You had to know there was going to be fireworks. Both Skyline and Holy Family have offenses that are capable of lighting up a scoreboard.

LAKEWOOD — 5A No. 3 Columbine football stayed unbeaten at 6-0 with a 42-13 win over Mullen on Friday night.

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COLORADO SPRINGS — Pikes Peak Christian football beat 8-man No. 10 Simla 20-12 in a dense fog.

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AURORA — On 4th and 15 Eaglecrest quarterback Dylan James found Ty Robinson for a 50-yard touchdown pass that resulted in the Raptors beating Grandview 36-35.

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GREENWOOD VILLAGE — No. 1 Cherry Creek football is now 6-0 after a 45-0 defeat over Overland in Class 5A action on Friday night.

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GOLDEN — It was one step closer to a Class 4A Jeffco League softball title Saturday morning for the Golden Demons.

Golden (14-6 record, 7-0 in league) not only won its 11th straight game, but stayed undefeated in conference play with the season-series sweep of rival Wheat Ridge.

Golden softball coach Chad Herbers, left, is fired up as senior Elena Goodspeed makes it to third base with an RBI triple Saturday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“It’s pretty amazing. I feel like every day we come prepared,” Golden junior Makenzie Middleton said of the Demons that started the season with a 3-6 record. “The first of the season was tough, but I think we have it all figured out now.”

Golden, No. 9 in the current CHSAANow.com 4A softball rankings, hit a trio of home runs on its way to a 11-5 victory over No. 8 Wheat Ridge (12-8, 2-5) on Saturday.

After Wheat Ridge jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with a 3-run home run by freshman Aaliyah Arellano in the top of the first inning, it was all Demons. Golden scored in every inning while piling up 16 hits and a trio of home runs.

Senior Katherine Dunson started out the long-ball barrage for Golden with a deep solo home run to center in the bottom of the third inning. The blast extended the Demons’ lead to 7-3.

“I wish I could have hit a home run at their field, but doing it here felt even better,” said Dunson, who went 2-for-3 from the plate with two runs scored. “It’s just a great feeling to contribute to this win.”

Golden senior pitcher Cassidy Paulson helped herself out with a solo blast to start off the bottom of the fourth inning. After giving up three hits on the mound in the first inning, Paulson was nearly perfect from the second through the sixth inning. She gave up just one hit over the middle five innings.

Golden senior Cassidy Paulson rounds the bases after a solo home run Saturday against Wheat Ridge. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“She (Paulson) will give up her hits, but she ultimately settles down and trusts her defense behind her,” Golden coach Chad Herbers said. “It all starts with her in the circle. She had an amazing game.”

Wheat Ridge did get a 2-run home run by sophomore Jalesa Lujan in the top of the seventh inning to stop the 11 unanswered runs by the Demons.

Makenzie Middleton finished off Golden’s home run party with a solo home run in the fifth inning to give the Demons double-digit runs for the fourth straight game. Makenzie was a triple short of hitting for the cycle, while her twin sister Makayla Middleton went 3-for-5 from the plate with a triple.

“Any home run is a great home run. Home runs lift the energy up, but with this team we’ll get just as much energy from Molly Hord’s swinging bunt with the bases loaded,” Herbers said referring to Hord’s RBI hit in the fourth inning. “I can’t be prouder with what they are doing right now.”

Golden knows it can’t relax heading into the final week of conference play. The Demons host Evergreen (10-10, 6-1) at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2. The game will likely decide the conference champion.

“We are after one game, the next one,” Herbers said about the Demons being three conference wins away from completing a league sweep. “Now we have to reset and play Evergreen. They are going to be tough.”

Golden took a 9-4 victory the first time around on the Cougars’ home field Sept. 20.

“It helps that its at home,” Makenzie Middleton said of the Evergreen game Tuesday. “That really bring the energy and people at the school helps us out. It will be a good game.”

Wheat Ridge freshman Aaliyah Arellano (9) is greeted at home plate by teammates after her 3-run home run to give the Farmers an early lead over Golden on Saturday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

LAKEWOOD — Bear Creek football got its first win of the season against a solid Windsor squad, 30-26.

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(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

MANITOU SPRINGS — In a match that always proves to be an intense battle, Colorado Springs Christian School went with precision over strength.

That game plan paid off as the Lions came away with a 25-19, 14-25, 25-22, 25-20 win over Manitou Springs to seize control of the Class 3A Tri-Peaks League.

The formula was really quite simple. The 3A No. 7-ranked Lions limited their mistakes and with tips and dumps, placed the ball exactly where the No. 6 Mustangs would have trouble playing it.

“We definitely practiced that all day yesterday in preparation for this,” CSCS senior Christa Vogt said. “We wanted to put it where we knew their weak spots were and where we thought our strong spots could be.”

They played a clean game and attacked the Mustangs with precision strikes rather than jaw-dropping kills.

“We’ve been working on being precise,” Lions coach Lori Currier said. “In fact, it’s a word that’s been used in the locker room, along with consistent, and the girls were all that tonight for sure.”

The Lions (10-1 overall, 7-0 Tri-Peaks) took control early in the first set, grabbing a 12-6 lead before it appeared Manitou (11-2, 6-1) was able to settle into the match.

