Fountain-Fort Carson is ranked No. 10 in 5A this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
Buoyed by its four-overtime win against Doherty on Friday night, Fountain-Fort Carson cracked CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings on Monday.
The Trojans, now 6-1, entered the poll at No. 10. They have won their last five games.
Elsewhere in 5A, Valor Christian stayed atop the ranking after receiving ten of the 16 first-place votes. Grandview, which got four first-place votes after its big win against Cherry Creek, returned to the No. 2 spot this week.
Pomona is third, and Ralston Valley is fourth. Those two cross-town rivals play one another on Friday night.
Fairview rounds out 5A’s top five, Regis Jesuit is sixth, Mountain Vista moved up to No. 7 and Rock Mountain is No. 8. Cherry Creek fell three places to No. 9.
The other No. 1 teams also remained put, including Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
Newcomers (or returners to the rankings) this week include Dakota Ridge (No. 9 in 4A); Berthoud (No. 9, 3A); Fort Morgan (No. 10, 3A); Sterling (No. 9, 2A); and Cheyenne Wells (No. 10, 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 select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
Mountain Vista is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 5A poll. (Paul DiSalvo/MaxPreps)
Mountain Vista, off to its best start in seven seasons, has joined CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings this week.
The Golden Eagles are now 6-0 following a 34-7 win over Rock Canyon on Friday. The six wins are the most since Mountain Vista went 7-4 in 2009, and the unbeaten start is the best since the Golden Eagles began 7-0 in 2007. Mountain Vista also started 6-0 in 2006, when it went 10-2.
Mountain Vista is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 5A poll.
Valor Christian continued to lead the 5A ranking after beating Eaglecrest last week, as the Eagles got 12 of the 17 first-place votes and amassed 165 total points. Pomona remained in the No. 2 spot following its fifth-straight win, while Grandview jumped Ralston Valley for No. 3.
Broomfield is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 4A poll. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Cherry Creek reamined in the No. 6 spot, and Regis Jesuit stayed at No. 7. Doherty bumped up two places to No. 8, while Rocky Mountain is again No. 9 this week.
The six other No. 1 teams in the rankings also stayed put: Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
Broomfield joined the 4A poll at No. 10, while 3A added Glenwood Springs, also at No. 10.
New to the 2A ranking is Montezuma-Cortez (No. 10), and 6-man added Mountain Valley (No. 10).
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 select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
A complete schedule for the Class 3A regional softball playoffs. All games are Oct. 11, unless noted.
Note that the third game will only be played if the higher-seeded team (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) loses the second game. The winner of game two and game three will then be the state qualifiers.
If the higher-seeded team wins games number two, game number three will not be play and the two participants in game two will be the state qualifiers.
Valor escaped with a 23-21 win thanks to a game-sealing interception from Brian Dawkins Jr. in the final minute.
It was the second-straight league game in which Valor (5-1) got all it could handle. Last week, Centennial foe Overland hung until midway through the fourth quarter before the Eagles’ ran off 21-unanswered points to win 35-10.
Valor Christian’s Dylan McCaffrey, pictured earlier this season. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
This week, Eaglecrest led 14-7 after the first quarter as Elijah Ross found Peter Anderson twice on long touchdown passes. Valor then scored 16 straight points to take a 23-14 halftime lead.
But Eaglecrest (3-3) wouldn’t go away. The Raptors’ Glenn Washington scored on a 25-yard run with 7:52 to play in the third quarter to make it 23-21.
After that, each team’s offense stalled as turnovers and penalties ruled the night.
Eaglecrest did get the ball back with just over two minutes to play in the game, but was backed up as Valor downed a punt at the 4-yard-line.
The Raptors weren’t able to move the ball, but the Eagles were flagged for roughing the passer on fourth down, giving Eaglecrest a first down at their own 16. Two plays later, Dawkins picked off the pass to seal the win.
Dylan McCaffrey finished with 184 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and Eric Lee Jr. had 106 yards rushing — including an 84-yard score. Jarred Kendziorski made a 28-yard field goal which proved to be the difference.
Valor Christian’s in-state winning streak now stands at 27 games. The Eagles play Cherokee Trail next week.
