COLORADO SPRINGS — If Saturday was any indication, Class 5A volleyball in Colorado is going to be competitive and fun down the stretch.
Chaparral traveled to Rampart and beat the Rams 29-27, 20-25, 27-25 and 25-22 in a match that had all the drama and momentum swings that one would normally see in early November at the Denver Coliseum.
“I think all the 5A teams are great,” Chaparral coach Amanda West said. “We expect to compete every time we step in the gym and it makes us better at the end of the season.”
Rampart (9-6 overall) were not going to the let the CHSAANow.com No. 10-ranked Wolverines (10-5) just come into its gym and just control the game from the get-go.
The Rams were able to go point-for-point with Chaparral, even working their way to set-point at 24-23.
But the Wolverines battled back and were able to take the first set 29-27.
The Rams gained an early edge in set two, getting key kills from Kira Warren on along the way. Chaparral managed to claw its way back from a 18-13 deficit to pull to within a point. But a key kill from Alicia Hill shifted the momentum and the Rams were able to hang on.
And it seemed like they were going to hang on to that momentum. Rampart jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the third before the Wolverines were able to fight their way back.
The Rams were often able to gain a two or three-point edge only to surrender the momentum right back to the Wolverines, something that Rampart coach Nikki Kinzer knows can’t happen when the postseason rolls around.
“We nee to hold on to it,” she said. “We talk about discipline, discipline, discipline and they’re getting it. It’s been a slow process.”
Rampart was unable to hang on to a lead and despite once again having set point at 24-23, dropped the third set putting Chaparral only one set away from a win.
“Both teams were playing really well,” Chaparral setter Jasmine Schmidt said. “Everyone had big swings and big blocks so our team really focused on coming together after every play and shutting down their runs.”
Schmidt totaled 24 assists on the day and helped on the scoring front with 16 kills. Makenna Davis led the Wolverines with 21 kills on the day.
For Chaparral junior hitter Noelle Knutsen, it was a bittersweet day as she returned to Rampart after spending her freshman year at Rampart.
Back on familiar territory, she was happy to see a lot of her old teammates, even if it meant handing them a loss.
“I loved coming back here,” Knutsen said. “It brought back all my memories. These girls are my family and it was good to play to against them.”
Probably in more ways that one.
If there is one thing both teams can take away from Saturday’s match, it’s the intense back-and-forth battle that they’ll face come regionals and state, if they advance that far.
West knows that coming away with the win gives her team confidence that they can grind out the tough wins when they need to.
Kinzer knows that even without a win, playing a ranked team close all day will pay dividends in the long run.
Both coaches saw their team battle in a state tournament level game and knows that the players will be more ready when state comes around for real.
Arvada West senior Chase Dixon (11) attempts to make a diving catch Saturday during the Wildcats’ 45-41 victory over Rangeview. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — There was no letdown for Arvada West heading into what will likely be the program’s biggest football game in years next Friday at the North Area Athletic Complex.
A-West held on to a 45-41 victory Saturday afternoon at NAAC against Rangeview in both teams’ Class 5A Mt. Wilson League opener. Next up for the Wildcats (5-1, 1-0 league), cross-town rival Ralston Valley (3-3, 1-0).
“We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us. The boys are ready to get their rival up west,” A-West coach Brad Pyatt said of facing the Mustangs next Friday night. “This year I think we’ll have our hands full, but we have a team that can compete against them.”
The stakes will be raised when A-West faces its area-rival. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at NAAC. The Mustangs have a 6-0 record against the Wildcats since Ralston Valley moved up to the 5A classification in 2010.
A-West and Ralston Valley are the only 5A Jeffco programs in the same 5A conference during the current two-year waterfall format. The winner would remain undefeated in the league play.
Arvada West senior Joey Perez (1) rushed for a pair of touchdowns Saturday at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We are just trying to get better each week and rolling into RV at 5-1 (record) isn’t bad,” A-West senior Chase Dixon said.
Dixon was a big reason the Wildcats extended their winning streak to four and scored 40-plus points for the fourth straight game. The senior receiver had seven catches for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Dixon has 688 yards receiving through six games.
Dixon’s first touchdown catch Saturday came on a fourth-and-10 from Rangeview’s 20-yard line. His catch on a corner-fade route from A-West sophomore quarterback Johnny Krutsch gave the Wildcats a 14-6 lead midway through the first quarter.
