denver East at 6 p.m. Sept. 29, at Jeffco Stadium. Columbine has the task of playing in one of the toughest 5A conferences — the Mt. Cameron League — that features three current 5A top-10 ranked teams in Columbine, Mullen and Fairview.
“Fairview and Mullen are going to be similar games to this,” Kinzer said. “We are definitely looking forward to those two and where we are going as a team.”
Conference play won’t be a picnic for the Rebels. Columbine starts with road games against No. 8 Fairview (Oct. 6) and No. 2 Mullen (Oct. 13).
Columbine’s Mikey Griebel passed for a pair of touchdowns and ran for a third in a win over rival Chatfield. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) 
Columbine senior Tim Mullin (5) breaks away from Chatfield senior Drew Johnson (1) on an 80-yard run. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)