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1A: (1) Paonia 22, (3) Meeker 16
Paonia trailed 16-14 with less than two minutes to play, but was able to drive down and get what was ultimately the winning score when Taylor Walters found tight end Joel Simianer for a 4-yard touchdown with 34 seconds to play.
“It was just kids making plays, and we were fortunate enough to come out on top,” Paonia coach Brent McCrae told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show. “We actually had a big fourth-down conversion (on the final drive), where we just trusted our O-line; they pushed the pile. And then we had a pretty big pass play … on a third-down and long. Two biggies there.”
Meeker did drive down and had the ball in the red zone, but Paonia held on for the win.
“We were fortunate enough to have a linebacker to make the tackle just as time expired,” McCrae said. “I think they were on the (5-yard-line) at that point.”
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2A: (1) Brush 32, (4) Platte Valley 28
Brush got its first real big test of the year, and passed.
“It was a heck of a battle,” Brush coach Randy Dreitz told the Scoreboard Show. “They’re a very good football team.”
The Beetdiggers had a great third quarter, where they expanded a 13-7 halftime lead to 28-14, and then Michael Gutierrez’s 20-yard rushing score with eight minutes to play made it 34-21.
Platte Valley did cut things to a six-point game with two minutes remaining, but Brush held on and defended its No. 1-ranking.
“The difference was that we held them more than they held us. If you get one play here or there where you can hold them and take it down and score, I think that was the key,” Dreitz said. “Our kids played really well tonight, but their kids played hard. It was a definite battle.”
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1A: Wray 14, (5) Burlington 12
The Eagles pulled off the upset.
“We’ve play each other so many times over the years. We know what we’re doing against each other,” Wray coach Levi Kramer told the Scoreboard Show. “It really comes down to who’s going to make the plays at the end of the games, and turnovers. We had one tonight, and they had a couple. It comes down to that.”
Wray started 1-3 but is now 3-3 after two straight wins.
“(The kids) could have very easily just said, ‘This is the year we’re going to be down,’ or whatever, but they refused to do that,” Kramer said.
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2A: (9) Gunnison 39, (10) Bayfield 14
The Cowboys led 24-0 at halftime, and 31-6 midway through the fourth quarter. They cruised from there.
“Offensively, we just got off the bus tonight … and our boys were just ready to play,” Gunnison coach Bob Howard told the Scoreboard Show. “We had a pretty good mix tonight of run and pass.”
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8-man: (1) Dayspring Christian 32, (2) Akron 20
For the second week in a row, Dayspring came out on top of a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.
The Eagles were up 20-6 at halftime, but Akron battled back to tie the game at 20 after three quarters. Dayspring then rattled off the game’s final 12 points to stay unbeaten.
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4A: (8) Greeley West 14, (4) Windsor 0
The Spartans are now 6-0, and have a feather in their cap after this win. They led 14-0 early in the second, and the score held up.
Running back Alex DeLaCroix had both of Greeley West’s touchdowns, the first on a 14-yard run, the second on a 7-yard catch.
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Notables
D’Evelyn quarterback Owen Burke had another record performance on Friday night. He threw for 530 yards and four touchdowns as D’Evelyn lost to No. 10 Conifer, 38-35, in 3A. Burke threw for 535 last week. The 535 yards were No. 5 all time last week, while the 530 are No. 6 this week. In his last two games, Baker has thrown for 1,065 yards and nine touchdowns. He has 1,762 yards this season.
Antonito beat Cotopaxi 83-56. The 139 combined points are now the ninth-most in state history.
Luke Nethercot threw for six touchdowns in Canon City’s 45-27 win over Lewis-Palmer on Friday. Technically, that’s tied for eighth-best all-time, though 28 others have done it, as well. He’s a sophomore.
TeQuan Baker rushed for 344 yards and three touchdowns in 5A No. 10 Doherty’s 34-14 win over Legend. He now has 1,328 yards this season, which is second in the state. Baker’s gone over 100 yards in all six games, and over 200 yards in five of six. His 18 touchdowns lead the state.
No. 4 Holy Family handled No. 8 Berthoud 43-7 in a battle of ranked 3A teams. Holy Family actually trailed 7-6 after the first quarter. “I think the hype of the game got to our kids a little bit,” coach Mike Gabriel told the Scoreboard Show. “But then we kind of settled in and pulled away.” Ultimately, the Tigers scored the game’s final 43 points.