“(Dixon) and Johnny (Krutsch), you can just see it, they have a good thing going,” Pyatt said. “I feel confident going to Chase anytime.”
A-West scored 28 unanswered points after Rangeview took an early 6-0 lead on a 39-yard touchdown run by senior tailback A.J. Thomas on the Raiders’ opening drive.
A huge momentum grab for the Wildcats in the first half was an interception returned 80 yards for a touchdown by sophomore Tony Cass, who also had an 11-yard touchdown run in the first half.
“When I caught it was just thinking about sprinting and no let anyone tackle me,” Cass said. “It felt great.”
A-West scored on its opening drive in the second half. Krutsch, who finished 19-for-34 passing for 289 yards and two touchdowns, hit Dixon for a 59-yard touchdown to put the Wildcats up 38-12.
Rangeview battled back with a pair of touchdown runs by Thomas, who finished with 26 carries for 202 yards and four touchdowns. The Raiders actually cut the Wildcats’ lead to just four points in the final minute with a touchdown pass from junior Jaelin Odegard to junior Josh Hollins.
Arvada West senior Trevor Lepke makes a juggling catch Saturday afternoon at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“I knew going in that Rangeview was a tough team. Even when we were up I knew they weren’t going to give up,” Pyatt said. “I didn’t expect them to come back that quickly on us, but I’m proud of my team for continuing to fight and close it out. Right now we are learning how to win.”
A-West recovered an onside kick in the final minute and were able to take a few knees to run out the clock.
Senior Joey Perez had a workman-like game carrying the ball 27 times for 70 yards and two touchdowns for the Wildcats. Perez’s final touchdown came on a 1-yard score on fourth down with 7:17 left in the fourth quarter.
“Joey is our workhorse,” Dixon said. “If you give him the ball he is going to run hard. Our line blocked hard today too.”
Eaglecrest (6-0, 1-0), No. 3 in the latest CHSAANow.com 5A football poll, looks like the favorite in the Mt. Wilson League. The Raptors defeated Rocky Mountain 42-7 in Fort Collins on Friday night to open their league schedule.
Eaglecrest squares off against Ralston Valley and A-West in Week 9 and 10, respectively, to close out its regular season. Rangeview (2-4, 0-1) gets its shot next week against the Raptors at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, at Legacy Stadium in Aurora.
Arvada West sophomore Tony Cass (2) is off to the races during his interception returned for a touchdown Saturday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
MONUMENT — Lewis-Palmer’s day started with a pep rally at the crack of dawn. It ended with a night time celebration of the boys soccer team’s biggest win over the season.
Thanks to goals from Cameron Waldron and Jon Merrell, the CHSAANow.com No. 5-ranked Rangers (10-2 overall 3-1 Pikes Peak Athletic Conference) came away with a 2-1 win over No. 2 Air Academy.
“Our day started at about five this morning with a lot of these kids showing up for an assembly,” Rangers coach Brian Barkey said. “It was just a great day for this school. It was just awesome.”
There was no sign of the pep rally having a tiring affect on Lewis-Palmer as Waldron scored the first goal of the game less than four minutes into play.
That provided the team with a big spark of energy and immediately put the Kadets (10-2, 3-1) on their heels. They would eventually tie the game on a goal from Kristian Hooker, but the flow of the game was very much trending the way of the Rangers.
“I think we get stressed a bit when we play teams that get after it (and are) physical,” Air Academy coach Espen Hosoien said. “We get out of our game plan a little bit. It’s frustrating.”
With the game knotted at 1-1, Waldron played an excellent ball in the corner and found Merrell who was staring a wide-open net.
“There’s no worse thing to do than to misplace an easy shot,” Merrell said. “It hurts on an emotional level. All you’re thinking about is the goal.”
He had plenty of it to think about because he had plenty of it to look at. He buried the shot to give the Rangers the lead with 11 minutes to go in the first half.
The second half became about positioning and physicality as yellow cards started getting exchanged. The best chance for either team was when an Air Academy shot dribbled past keeper Hayden MacPherson, who had come out to the top of the box.
As it trickled toward the net, Dylan Turner sprinted toward the goal line and was able to swat the ball away at the very last second.
“We’ve had that happen before and our keeper always tells me to drop back and cover for him in case that happens,” Turner said. “I saw it happen before it happened and I committed to it.”
As a result, the Kadets were unable to tie the game.
