CHSAANow

Month: April 2021

  • Photos: Lakewood boys soccer grabs big league win over Pomona

    Lakewood boys soccer found the net twice in each half as it got a 4-1 win over Class 5A Jeffco League rival Pomona on Saturday.

  • Photos: Legend boys soccer gets close win over Heritage

    Each team scored in the first half but Legend boys soccer broke the tie late to get a 2-1 win over Heritage on Saturday.

  • Photos: Kent Denver football beats Littleton for second win of the year

    Kent Denver football gots its second win of the year as it beat Littleton in an afternoon game on Saturday.

  • Photos: Arapahoe field hockey takes on St. Mary’s Academy

    No. 8 Arapahoe field hockey took on No. 15 St. Mary’s Academy in a regular season showdown on Saturday afternoon.

  • Photos: No. 7 Grandview gets key league win against Overland

    Class 5A No. 7 Grandview boys soccer took an early lead and never let up to get a 3-1 win over Overland on Saturday.

  • Fast start for No. 2 TCA football results in first loss for No. 6 The Academy

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    COLORADO SPRINGS — In three touches, Cade Palmer helped The Classical Academy run away with another win. The Classical Academy junior found the end zone on his first three carries of the game, all of them from at least 27 yards out as the Class 3A No. 2 Titans rolled to a 41-12 win over No. 6 The Academy.

    It was the first loss of the year for the Wildcats, but considering the way the game started there should be no hanging heads going into next week’s game against Faith Christian.

    “Kudos to them,” TCA coach Justin Rich said. “They fought really hard in the second half and we needed to play a four-quarter game.”

    In no time at all, the Titans (3-0 overall, 3-0 3A East) were up 21-0. That came as Palmer ran for touchdowns of 50, 27 and 33 yards, all of which came in the first quarter.

    Two more rushing touchdowns in the second quarter pushed the lead to 35-0, providing the fast start that the Titans are hoping to see each week through the remainder of the season.

    “It’s really good to come out to a quick start,” Palmer said. “The offensive line was dominating in the first quarter and a half, and even into the second half. It’s important to have that fast start.”

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    The Wildcats (3-1, 3-1) struggled to move the ball against the Titans’ physical defensive front but kept chipping away. Quarterback Isaiah Eliot connected on a few passes and made some tough runs before taking a hard hit in the second quarter that ultimately took him out of the game.

    Forced to adjust, the Wildcats moved to a double-wing style formation and drove into the red zone where they punched the ball in on the last play of the first half.

    That offensive set continued to give the Titans fits in the second half. The Wildcats gained yards and chewed up clock to find something that worked. If they hadn’t been in a deep hole, it could’ve been an equalizer if sustained for four quarters.

    “That double-wing formation, we didn’t have the time to work on that,” Rich said. “They were down one of the best players on the field in (Gabriel Espinosa) who has to be leading the state in receptions, he didn’t play the second half on offense. And if (Eliot) was going to run the ball, it’s going to be hard to run it that often.”

    Coming into the game, Espinosa had 23 receptions for 283 yards and two touchdowns. But the Titans were fast and aggressive on defense which neutralized The Academy’s typical offensive flow.

    The Titans scored their lone touchdown of the half on a pass to Aden Timson, but it was the fast start that allowed them to settle in and play their game.

    “Every game we come out quick with a lot of energy, it catches teams off guard,” Palmer said. “It takes a ton of pressure off your defense if you’re up 21 points in five minutes.”

    The Titans finish their regular season schedule on the road as they head to Kent Denver next week and Denver West on April 22.

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

  • Photos: Arrupe Jesuit boys soccer nets nine goals to beat Jefferson

    Arrupe Jesuit boys soccer had no issue finding the back of the net as it grabbed a big 9-0 win over Jefferson on Friday.

  • Photos: No. 3 Kent Denver field hockey shuts out No. 14 Smoky Hill

    No. 3 Kent Denver moved to 5-1 on the season after getting a hard fought 4-0 win over No. 14 Smoky Hill on Friday.

  • Photos: Rangeview and Prairie View girls volleyball meet in conference clash

    Rangeview girls volleyball looked to better its placement in the Class 5A East Metro standings as it took the court against Prairie View.

  • No. 6 Lamar girls volleyball thrives on power from the front row

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    COLORADO SPRINGS — In some ways, Abby Robbins has the easiest job in the Tri-Peaks League. The Lamar setter has her choice of weapons to feed and the results are usually exactly what everyone is hoping for.

    Both Fernanda Merancio and Sydney Dunning provide the volleyball equivalent of a long touchdown pass or a second-deck home run.

    They’re hitters in every sense of the word.

    “When our team is on, it’s hard to defend,” Merancio said. “When Abby gets us a perfect set, it’s almost unstoppable.”

    That was certainly the case as Lamar, the Class 3A No. 6-ranked girls volleyball team, took down league foe No. 9 Colorado Springs Christian School 25-9, 25-8, 25-21 on Thursday night.

    The win came the same way all of them have this year, big hits and overall great production from the front row. It’s a combination that could serve Lamar (6-0 overall, 6-0 Tri-Peaks) well when the postseason rolls around.

    “It’s nice to have one of the two of them in the front row the whole time,” coach Dave Tecklenburg said.

    Heading into Thursday’s contest, the duo had combined for 130 kills on the year. The team as a whole had 170. The Lamar volleyball team has yet to drop a set all year before the CSCS match, 45 percent of the team’s points had come from kills.

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    And these aren’t cross-court attempts aimed avoiding an attempted double block. These are precise, savage attacks coming from either Merancio or Dunning’s right arm.

    “When my team gets a perfect pass and our setter, Abby Robbins puts me or Fernanda in position, it’s a done deal,” Dunning said. “We will put it down 100 percent.”

    It’s a formula that has made the team look strong through the first half of the season. In half of their wins so far this season, Lamar has held teams to single digits in two of the three sets. They’re doing everything that would normally draw the attention of onlookers from outside the southeast corner of the state, but with Lutheran and Eaton seemingly back on the rise, Tecklenburg is happy to keep a low profile.

    “I don’t want to be known,” he says. “When you are, everyone scouts you more and prepares for you more. The less people know about you the better.”

    Dunning and Merancio are a secret that can’t be kept forever, especially when the aftershocks of their kills are strong enough to be felt on the Front Range.

    Lamar is eying a league championship in its short-term future but also has an eye on the ultimate prize. The girls want to win a state championship.

    “We’re setting boundaries,” Dunning said. “We want to win league first and we want to take everything one step at a time.”

    They’re aware that of all the state championships in Lamar’s storied athletic history, a volleyball crown is noticeably absent. This team wants to be the first to bring a title home.

    And the plan to do it is to swing for the fences.

    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)