Is this the biggest turnaround in 2014? Mountain Valley is now 6-0 in 6-man football. The Indians were 1-7 last year, and didn’t field a team in 2012 because of low numbers. Wow.
Mountain Vista is 6-0 in 5A following a 34-7 win over Rock Canyon on Friday night. The Golden Eagles — who had a pink-out on Friday — should be sniffing the top-10 come Monday.
Discovery Canyon has taken over the top spot in the 3A football rankings. (Pam Wagner)
Discovery Canyon has perhaps the best combinations of wins to date in Class 3A football this season. As a result, the Thunder now own the No. 1 spot in CHSAANow.com’s ranking.
Voting in 3A remained split again this week, continuing a season-long trend, but the Thunder received seven of the 13 first-place votes, and had 122 total points. Lutheran, No. 1 since the preseason, dropped to No. 2 with six first-place votes and 114 points.
Elsewhere in the classificatoin, Rifle moved up to No. 3, while Holy Family is now No. 4. The 3A poll added Conifer (No. 10) this week.
Ralston Valley moved up to No. 3 in the 5A poll this week. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Cherry Creek is up to No. 6 after shutting out then-No. 9 Cherokee Trail. Regis Jesuit is No. 7, Overland No. 8 and Rocky Mountain is No. 9. Doherty rejoins the poll this week at No. 10.
In 4A, Pine Creek extended its stay at No. 1. The Eagles beat then-No. 5 Vista Ridge last week. That ranking didn’t add any teams this week, though Fort Collins moved up to No. 2 from No. 4.
Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man) each stayed atop their respective polls this week.
Newcomers included Gunnision (No. 9) and Bayfield (No. 10) in 2A; Rye (No. 10) in 1A; Sangre de Cristo (No. 10) in 8-man; and Pawnee (No. 7) in 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 select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
The scoreboard late in Friday’s game between Sand Creek and Air Academy. (Via @AAHSAthletics on Twitter)
The two teams combined for 130 points. Sand Creek running back Daniel Quin rushed for nine touchdowns. But ultimately, it was a defensive stop on fourth-and-2 that sealed the win for Sand Creek.
Sand Creek stopped a screen pass on fourth down with less than a minute to play to seal a 68-62 win over Air Academy on Friday night.
When the dust settled on Friday night, the spotlight shone brightest on Quin, who rushed his way into CHSAA’s record book. He finished with 553 yards and the nine touchdowns on 64 carries.
“It was crazy,” Sand Creek coach Rod Baker told CHSAANow late Friday night.
The 64 carries are the most in a single game in state history, while the 553 yards are No. 3 all-time. In fact, it was just the fifth time in state history a back had gained more than 500 yards. (Colorado’s rushing record belongs to Montbello’s Leonard Jones, who went for 584 in 1999.)
Finally, Quin’s nine rushing touchdowns are now tied for the second-best performance in state history with Colorado Deaf & Blind’s Sam Harris. Harris rushed for his nine in 2004. The record, set in 1930, belongs to Hugo’s Ken Pearson, who had 12 rushing scores.
Oh, and Quin also had three two-point conversions.
“We ran the ball, and they threw it. And that’s the story,” Baker said. “Their quarterback threw it well, and we missed some open-field tackling opportunities. They executed really well with their passing game, and protected well, and we just ran. We had one pass, when we got ’em on a formation, but other than that it was a run against pass.”
The game’s 130 combined points fell just five points shy of cracking the top-10 in all-time combined points. Still, that scoring record is dotted with 8-man and 6-man point totals — which is apples and oranges when it comes to 11-man football.
Air Academy Mike Roof takes a break from all the scoring during his team’s game with Sand Creek on Friday night. (Courtesy @AAHSAthletics on Twitter)
As such, the 130 points are believed to be the third-highest total for an 11-man game in state history. The two teams combined to score 49 points in the fourth quarter alone.
“At the end of the game, the kids were so tired, they could barely shake hands,” Baker said. “It was like a brotherhood between them, what they’d been through. It was an amazing event. The high school spirit was amazing tonight for both teams. And they just battled.”
Air Academy scored with less than four minutes to play to take a 62-60 lead, but Sand Creek — well, Quin — quickly responded with a touchdown of their own. One minute and thirty seconds remained.
