STERLING — In weekend clash of Class 1A volleyball powerhouses, it was Fleming coming away with the 1A District 4 championship on Saturday.

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(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

AURORA — The state playoff brackets for five of the seven classifications of football were released on Sunday.

Find those brackets here:

• Class 5A
• Class 2A
• Class 1A
• 8-man
• 6-man

Each bracket will begin play next weekend. 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man have 16-team playoffs, and will play their championship game on Nov. 24.

The 5A bracket is 24 teams, and that championship game is on Dec. 1. The 5A seeding committee met for four hours, and much of their seeding conversation surrounded the Metro 10 League, a developmental league formed prior to this season to help struggling programs. Strength of schedule was a heavy consideration when seeding teams from those leagues.

The 3A and 4A brackets will be released next weekend after those classifications finish their regular seasons.

Arvada West Regional

CLASS 4A

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CLASS 5A

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Overland regional

CLASS 4A

CLASS 5A

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Mountain Range regional

CLASS 4A

CLASS 5A

ARVADA — Ralston Valley ended its drought against rival Pomona on the football field Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

The Mustangs, ranked No. 8 in the final CHSAANow.com Class 5A football poll of the season, scored their biggest victory of the season. Ralston Valley defeated No. 6 Pomona 38-26 in what turned out to be a wild second-half in the regular-season finale for both state title contenders.

“Arvada City Champions, it feels good to say that. It’s been awhile,” said Ralston Valley junior Chase Wilson about the Mustangs’ first win over Pomona since 2014.

Ralston Valley senior Brad Roberts (5) breaks into the open during the first half Friday. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

It looked like it might be a rout when Wilson scored on an 88-yard touchdown run with 36.5 seconds left before halftime to give Ralston Valley a 28-6 lead at halftime.

“We talked about it in practice this week. We knew it was going to be there,” Wilson said of his 88-yard touchdown run right before halftime. “All the credit to the offensive line and my buddy Brad (Roberts) for getting that window block. I just bounced it outside and tried not to run out of gas.”

The Mustangs (8-2, 4-1 in 5A Metro West League) dominated the first half capitalizing on a pair of Pomona turnovers and also scoring off a fake punt that went for a 65-yard touchdown pass from senior Thomas Harries to junior Kaleb Tischler.

However, the Panthers (6-4, 3-2) played like the defending 5A state champions that they are in the second half.

A second touchdown catch of the night by senior David Ross from quarterback Riley Welsch, along with a 20-yard touchdown run by sophomore Ben Cruz in the third quarter cut the Mustangs’ lead to 31-20.

It really got interesting when junior linebacker Kyle Moretti intercepted Ralston Valley quarterback Walker Brickle early in the fourth quarter. Moretti returned it 11 yards for a touchdown to make the score 31-26 with 11:09 left in the final quarter.

Ralston Valley senior Karsten Barndt (29) stiff arms Pomona senior David Ross after an interception in the first half. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Pomona eventually got the ball back with a chance to take the lead, but senior defensive lineman Isaac Townsend recovered a fumble.

“We are the type of defense that just grinds every time we go out there,” Townsend said. “We are just about grinding, that’s it.”

The Mustangs’ cashed in Pomona’s fourth turnover of the game with an eventual 1-yard touchdown run by Brickle to pretty much seal the victory.

“We still have a ton of things to work on as a team, but it’s huge for us,” Wilson said. “We are all excited. We are all going to celebrate tonight and get back to work tomorrow morning.”

No. 1 Columbine (10-0, 5-0) had already wrapped up the 5A Metro West League title, but Friday’s game was key when it came to seeding for the state tournament that begins next week.

It’s now a waiting game for Pomona and Ralston Valley until the 24-team 5A state bracket is released on CHSAANow.com on Sunday. The top-8 seeds will receive first-round byes. The rest of the field — seeds 9 through 24 — will play first-round game next week. Ralston Valley coach Matt Loyd is pretty confident his team with get a top-8 seed.

“After losses to two undefeated teams (Columbine and 4A’s Loveland) and playing in a league where everyone made the playoffs last year, there is no way we can’t have a bye,” Loyd said.

Over the last seven years, the head-to-head meeting between Ralston Valley and Pomona is now even at 4-4. However, the Panthers had won the previous three meetings coming into Friday’s game. The only postseason head-to-head battle came in 2012 when the Mustangs moved into the 5A state semifinals with a victory over Pomona.

“It’s a good win. It’s a good way to start off the playoffs,” Townsend said. “We don’t look over anybody. You’ve got to play to the end. Championship teams play all four quarters.”

