Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Cherry Creek (8)
6-0
123
1
W
2
Valor Christian (4)
6-0
116
2
W
3
Columbine (1)
6-0
109
3
W
4
Eaglecrest
6-0
88
5
W
5
Pomona
4-2
72
6
W
6
Grandview
5-1
64
4
L
7
Cherokee Trail
6-0
45
8
W
8
Ralston Valley
5-1
35
7
W
9
Fairview
5-1
24
9
W
10
ThunderRidge
5-1
21
10
W
Others receiving votes:
Smoky Hill 10, Castle View 3, Denver East 2, Doherty 1, Highlands Ranch 1, Regis Jesuit 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Loveland (14)
5-0
176
1
W
2
Pine Creek (2)
4-1
161
2
Bye
3
Montrose (1)
5-0
131
3
W
4
Broomfield
4-1
118
4
W
5
Heritage (1)
5-0
75
7
W
6
Longmont
4-1
63
8
W
7
Ponderosa
3-2
60
10
W
8
Greeley West
4-1
58
–
W
9
Fruita Monument
3-2
47
5
L
10
Pueblo West
3-2
40
9
Bye
Others receiving votes:
Air Academy 11, Skyline 11, Grand Junction Central 10, Rampart 6, Vista Peak 6, Chatfield 3, Golden 3, Standley Lake 3, Brighton 2, Windsor 2, Hinkley 1, Wheat Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Skyline (6).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Erie (9)
5-0
131
1
W
2
Discovery Canyon (2)
5-0
119
2
Bye
3
Palmer Ridge (1)
3-2
86
6
Bye
4
Palisade (1)
4-1
81
3
W
5
Harrison
5-0
76
5
W
6
Thomas Jefferson (1)
5-0
75
4
W
7
Holy Family
4-1
58
8
W
8
Pueblo East
3-2
50
7
Bye
9
Durango
3-2
44
9
Bye
10
Fort Morgan
4-1
17
10
W
Others receiving votes:
Lewis-Palmer 8, George Washington 7, Mead 6, Green Mountain 5, Evergreen 3, Frederick 3, Pueblo Central 1.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Cherry Creek (8)
5-0
123
1
W
2
Valor Christian (4)
5-0
113
2
W
3
Columbine (1)
5-0
102
3
W
4
Grandview
5-0
82
5
W
5
Eaglecrest
5-0
75
7
W
6
Pomona
3-2
73
4
W
7
Ralston Valley
4-1
33
10
W
8
Cherokee Trail
5-0
31
–
W
9
Fairview
4-1
30
9
W
10
ThunderRidge
4-1
16
6
L
Others receiving votes:
Arvada West 15, Castle View 11, Smoky Hill 6, Arapahoe 3, Doherty 1, Lakewood 1.
Dropped out
Arvada West (8).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Loveland (13)
4-0
148
1
W
2
Pine Creek (1)
4-1
128
2
W
3
Montrose (1)
4-0
100
4
W
4
Broomfield
3-1
79
5
W
5
Fruita Monument
3-1
72
6
W
6
Skyline
3-1
55
3
L
7
Heritage
4-0
40
9
W
8
Longmont
3-1
37
–
W
9
Pueblo West
3-2
35
–
L
10
Ponderosa
2-2
34
–
W
Others receiving votes:
Greeley West 26, Chatfield 21, Rampart 13, Windsor 12, Denver South 7, Vista Peak 6, Grand Junction Central 5, Vista Ridge 4, Air Academy 1, Hinkley 1, Wheat Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Chatfield (7), Rampart (8), Windsor (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Erie (10)
4-0
144
1
W
2
Discovery Canyon (2)
5-0
134
3
W
3
Palisade (2)
3-1
112
2
L
4
Thomas Jefferson (1)
4-0
99
5
W
5
Harrison (1)
4-0
84
7
W
6
Palmer Ridge
3-2
65
6
W
7
Pueblo East
3-2
52
4
L
8
Holy Family
3-1
48
8
W
9
Durango
3-2
47
9
W
10
Fort Morgan
3-1
30
10
W
Others receiving votes:
Battle Mountain 15, Lewis-Palmer 12, Mead 11, Frederick 9, Green Mountain 7, Evergreen 5, Canon City 2, Skyview 2, George Washington 1, Pueblo Central 1.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Ponderosa 34, Pueblo West 33, Longmont 22, Denver South 7, Vista Peak 6, Grand Junction Central 5, Air Academy 4, Greeley West 4, Hinkley 3, Wheat Ridge 1.