“We scored too fast,” Baker said. “Daniel was so wide open, and I just thought about, ‘Just fall down at the 1 so we can run some time off the clock.’”
Air Academy made two first downs, and drove down to about Sand Creek’s 40-yard-line before attempting a screen pass to their tailback.
“We tackled them for about a 5-yard loss, and that was the game,” Baker said. “It was a defensive stop that decided the game. That’s kind of ironic, isn’t it?”
Sand Creek improved to 2-2 this season with the win. Air Academy fell to 2-2.
Baker said he was planning on compiling full stats on Saturday morning.
“I may need an abacus, though,” he said.
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4A: (2) Pueblo South 24, Falcon 21
Falcon dug its way out of a 13-0 hole to lead 14-13 at halftime, but second-ranked Pueblo South got a 23-yard field goal from Nathan Spinuzzi to seal the win with 13 seconds to play.
Falcon had taken a 21-13 lead in the third, and that lead held until Spinuzzi, also South’s quarterback, hit Dennis Ramos on a 55-yard score with 8:37 to play. After a two-point conversion, the game was tied.
Falcon turned around and drove down to Pueblo South’s 11-yard-line, but fumbled. That set up the Colts’ final drive, and the game-winning field goal.
Matt Bastian had 147 yards rushing and a score in the loss for Falcon.
1A: (8) Burlington 20, (3) Limon 19
Burlington stopped a late two-point conversion attempt to seal the win. Limon had scored with 20 seconds remaining to cut the lead to one point.
“We were sure they were going to go for two and try to get that win on the road,” Burlington coach Glynn Higgs told Colorado Preps’ Scoreboard Show. “We got some penetration and got to their sweep and shut it down, and that was the difference in the game, that one play.
“This is a real big win for us,” he added. “Really felt good about the way the kid’s played and the effort they game.”
3A: Mead 10, Erie 7 (OT)
Tyler Levine hit the game-winning field goal in overtime as the Mavericks improved to 2-2 this season.
“That feels great,” Levine told BoCoPreps afterward. “As soon as I kicked it, I knew it was going to go in.”
4A: (1) Pine Creek 21, Pueblo West 14
For the second time this season, the Eagles survived a nail-biter from an unranked foe.
Pine Creek never actually trailed this time around — in fact, it led 18-0 in the third quarter — but Pueblo West rallied late to make things close.
Pueblo West had one final chance to tie the game with three minutes to play, but turned the ball over on downs on its final drive.
4A: Durango 29, Farmington (NM) 22
Justin Marcum hauled in a 61-yard touchdown pass from Terrence Trujillo with 28 seconds remaining to lift the Demons in an out-of-state contest.
They had trailed much of the game, but then tied it with 3:31 to go on a two-yard rushing score from Lawrence Mayberry.
After a punt, Durango got the ball back with 1:53 to play at its own 23-yard-line. That drive led to the winning score.
5A: Rocky Mountain 31, Fossil Ridge 6
Rocky Mountain is 4-0 for the first time since 2008, when the Lobos finished 11-1 and made a deep playoff run.
“We have a great group of character young men, and they’ve busted their tails for us all summer,” coach Mark Brook told the Scoreboard Show after the game. “We had a lot of kids coming back from last year. … It’s good. For me, I’m proud to see them translate all their work and effort into wins.”
4A: Coronado 43, Widefield 0
Coronado, the defending 3A champion, is now 4-1 in its move up to 4A this season.
“We had a lot of excitement going into this season,” coach Bobby Lizarraga told the Scoreboard Show. “Unfortunately for us, we had a lot of youth also. And it’s paid its dividends at this point, but we had a lot coaching to do, where our coaches stepped up and got our young folks up to par to make an impact for us. Right now, we’re seeing some of those assets.”
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Notables
8-man’s top-ranked Dayspring Christian ran its state-best winning streak to 17 game. The Eagles, now 4-0 this season, have yet to give up a point in 2014. They’ve outscored their opponents 206-0, including a 46-0 win over Las Animas on Friday night.
Adams City is now 3-1 following a 19-8 win over Lincoln on Friday. Those three wins match the program’s combined win total over the previous seven seasons.