Ralston Valley’s Ryan Bruening (56) and Andrew Miles (44) chase after Pomona senior Therious Robison during Friday’s game at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

Merino put an end to the longest active football winning streak in the state when the Rams upset No. 1 Sedgwick County 27-24 in an 8-man game on Friday night.

The win ended Sedgwick County’s winning streak at 30 games, handing the Cougars their first loss since 2016. It was also Sedgwick County’s first in-state loss since 2014, a span of 39 games.

“To be honest with you, it’s all still kind of a blur, but our defensive performance tonight was excellent,” coach Dan Sutter told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “We had a lot of kids step up.”

Sedgwick County (7-1) led the game 14-0, but Merino (5-4) rallied to tie the game at halftime.

“I think our boys were maybe a little juiced at the beginning, and just maybe wanted to make a play that wasn’t there to make early on,” Sutter said. “So we gave up a couple of early quick scores, but then we settled in. … We took our time trying to chisel our way back into it.”

Senior Matthew Frank had a pick-six that Sutter called the turning point for Merino.

“It just changed the complexion of the game,” Sutter said.

Merino also had a goal-line stop on the 1-yard-line late in the game.

“It was great,” Sutter said. “I can’t remember exactly every play on the stand, but I guarantee I’m going to go back and look at it tonight before I can sleep.”

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6-man: (2) Kit Carson 28, (1) Stratton/Liberty 22

Kit Carson rallied with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to secure the important win.

“It was a wild one,” Kit Carson coach Curt Connelley told the Scoreboard Show.

The final touchdown came with three minutes to play, and had to make a fourth-down stop to hold Stratton/Liberty.

“We were up with three minutes, and we had to make a stop there, and we got it done,” Connelley said.

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5A: (5) Grandview 28, (2) Cherry Creek 21 (2 OT)

Grandview rallied from being down 14-0 in the first half to tie the game at 14, with the second touchdown coming with just over three minutes to play.

After trading quick touchdowns in the first OT, Grandview won the game in the second overtime by stopping Cherry Creek on its possession.

“The defense kept us in it,” Grandview coach John Schultz told the Scoreboard Show.

Grandview had four touchdown passes in the win.

Schultz pointed to his team’s experience in close games this season as one reason for the win.

“The kids were down on themselves and upset about their mistakes, but they never lost their cool, and they just kept battling, and the defense stood strong while we got ourselves together,” Schultz said.

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5A: (10) Smoky Hill 35, Westminster 28

Smoky Hill is 10-0 for the first time since 1980, and has secured a spot in the 5A playoffs by winning the Metro 10 League.

In a game that decided the league title, the two teams were tied at 7 early, and then at 14 at halftime. But Smoky Hill grabbed the lead for good with a 56-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, and then held off Westminster in the fourth quarter.

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More coverage

• No. 8 Ralston Valley closed the regular season by beating No. 6 Pomona in 5A.
• No. 6 Colorado Springs Christian clinched a league title by topping No. 5 Florence in 1A.
• An updated top-10 football scoreboard after Friday’s games, and Saturday’s top-10 schedule.
• All scores from Friday, and Saturday’s full slate.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

COLORADO SPRINGS — There was no need to wait a week to get Colorado Springs Christian School into a playoff football mindset. The Lions ran into Week 10 looking to win big games with big implications. And in a big way.

CSCS cruised to a 31-0 over Florence to win the Class 1A Tri-Peaks championship. Although the 1A No. 6 Lions (8-1 overall, 4-0 1A Tri-Peaks) were sitting well inside the top 16 in the RPI, the win locks up a playoff berth.

No. 5 Florence entered the game at No. 5 in the RPI and should be a playoff team as well. But the two teams now enter the 1A state tournament with very different mindsets. With a decisive win in-hand, the Lions look the part of a team hitting its peak at the right time.

“We worked hard all week to prepare for this game,” running back Peyton Brones said.” We’re going to take this momentum and keep it going and win in the playoffs.”

Brones got the Lions on the board late in the first quarter, breaking a 23-yard touchdown run. The extra point sailed wide, so the early lead was only 6-0.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

The Huskies (7-2, 3-1) were hammered with missed opportunities early in the game. On the drive where Brones ended up scoring, Blaze Smith jumped a pass from CSCS quarterback Caleb Stockton, but he couldn’t haul in the interception that likely would have gone for a touchdown. A deep pass from Joshua Martinez slipped through the fingers Bijah Cornell to keep a Florence drive alive.