They were able to get the ball into the Lewis-Palmer zone as time began to expire, but they couldn’t get another look to tie the game.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Despite a loss last week to Cheyenne Mountain, the Rangers are still very much in the PPAC conversation and with the way the team has been improving since the season started, they can be a major threat in the Class 4A playoffs.
“This group has a lot of potential,” Barkey said. “There were times tonight we could’ve played better. It’s really good for them to enjoy the moment and then try to be better every game.”
They won’t always have the early-morning pep rally to help do that, but with the momentum the Rangers have after Thursday’s win, they may not need it.
BOULDER — No. 4 Columbine moved the ball at will Thursday night at No. 6 Fairview. The Rebels played old-school smashmouth football in the cold wind and rain.
“Rain, snow, anything that’s wet is Columbine football,” Columbine quarterback Mikey Griebel said. “It fits Columbine perfectly. We’re a run-type offense and let the hoggies do their thing, and that’s what they did tonight.
“I’ve got to give all credit where credit is due, and all the credit is due to the big boys up front.”
Columbine was able to have a stronghold on the time of possession in the game. The Rebels controlled the ball for most of the first quarter and ran over 60 plays in the game. This wasn’t a hurry up offense running upwards of 60 plays. This was a methodical ground and pound for 60 plays that will wear a defense down.
“That’s what we do,” Columbine head coach Andy Lowry said. “We’ve had some 17- and 18-play drives over the course of the last two or three weeks, and that’s just kind of what we do. And that’s what we have to do. We’re not going to get fancy with it, we’re just going to make sure we execute.”
While Columbine’s offense exceled in the wet weather, Fairview’s sputtered.
“We love when it’s cold,” said running back Tim Mullin. “It’s fun to play smash-mouth in the cold and be that tough football team. We stopped their pass pretty well.”
The Rebel defense held the Knights to just 16 yards in the first half. Fairview quarterback Jake Willemsen was 0-for-8 with an interception, and star running back Mariano Kemp had just two carries good for a whopping one yard in that half.
“I think those guys putting pressure on them and our DB’s covering them and our offensive line moving the pile 15 yards down the field, that’s what – I don’t care if you’re in the snow or you’re in 90-degree weather, it’s pretty nice,” Lowry said.
The interception thrown by Willemsen? Griebel. The same Griebel that finished with 72 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. The backfield duo of Mullin and Conner Snow routinely pounded it into the teeth of the Fairview defense behind the big offensive line for Columbine.
Mullin finished with 154 yards and one touchdown.
“I came into this game knowing I had to contribute big time,” Griebel said. “All the guys trusted me, I trust them, and I knew I had to get something done for them and followed up with my promise.”
(John Priest/CHSAANow.com)
Fairview had its chances to break out of its offensive slump, but Willemsen missed two open receivers streaking down the sideline. Midway through the second quarter, Fairview’s Quinn Sharp was open on blown coverage, but the throw was underthrown and offline.
Late in the second quarter, Tommy Wakefield was open on the outside, but the deep ball was overthrown.
In the second half, both teams were able to break off large chunks of yards after a first half of slowly chipping away.
Down 17-0, Willemsen and wide receiver David McWilliams hooked up for gains of 12 and 23, then capped the drive off with a tipped pass caught by McWilliams good for a three-yard touchdown to bring the score to 17-8 with 8:03 in the third quarter after a botched snap eventually led to a two-point conversion for the Knights.
On the ensuing kickoff, Fairview recovered an onside kick and the Knights seemed to have life.
“We always say that adversity strikes and let’s see how we handle it,” Griebel said. “Adversity struck tonight with the onside and they scored. I honestly think we handle that very well for a fairly young team and I think that was a pretty proud moment for our team, handling that adversity.”
Two plays later, Kemp fumbled the ball and Columbine recovered.
“That fumble was a big fumble,” Lowry said. “That changed the momentum. We just grinded it down and lived on our offensive line. They gobbled them up.”
Griebel then broke off his own big run of 32 yards to take the air out of Fairview.
“That’s our type of offense. It’s gonna be four-yard play, four-yard play, and then a big one,” Griebel said. “That’s all the linemen doing their job and working them up front.”
The Rebels smelled blood and drove the ball down for a two-yard touchdown run by Griebel to finish the drive off. After a blocked extra point, Columbine led 23-8 with the Knights still in it.
The Rebels stepped up yet again on defense and stopped a fake punt on fourth down with three minutes left in the third quarter.
“We prepared for this passing attack, we haven’t played anyone quite like it,” Mullin said. “I think we had a good week of practice and the way our defense played carried into how our offense did.”