Dropped out
Ponderosa (9).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Erie (12)
3-0
144
1
Bye
2
Palisade
3-0
105
3
W
3
Discovery Canyon
4-0
101
4
W
4
Pueblo East
3-1
99
2
L
5
Thomas Jefferson (2)
3-0
82
7
W
6
Palmer Ridge (1)
2-2
80
5
W
7
Harrison
3-0
58
8
W
8
Holy Family
2-1
52
6
L
9
Durango
2-2
42
10
W
10
Fort Morgan
2-1
18
9
L
Others receiving votes:
Mead 7, Frederick 6, Lewis-Palmer 6, Pueblo Central 6, Battle Mountain 5, Canon City 2, George Washington 2, Pueblo Centennial 2, Evergreen 1, Glenwood Springs 1, Pueblo South 1, Skyview 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
La Junta (7)
4-0
112
2
W
2
Platte Valley (3)
4-0
110
3
W
3
Bayfield (1)
3-1
95
1
L
4
Rifle (2)
3-0
91
6
W
5
Basalt
3-0
75
8
W
6
Resurrection Christian
3-0
68
4
W
7
Salida
4-0
53
9
W
8
Berthoud
3-1
29
10
W
9
Eaton
2-1
26
7
L
10
Kent Denver
2-1
26
5
L
Others receiving votes:
Alameda 8, Alamosa 6, Delta 6, Aspen 3, Bennett 3, Pagosa Springs 2, Faith Christian 1, Middle Park 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Strasburg (8)
3-0
98
1
Bye
2
Limon (2)
3-0
89
2
W
3
Burlington
2-1
68
3
W
4
Peyton
3-0
65
4
W
5
Wray
2-1
56
6
W
6
Centauri
2-1
51
5
W
7
Crowley County
3-1
31
7
W
8
Holyoke
3-0
23
8
Bye
9
Meeker
1-2
21
9
L
10
Buena Vista
2-1
12
10
L
Others receiving votes:
Paonia 11, Jefferson 8, St. Mary’s 5, Colorado Springs Christian 4, Yuma 3, Clear Creek 2, Olathe 2, Estes Park 1.
Dropped out
None.
8-man
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sedgwick County (13)
3-0
137
1
W
2
West Grand
4-0
121
2
W
3
Mancos (1)
3-0
80
10
W
4
Caliche
2-1
64
7
W
5
Hoehne
2-1
63
5
W
6
Holly
3-1
60
6
W
7
Rangely
4-0
49
8
W
8
Fowler
2-1
48
4
W
9
Sargent
2-1
36
3
L
10
Sanford
3-0
30
–
W
Others receiving votes:
Simla 20, Akron 16, Merino 12, Norwood 10, Pikes Peak Christian 10, Soroco 9, Haxtun 4, Springfield 1.
Sedgwick County is outscoring its opponents by nearly more than a 10-to-1 margin in the 2018 football season.
The 144 points scored by the Cougars ranks third overall in the 8-man classification, yet head coach describes his team as defensive-minded.
“We don’t change a lot of what we do offensively, but we pride ourselves on stopping teams and getting the ball back,” Michel said. “Part of the reason we’ve scored so many points is we have a short field and we get the ball back quickly.”
The players change, but his expectations don’t and when his guys take the field every weekend, they stick to the formula that Michel and his staff have crafted. When the result of the formula is championships, it’s hard to veer too far off the path.
“Over the past however many years that we’ve been successful, we’ve always had good defenses,” he said. “I think that’s really the key. We have players and a system in place that can be successful and can score points, but you can’t do that without the ball and you have to score a lot more points if your defense doesn’t keep them out of the end zone.”
The Cougars beat Akron 42-6 on Friday night. They currently own the longest winning streak in the state at 26 games in a row. On Monday, Michel was the choice for this week’s Denver Broncos high school coach of the week.
Years at Sedgwick County: 5 (46-6, 3-0 this season)
Previous stops: Merino High School assistant coach (2010-11); Sedgwick County assistant coach (2012-13); Sedgwick County head coach (2014-present).
[divider]
Question: Why do you coach?
Michel: Really, I just enjoy being around the kids most of all. Obviously, I love football and I had a high school coach that instilled the love of football and coaching into me, but most of all I just love to be around the boys.
Q: What do you think it’s like for those boys to be coached by you?
Michel: It probably depends on which day you ask them. I think that as a staff overall, we have high expectations of everything both on and off the field. They might say I’m a little intense at times, but like I said we have high expectations for what they do.
They know that I’m extremely competitive and that I want them to be the best person, the best football player that they can be and I’m pretty demanding of that.
Q: What are your favorite coaching memories?
Michel: It’s hard to say. There was one season where we had a couple of firsts for our program at Sedgwick County. It’s existed since around 2006 and I think in 2015 we beat Merino in Merino for the first time ever. That year there were a couple of other firsts like that. So I’d say 2015 because we had those firsts for our program. It was also the first year that we won a state title.
