DENVER — The final day of the state volleyball tournament saw Valor Christian, Lewis-Palmer, Lutheran, Yuma and Kit Carson win championships.
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Month: November 2018
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Photos: Discovery Canyon football beats Frederick in 2 OT
COLORADO SPRINGS — Discovery Canyon won a thrilling Class 3A playoff football game against Frederick in double overtime on Saturday, 34-31.
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Fairview QB Aidan Atkinson commits to Northwestern
(Steve Oathout) Fairview’s Aidan Atkinson, the Knights’ star junior quarterback, has committed to Northwestern.
Atkinson informed CHSAANow.com of his decision on Sunday afternoon, and also posted his commitment on Twitter.
“Northwestern just has everything you could possibly want in a school,” Atkinson said. “Starting with the education and degree you’re getting, it’ll open up so many doors and create opportunities that going to another school won’t create. Their success as a football program, 8 of the past 10 years going to a bowl game and just as of last night winning the Big Ten west. Being only 25-30 minutes away from Chicago, a top 5 U.S city is something a lot of schools don’t have.
“Coach Fitz is someone who will motivate any player and get his dudes to run through a brick wall for him. Finally Evanston felt like home. It was something different that I can’t describe but knew it when I was there for the Michigan game. I was absolutey worried about finding the right school and fit, but after that Michigan game I knew Northwestern was the right place.”
In his second season as the starter, Atkinson set the single-season passing touchdown record, and also broke the 11-man football record for passing yards in a game.
Atkinson likely would have broken the single-season passing yardage record, as well, but he hurt his thumb in Fairview’s final regular season game, and missed their two playoff games as a result.
Only a junior, Atkinson will likely climb up the career record book during his senior season next fall.
Atkinson also had offers from Colorado, Colorado State, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, Boise State, Nevada, and Akron.
“Really happy now to know where I’ll be going and feeling extremely confident in my decision,” Atkinson said. “Looking forward to concentrating getting my thumb back to 100 percent and preparing for my senior season.”
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Replay of live coverage: State football playoffs in 5A, 4A, 3A and 8-man
The state football playoffs continue on Friday night, and four classifications are in action. Complete live coverage is below.
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Links
- Live scoreboard
- Brackets: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man | 6-man
- Full schedule & scoreboard | @ColoHSFootball
- Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show (9:30 p.m.)
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Arapahoe beats Grandview to claim first boys soccer title since 1997
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) COMMERCE CITY — Noah Carl may have had only one goal to his credit coming into the Class 5A state championship game, but the Arapahoe midfielder was in the right place at the right time Friday night.
With the game tied up and the clocking ticking away in the second half, a pass to the middle of the field found Carl standing by himself. The senior’s shot wasn’t the hardest-hit ball of the night, but it found an opening on the left side of the net in the 68th minute of play.
That proved to be the deciding moment as the Warriors captured their first 5A title since 1997 with a 2-1 victory over Grandview at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
“It felt like my strike took like 30 seconds,” Carl said, shaking his head. “It felt unreal.
“But as soon as I saw the ball, I knew I was going to finish it.”Arapahoe (17-1-2 overall ) capped off its storied run as the No. 8 seed in the field. Along the way the Warriors took out top-seeded and previously undefeated Fairview, then won a shootout over defending state champion Broomfield in the semifinals.
Playing for the championship for the first time since defeating Columbine 21 years ago, Arapahoe got the job done for its senior class, which has struggled with the tragedy of losing two seniors to suicide earlier this school year.
“It rocked our entire senior class,” Arapahoe senior goalkeeper Spencer Cobb said. “We have 13 seniors on this team, and that’s who we were playing for tonight.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com) Third-seeded Grandview (17-2-1) overcame an early goal from Arapahoe’s Garret Lyles off a corner kick in the fourth minute of play. The Wolves scored the equalizer on a nice ball from Noe Ortiz Pena, and then continued the offensive onslaught by peppering Cobb with ball after ball over the next 45 minutes of play.
Grandview had seven shots on goal in the first half and quickly put three more on Cobb in the second half, but couldn’t quite find a way past the Warriors senior. Even a pair of corner kicks in the final two minutes of the first half, followed by two more in the opening minutes of the second half, couldn’t faze the Arapahoe defense.
“At halftime it almost felt like we were down, just because we weren’t playing our best soccer yet,” said Cobb, who finished with nine saves. “But we know that this is a super resilient group. We don’t need to play out of our minds to play good because we’re so organized and we have such good camaraderie.
“It got us through the second half without letting up a goal.”
With less than 13 minutes remaining in regulation, Arapahoe was trying to find an opening in a Grandview defense that had been so tough all night. A ball was sent into the middle, and Carl’s strike lit a fire under a Warriors team that didn’t allow another shot on goal the rest of the way. Even a pair of late free kicks in front of the net that were well-placed were quickly cleared out before any damage could be done.