Even though the Mustangs dropped the first set, their short rally at the end provided a needed spark that erupted into a full-blown fire in the second set.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

Riding the strong hits of senior outside hitting Giulia Vidossi, the Mustangs cruised to a 25-14 win to even the match at one set apiece. The Mustangs looked comfortable at that point and had seemed to settle into a style of play that suited their lineup.

“I think the first set we didn’t serve receive very well from the get-go,” Manitou coach Jane Squires said. “In the second set we serve received very well and we moved the ball around well. In the third set we went back into that serve receive slump. We talked about that was a lot of (the problem).”

It was a problem. The Mustangs’ inability to handle serves in the third and fourth set left the players scrambling on defense far too often. It seemed that each potential rally from the Mustangs ended with an unforced error, something Squires said was very uncharacteristic of her team.

“We haven’t seen many of those unforced errors,” she said. “We’ll work on it tomorrow, go back to blocking, that kind of stuff. Really just go back to funadmentals.”

Meanwhile, the Lions were able to take advantage of the Manitou errors and build their leads throughout the final two sets. And when the time came to serve the ball up for their big hitters, the shots were well-timed and placed in the right spot.

Jubilee Diamond led the Lions with 14 kills and Abby Miller added 10. But perhaps the most important stat of the night were the seven and a half blocks from the front line. CSCS fought back the multi-layered attack of Vidossi, McKayla Cully and Kylie Middleton.

After the Mustangs claimed the second set, they knew Vidossi had to be the main focus and it was a challenge they were more than eager to take on.

“There was a lot of encouragement in the huddle that this was our job to shut her down,” Vogt said. “The blockers are responsible for her and only her right now. That was our only focus in that match.”

That and adding a precise offensive attack to compliment the defense. Precision was the name of the game and because of that, the Lions have firm control of the Tri-Peaks League.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

ARVADA — Forcing four turnovers and a highly-effective offense in the second half led Ralston Valley football to keep its winning streak going against rival Arvada West.

The Mustangs, No. 7 in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A football rankings, scored on three straight possessions after halftime on the way at a 42-13 victory over the Wildcats on Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

“It’s unbelievable to know that they haven’t beat us yet,” Ralston Valley senior Brad Roberts said of the perfect record against A-West. “It was a solid victory. We came out prepared.”

Ralston Valley senior Brad Roberts (5) breaks into the open on a key 40-yard catch before halftime Thursday at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Ralston Valley (5-1 record, 1-0 in 5A Metro West League) has a 9-0 all-time record against A-West (4-2, 0-1) on the football field since the Mustangs moved up to Class 5A in 2010.

Last year, it took a last-second touchdown dive into the end zone by AJ Jergensen to keep Ralston Valley undefeated against A-West on the football field. It appeared things would be close again as the Mustangs held a slim 7-6 lead on A-West late in the second quarter.

Roberts came up huge for the Mustangs set up a late touchdown in the first half. The Air Force Academy-commit’s 40-yard catch out of the backfield got Ralston Valley down to A-West’s 23-yard line in the final minute of the opening half.

“That was awesome,” Roberts said. “We knew their defensive line was coming hard almost every single play. We decided to do a screen. I just read my linemen upfield and made some cuts off of them.”

Junior quarterback Walker Brickle hit junior Caleb Rillos three plays later for a 13-yard touchdown with 14 seconds left to put Ralston Valley up 13-6 at halftime.

“We started about 98 yards away with only a few minutes there,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd said of the Mustangs’ scoring drive right before halftime. “That really helped us get some momentum going in at half and then getting the ball coming back out.”

Ralston Valley came out after halftime with three straight touchdowns on three straight drives to open up a commanding 35-6 lead.

A-West senior Chris McEahern (3) makes a catch over the middle Thursday night against Ralston Valley. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Brickle had a 23-yard touchdown pass to Rillos to opening up the scoring in the third quarter. After a 3-and-out by A-West, Ralston Valley junior Chase Wilson scored from a yard out. Jergensen capped off the surge with a 1-yard touchdown run after senior Ben Takata intercepted A-West senior quarterback Johnny Krutsch for the second time.

“That guy (Krutsch) can throw it,” Loyd said. “To get three picks is pretty good. They still made a couple of plays, but defensively I felt we did a really, really good job.”

Ralston Valley capped off the win with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Brickle to Jergensen in the fourth quarter.

A-West scored on a 1-yard touchdown by Cass early in the second quarter, but a missed extra point allowed Ralston Valley to remain ahead with a 7-6 lead. Krutsch threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to junior Nick Nuhfer in the fourth quarter to put an end to the 28 unanswered points for Ralston Valley.

Ralston Valley continues 5A Metro West play against Mullen. RV celebrates homecoming with a battle of Mustangs when the Mullen Mustangs head to Arvada for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday, Oct. 5, at NAAC.

“Our defense has always been solid,” Takata said. “If our offense keeps it going we should keep winning games. It’s fun.”

A-West has another tough test trying to break its two-game losing streak. The Wildcats face rival No. 6th-ranked Pomona next Thursday night at NAAC.

Ralston Valley junior Ben Takata (11) grabs one of his two interceptions Thursday night against Arvada West. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

HIGHLANDS RANCH — Annabelle Johnson’s second-half goal lifted No. 2 Kent Denver field hockey to a 1-0 win over Mountain Vista on Thursday.

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