“Hats off to CSCS, they played a heck of a game,” Florence coach Jeremy Nix said. “We didn’t do a whole lot of things right tonight. We need to re-evaluate what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Just get back to the basics and back to the drawing board a little bit. We have to find our character again.”

CSCS pushed the lead to 14-0 on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to Severin Grundvig. And the defense continued to limit what the Huskies were able to do offensively.

“We just got that momentum going and it kept rolling and we’d go from one play to another and we’d score,” Stockton said. “Then our defense stops them. It’s how it goes. We ended up scoring again and the momentum was always there.”

On the ensuing kickoff, the Huskies mishandled the ball and the Lions jumped on top of it, setting up first and goal. They came away with a 31-yard field goal off the leg of Greg Olson to push the lead to 17-0.

A Stockton touchdown pass to Grant Baker and a 77-yard touchdown run from Joe Dunn accounted for the two CSCS scores in the second half. Considering the slow start offensively, the Lions responded the way coach Jay Kersey was hoping he’d see from his boys.

“All week I was telling them how physical this game was going to be, and it was,” Kersey said. “It took that first quarter and we got punched in the mouth a bit. It knocked our kids back a little bit and I told them they had to learn how to respond to that stuff. From now on, they’re going to get punched in the mouth every play. That’s how playoffs are.”

He was quick to point out that the score was no indication of the quality of team that Florence is.

“They’re well-coached and they’re going to tear it up in the playoffs too,” he said.

The 1A football RPI will be finalized this weekend and the brackets will be released on Sunday.

(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

AURORA — A battle of top-five football teams didn’t disappoint as Class 5A No. 5 Grandview topped No. 2 Cherry Creek 28-21 in double overtime.

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COLORADO SPRINGS — Complete results from the 2018 state cross country meets, held at the Norris-Penrose Event Center.

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LA JUNTA — Class 2A No. 1 La Junta football finished off an undefeated regular season with a 33-6 win over Manitou Springs on Friday.

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(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

COLORADO SPRINGS — Not going after individual accolades worked out perfectly for Dakota Ridge’s boys cross country team Saturday afternoon at Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs.

While there was the rabbit of Valor Christian junior Cole Sprout out there to chase, the Eagles were focused on knocking off defending Class 5A boys team state champion Mountain Vista. The pressure didn’t get to Dakota Ridge as the Eagles cruised to the team title with 47 points. Mountain Vista finished a distant second with 76 points.

Dakota Ridge junior Connor Ohlson, right, and senior Austin Vancil finishes second and third in the Class 5A boys race. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“It’s unbelievable. Those last five minutes before we found out was so nerve-wreaking. It’s such a relief,” Dakota Ridge senior Austin Vancil said after finishing third individually with a time of 15:42.1. “We had a ton of people here to cheer us on. It’s such a relief to finally get it done.”

The last cross country team title for the Dakota Ridge boys came in 2006.

The Eagles had three individuals place on the podium. Besides Vancil taking third for the second straight year, junior Connor Ohlson edged Vancil to take second and sophomore Jacob White placed 10th.

“We knew it’s going to be close,” Ohlson said before the team results were announced. “(Mountain) Vista is so great. They deserve to win it also.”

Junior Ben Piegat (17th place) and Ben Morrin (43rd) finished out scoring runners for Dakota Ridge.

Dakota Ridge sophomore Jacob White placed 10th to help the Eagles to their first boys state cross country team title in a dozen years. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

“Everyone on the team is super meaningful to us,” Vancil said. “To have the seven guys we had today was an unbelievable experience.”

The 5A boys race went just as scripted for Dakota Ridge. Vancil and Ohlson new it would be tough to defeat Class 5A Jeffco League rival, Sprout. Last year’s 4A individual state champion had the best time of the day. Sprout won the 5A individual title in a time of 15:16.1.

“We (Connor and Austin) wanted to stay with him (Sprout) a little longer. He broke off after the first mile,” Vancil said. “We were here to get the team win. We didn’t want to kill ourselves to drop off at the end. We had to run our own race and get two and three.”

That is precisely what happened. Ohlson just out-kicked Vancil down the final stretch to take second.

“He (Ohlson) is super talented,” Vancil said. “There is no one else I’d rather like have beat me. I’m super proud of him. He has worked super hard for it.”

When White crossed the line in 10th, before any Mountain Vista runners it was pretty clear Dakota Ridge would win its first state title in a decade.

“Everyone just had to do their own part,” White said.

Dakota Ridge will graduate Vancil and Riley Abrashoff, but with Ohlson, White and company back next year a repeat isn’t far fetched.

“Connor will be here and hopefully I’m even going to be even faster,” White said.