Griebel put the final nail in the coffin with an eight-yard rushing touchdown to put Columbine up 29-8 in the closing moments of the third.
“Our offensive line is getting off the ball now, it’s not just about being big,” Lowry said. “They’re getting off the ball and being really physical. I’m really proud of them.”
Columbine (5-1) went on to win 36-15 in the first league game for the Rebels.
“This was a big week, first league game,” Lowry said. “Our league is probably one of the toughest leagues in the state in terms of top to bottom with this new waterfall. We’ve got some tough opponents in our league, so getting this first one under our belts was a big one.”
Fairview (5-1) dropped its first game of the season. The Knights have yet another test at ThunderRidge on Oct. 14.
GOLDEN — Seniors Rebecca Kite and Isabel Chandler scored one goal apiece for this week’s No. 4-ranked Colorado Academy field hockey team in a 2-0 shutout over Golden.
Pomona junior Max Borghi (21) slips a tackle on his way to a 54-yard touchdown run. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — The climb to the top of the Mt. Evans League began Thursday night for top-ranked Pomona.
The Panthers, No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A football poll since Sept. 6, opened conference play at the North Area Athletic Complex against Rock Canyon (2-4 overall, 0-1 in league). Pomona managed a 44-14 victory, but it was a struggle at times for the Panthers to reel off their fourth straight victory.
After having two weeks to prepare — Pomona (5-1, 1-0) had a bye last week because it played Zero Week against No. 2 Mullen — the Panthers admittedly came out a little rusty.
“Our kids forget sometimes that we win football games because we play hard. When we don’t play hard we are as average as anybody,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said. “That’s how we looked in the first half.”
Pomona led just 14-7 at halftime. In fact, Rock Canyon put the first points on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Duke Avery with 7:03 left in the first quarter. Touchdown runs of 4 and 54 yards by Pomona junior Max Borghi gave the Panthers their first lead, but penalties and mistakes led to just the 7-point halftime lead.
“We’ve got to be more disciplined then that,” Madden said referring to the 125 yards of penalties in the first half for the Panthers, including a pair of pass interference calls on defense. “We weren’t sharp. Give Rock Canyon some credit.”
The Panthers turned things around late in the third quarter. Junior quarterback Ryan Marquez connected with sophomore Billy Pospisil for a 26-yard touchdown with 4:43 left in the third quarter.
After an interception by senior Uriah Vigil, the Panthers scored again on Borghi’s third touchdown run of the game with 1:55 left in the quarter to give Pomona a 28-7 lead.
Pomona linebacker Bryan Gallegos (7) puts pressure on Rock Canyon quarterback Adam Mullen. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Vigil came up big again just before the end of the third quarter. He blocked a punt that went out of the end zone for a Pomona safety to push the lead to 30-7.
The senior defensive back and receiver had a pass interference penalty and dropped a sure touchdown earlier in the game.
“I knew I had to make it up for my team,” said Vigil, who had a second interception that led to Pomona’s final touchdown. “After making a couple of errors I had to come out with a little more aggression and fire.”
Senior Cameron Gonzales had a 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and Marquez hit Borghi for a 35-yard touchdown pass to complete the run of 44 unanswered points for the Panthers.
After some offensive success early, Rock Canyon didn’t get a first down in the second half until its sixth possession after halftime.
“We struck in the second half. That’s all that matters,” said Borghi, who finished with four touchdowns, 91 yards rushing on a dozen carries to go along with three catches for 63 yards.
It was already a special day for the junior football and track star. Borghi tweeted out earlier in the day he had received his first Division I football offer. The Chippewas of Central Michigan University have offered the junior a scholarship.
Colorado State University running backs coach Bryan Applewhite was also roaming the sidelines Thursday night at NAAC to get a first-hand look at the Borghi.
“I really don’t think about that. I really just think about my job, my game and what I have to do out here,” said Borghi. “I don’t worry about coaches or scouting or anything of that during the game.”
Pomona is back at NAAC next Thursday night where the Panthers square off against Hinkley (0-5). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The first-half struggles was a bid of a wake-up call for Pomona.
“This new league season is nothing to mess around with,” Vigil said. “Every team we play we have to come out like it’s a state championship game.”
Rock Canyon hosts Cherokee Trail at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 as the Jaguars look for its first league victory.
Pomona players celebrate one of four touchdowns by junior Max Borghi (21) on Thursday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