“My backs are crazy good. I couldn’t ask for a better team,” Cobb said. “Every single person on this team has an important role, and it’s the reason we won state.”
Cobi Wood finished with four saves for Grandview, which is senior-heavy like the Warriors. The Wolves have 17 seniors in a program that was making its first state championship appearance since 2007.
But Arapahoe just wasn’t going to be denied after a fall that had brought both heartache and joy.
“It means so much to me. I can’t believe it’s real,” Cobb said. “Everything we’ve done since freshman year … we talked about playing at Dick’s tonight. It just feels surreal.”
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DeArment leads Columbine in football playoff win over Highlands Ranch
LAKEWOOD — Columbine senior Logan DeArment might have been a master magician in a past life.
The one sure thing about the Rebels’ starting quarterback, he has mastered the art of the ball fake. DeArment had a pair of first-half touchdown runs Friday night at Jeffco Stadium where he hid the football on his back hip and strolled into the end zone untouched.
“That’s one of our big plays here,” DeArment said of the quarterback option. “I’ve been working on it since freshman year. I happen to be very good at it and it helps in these situations.”
Columbine senior quarterback Logan DeArment rushed for a trio of touchdowns and threw for two scores Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) DeArment was masterful as the No. 2-seeded and undefeated Rebels (11-0 record) strolled to a 49-7 victory over No. 15 Highlands Ranch in the second round of the Class 5A state football tournament. The two-year starting quarterback ran for three touchdowns and had touchdown passes to Nehemiah Nua and Tanner Hollens as the Rebels built up a 36-7 lead early in the second half.
DeArment was also in charge of the Rebels’ kicking duties and started at safety on defense in the Rebels’ playoff opener.
“He is just a great football player. He didn’t get a pick I don’t think. He needs to do that next week,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry joked.
DeArment put the icing on the cake with a 76-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to extend the Rebels’ lead to 42-7.
“I got yelled about because I actually made the wrong read on the first play,” DeArment said of his final touchdown run. “Tanner (Hollens) had a great seal block on the backside and I ran scared like I always do. I don’t want to get caught.”
The win advanced the Rebels (11-0 record) into next week’s state quarterfinals.
Columbine will have a conference rematch ahead. The Rebels face the winner of Arvada West and Pomona in the next round. The No. 10 Wildcats and No. 7 Panthers square off in a rivalry showdown at noon tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 10) at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Columbine senior Tanner Hollens (6) finds himself in the middle of some traffic against Highlands Ranch on Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) “They (Arvada West or Pomona) are going to give us a fight,” DeArment said. “Every game in the playoffs is a dogfight.”
Rebels defeated both A-West and Pomona on their way to the 5A Metro West League title.
“It doesn’t matter,” Columbine senior defensive lineman Ben Earnest said of facing either A-West or Pomona for a second time. “The train it rolling, so it doesn’t matter.”
While DeArment was the catalyst Friday night, the Rebels’ defense did its fair share. However, they weren’t able to accomplish something that has eluded Columbine’s defense — a shutout victory.
“We were not happy at all,” Earnest said about Highlands Ranch’s lone score that came in the second quarter. “Our goal was a shutout. We haven’t had one all season and wanted to get one.”
It looked like the Falcons would grab some moment with a second scoring drive just before halftime, but Highlands Ranch was denied thanks to a pair of timely sacks by Earnest and fellow senior Cody Ramming after the Falcons got into Rebel territory.
Ultimately, time ran out on Highlands Ranch and Columbine held a commanding 29-7 lead at halftime.
“It was kind of bend but don’t break for the defense and our offense put some points on the board,” Lowry said. “We live for another week.”
Friday’s night playoff game was a rematch of a non-league game nearly two months ago at Shea Stadium. The Rebels took a 41-16 road victory.
The Falcons (4-8) made the playoffs thanks to a strong strength of schedule that helped Highlands Ranch in the RPI standings. In fact, Highland Ranch and Lakewood entered the postseason with identical 3-7 records — worst in the 24-team field — but both the Falcons and Tigers got first-round victories over teams with .500 regular-season records.
Columbine junior Braeden Hogan (32) races past Highlands Ranch’s sideline on a 40-yard run in the first half Friday night at Jeffco Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics) -
Photos: Arapahoe tops Grandview to win 5A boys soccer championship
COMMERCE CITY — Noah Carl’s goal in the second half was enough for Arapahoe to get a 2-1 win over Grandview and claim the Class 5A boys soccer state title.
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Fruita Monument football beats cross-town rival Grand Junction Central in 4A playoffs
First-half domination and some second-half hand-wringing summed up the game for Fruita Monument.
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Loveland football runs wild in win over Rampart
When something works as well as Loveland’s rushing attack has this season, there’s no reason to throw the ball. They took that literally Friday night, attempting just two passes and letting the run game do its thing.