Really though, aside from games and stuff like that, I love to camp with the boys in the summer. Just hanging out and being a team, things like that are what’s most important. I have more stories and memories from road trips and camp than I do from winning games.
Q: What’s the biggest myth about 8-man football?
Michel: I guess the biggest myth is that it’s not real football. We hear that sometimes. We kind of like that people don’t think as highly of what we do. I would take the work ethic and the way our kids do things over a lot of other schools.
There have been years where we’ve scrimmaged an 11-man team and been successful in doing that. Any time you can do that it’s great for us and for 8-man football as a whole. We can show that 8-man teams can compete, we just don’t have the numbers to field an 11-man team at the varsity level sometimes.
(Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
Q: What’s the toughest part about maintaining the consistency in your program that has allowed you to win three straight championships in a row?
Michel: Once we got kids to buy into what we’re doing and believe in what we’re doing, we just tried to be consistent on what we do throughout the week. That’s the biggest challenge is getting high school kids to stay focused on what we’re doing day to day with everything else they have going on, whether it’s classes or girls or whatever else they’re dealing with.
That’s the toughest part every time is getting kids to be consistent every day. We don’t have a lot of problems with kids thinking we’re going to win because we show up and because of what we’ve done in the past. We really have kids bought into this idea that we have to work every day.
We’ve had 40-point victories and then the next week had a ton of stuff to work on in practice and they buy into that and they believe that. They don’t rest on what we’ve done in the past. I guess I’m fortunate enough to have to good kids.
Eight newcomers joined this week’s football rankings. They are: ThunderRidge (5A), Ponderosa (4A), Harrison (3A), Salida and Berthoud (2A), Buena Vista (1A), Mancos (8-man), and Cotopaxi (6-man).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Cherry Creek (9)
3-0
99
1
W
2
Valor Christian (1)
3-0
89
2
W
3
Columbine
3-0
78
4
W
4
Pomona
2-1
68
3
L
5
Grandview
3-0
56
5
W
6
Eaglecrest
3-0
45
7
W
7
ThunderRidge
3-0
38
–
W
8
Ralston Valley
3-0
28
8
W
9
Fairview
2-1
26
6
L
10
Arvada West
3-0
15
9
W
Others receiving votes:
Cherokee Trail 6, Mullen 2.
Dropped out
Mullen (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Pine Creek (13)
3-0
148
1
W
2
Loveland (2)
2-0
120
2
W
3
Chatfield
3-0
103
4
W
4
Skyline
2-0
80
5
Bye
5
Rampart
2-1
61
7
W
6
Broomfield
2-1
57
6
W
7
Montrose
3-0
53
8
W
8
Windsor
1-1
42
3
L
9
Ponderosa
1-2
31
–
W
10
Fruita Monument
1-1
27
9
Bye
Others receiving votes:
Vista Ridge 18, Heritage 15, Longmont 14, Grand Junction Central 12, Pueblo West 11, Brighton 10, Denver South 7, Hinkley 6, Vista Peak 6, Greeley West 2, Greeley Central 1, Widefield 1.
Dropped out
Monarch (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Erie (6)
3-0
104
1
W
2
Pueblo East (4)
3-0
93
3
W
3
Palisade
2-0
72
4
W
4
Discovery Canyon
3-0
65
6
W
5
Palmer Ridge
1-2
64
2
L
6
Holy Family
2-0
62
5
Bye
7
Thomas Jefferson (1)
2-0
52
7
Bye
8
Harrison
2-0
22
–
W
9
Fort Morgan
2-0
19
10
W
10
Durango
1-2
15
8
L
Others receiving votes:
Mead 6, Pueblo South 5, Conifer 4, Evergreen 4, Pueblo Centennial 4, Roosevelt 4, Frederick 3, Lewis-Palmer 3, Canon City 2, George Washington 1, Skyview 1.
Dropped out
Mead (9).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Bayfield (11)
3-0
127
1
W
2
La Junta (1)
3-0
102
2
W
3
Platte Valley
3-0
93
3
W
4
Resurrection Christian
2-0
82
4
Bye
5
Kent Denver (1)
2-0
79
6
W
6
Rifle
2-0
71
5
W
7
Eaton
2-0
47
9
W
8
Basalt
2-0
43
7
W
9
Salida
3-0
30
–
W
10
Berthoud
2-1
12
–
W
Others receiving votes:
Bennett 5, Bishop Machebeuf 5, Alamosa 4, The Academy 4, Moffat County 3, Pagosa Springs 3, Faith Christian 2, Delta 1, D’Evelyn 1, University 1.
Dropped out
Bennett (8), D’Evelyn (10).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Strasburg (8)
3-0
115
1
W
2
Limon (4)
2-0
109
2
W
3
Burlington
1-1
82
4
W
4
Peyton
2-0
74
5
W
5
Centauri
1-1
65
3
L
6
Wray
1-1
56
6
W
7
Crowley County
2-1
40
7
L
8
Holyoke
3-0
29
9
W
9
Meeker
1-1
24
8
Bye
10
Buena Vista
2-0
19
–
W
Others receiving votes:
Yuma 14, Paonia 12, Jefferson 8, St. Mary’s 5, Platte Canyon 4, Colorado Springs Christian 3, Olathe 1.
Dropped out
Cornerstone Christian (10).
8-man
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sedgwick County (13)
2-0
130
1
W
2
West Grand
3-0
116
2
W
3
Sargent
2-0
83
5
W
4
Fowler
1-1
53
–
W
5
Hoehne
1-1
50
8
W
6
Holly
2-1
45
6
W
7
Caliche
1-1
38
7
Bye
8
Rangely
3-0
37
9
W
9
Akron
2-1
31
4
L
10
Mancos
2-0
30
–
W
Others receiving votes:
Merino 24, Soroco 14, Haxtun 13, Sanford 12, Byers 10, Simla 9, Norwood 6, Pikes Peak Christian 6, Custer County 3, Vail Christian 3, Dove Creek 2.
Dropped out
Merino (3), Soroco (10).
6-man
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Stratton/Liberty (8)
2-0
98
1
W
2
Otis (1)
2-0
87
2
W
3
Kit Carson (1)
2-0
84
3
W
4
Peetz
1-1
62
6
W
5
Flagler/Hi-Plains
2-0
55
8
W
6
Prairie
1-1
51
4
W
7
Cheyenne Wells
2-0
41
7
W
8
Briggsdale
1-1
25
10
L
9
Cotopaxi
2-0
14
–
W
10
Arickaree/Woodlin
1-1
12
5
L
Others receiving votes:
Granada 6, Fleming 5, Idalia 4, Weldon Valley 3, Manzanola 2, North Park 1.
Kit Carson controlled the game from start to finish in moving to 2-0 this season.
“We ran the ball really well,” coach Curt Connelley told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “Our special teams really got us on the board quickly.”
Joe Bryan returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and his brother, Chris Bryan, returned a punt for a score.
[divider]
8-man: Fowler 28, (4) Akron 20
Fowler knocked off the previously-unbeaten Rams with a late score. The Grizzlies recovered a kickoff after a fortunate bounce to set up the touchdown.
“It was a lot of smashmouth football. Akron had a couple of big plays on us. They did a great job defensively,” coach Mark Van Sickle told the Scoreboard Show. “We were three- to four-yards and a cloud of dust. It was great to get back to what I think Fowler football is.”
[divider]
Notables
Ponderosa got a huge win by upsetting No. 3 Windsor in 4A, 17-13. Nick Hoff and Ethan Waite each rushed for a touchdown.
Hinkley is off to its first 2-0 start since 2014 following a 7-0 win over Gateway. The Thunderbirds have opened the season with consecutive shutouts.
Pagosa Springs knocked off 1A No. 3 Centauri 31-12.
Smoky Hill is now 3-0 for the first time since 2007. The Buffs beat Northglenn 21-6.
Quite the stat line for Bryson Long of No. 6 Peetz in 6-man: He rushed for 270 yards and had five touchdowns in a 67-22 win over No. 9 Fleming.
It’s always a big rivalry game, and even though they’re now in different classes, this matchup was no different as 1A No. 1 Strasburg beat 2A No. 8 Bennett 32-8.
In a game that featured six lead changes, 4A No. 4 Chatfield held off Brighton 39-30.
In 8-man, No. 4 Prairie beat No. 10 Briggsdale 56-40. “We had a little bit more offensively efficiency. Our offense clicked a lot more tonight,” coach Justin Kerns told the Scoreboard Show of the difference from his team’s first game to its second. Photos from the game are here.
5A Castle View won a wild back-and-forth game on the final play of the game against Wasatch (Utah), 36-35. The Sabercats are now 2-1 under Todd Casebier in his first year — doubling their win total from last season.
Evergreen blocked a last-second field goal to upset Mead.
Denver North QB Erik Flores threw for 370 yards and five touchdowns in his team’s 56-40 win over Englewood. Four of those TDs went to Keon Brickens.
In 5A, Highlands Ranch beat Regis Jesuit in overtime, 20-17.
Eagle Valley snapped a 12-game losing streak with a 57-12 victory against Alameda.
2A No. 7 Basalt cruised to a 47-6 win over Battle Mountain. “The offensive line really played well tonight,” coach Carl Frerichs told the Scoreboard Show.
8-man No. 1 Sedgwick County has now won 25 games in a row after beating Gilpin County 60-0.