Gunnison is unranked in Class 2A, but for how long? Since a 39-12 loss to Kent Denver to open the season, the Cowboys have outscored opponents 145-14, including consecutive shutouts. Gunnison beat Roaring Fork 48-0 this week.
Cherry Creek rebounded from its tough loss to Jordan (Utah) with a 41-0 shutout of Grand Terrace (Calif.). Photos from the game are here.
Holy Family quarterback Chris Helbig threw for another 286 yards and three touchdowns in his team’s 50-7 win over Frederick. He now has 1,450 yards through four games, and is on pace for more than 3,600 yards and nearly 38 touchdowns. The yardage would be top-5 all-time.
Broomfield beat Loveland in overtime, 20-17.
St. Mary’s topped University 27-7. It was University’s first-ever night home game.
Mullen trailed Arvada West 28-23, but 15 unanswered points amounted to a 38-28 win.
Chaparral beat Rock Canyon 36-26 for its first win this season.
In 8-man Hoehne beat Cripple Creek 60-0 tonight, but the game actually had to be halted in the second quarter as Cripple Creek was down to just seven players after injuries.
Don’t think there’s much doubt that Paonia is the No. 1 team in 1A at the moment. The Eagles, now 4-0, handled highly-ranked Centauri last week and topped 2A No. 10 Bayfield this week, 55-44.
Rifle had a good win over an unbeaten Eagle Valley squad, 35-12. 3A’s fourth-ranked Bears are now 4-0.
Another eye-popping point total: Roosevelt 62, Northridge 50 in 3A.
Is there a clear-cut favorite in Class 5A softball? Three weeks into the season, it doesn’t appear that way.
For the second week in a row, there is a new No. 1-ranked team. Dakota Ridge takes over atop CHSAANow.com’s poll, and follows Legacy (preseason) and Brighton (last week) as top teams in the classification.
The Eagles are 7-2-0 this season and went 2-1 last week with wins over Castle View and Erie. Dakota Ridge also beat Legend earlier this season, but did drop a game to Mountain Range last week.
Brighton dropped to No. 2 following a loss to Columbine last week. Legend moved up to No. 3 after going 3-0 last week with wins over Cherokee Trail, Eaglecrest and Grandview.
Mountain Range, meanwhile, moved up to No. 4 from No. 9. Legacy rounds out 5A’s top five teams.
Columbine is the lone newcomer in 5A, joining at No. 10.
Frederick (4A) and Strasburg (3A), the other two No. 1 teams, stayed the same this week.
4A added Windsor (No. 8) this week, while 3A added Brush (No. 9) and Skyline (No. 10).
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 select media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Chaparral is No. 5 in this week’s 5A volleyball poll. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Chaparral and Regis Jesuit both joined this week’s CHSAANow.com volleyball ranking in Class 5A.
Both teams were unranked in the preseason. Chaparral joined the poll at No. 5 after going 4-1 over the first two weeks of the season. Regis Jesuit, meanwhile, is No. 10 after going 3-2.
Rampart remained atop the 5A ranking. In fact, the only No. 1 team to change this week was in 3A, where Eaton takes over for Manitou Springs. Lewis Palmer (4A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A) all held firm in their respective top spots.
Mullen (No. 9) was the lone newcomer in 4A, while Gunnison (No. 10) joined 3A. The 2A poll added Swink (No. 6) and Hoehne (No. 9). Cheraw joined 1A at No. 10.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, polls will be 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.
Rock Canyon 9, Castle View 6, Highlands Ranch 6, Monarch 5, Legend 3, Mountain Vista 3, Douglas County 2, Lakewood 1.
Dropped out
Legend (8), Mountain Vista (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Lewis-Palmer (9)
1-0
90
1
2
Cheyenne Mountain
1-0
74
4
3
Ponderosa
0-0
66
2
4
Air Academy
0-1
55
3
5
Elizabeth
0-0
39
5
6
Pueblo West
0-1
37
8
7
Montrose
1-0
35
7
8
Longmont
0-0
32
6
9
Mullen
2-0
19
–
10
Valor Christian
1-1
16
9
Others receiving votes:
Thomas Jefferson 10, Windsor 10, Roosevelt 5, Steamboat Springs 3, Woodland Park 3, Holy Family 2, Niwot 2.
Dropped out
Thomas Jefferson (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Eaton (7)
2-0
97
2
2
Manitou Springs (3)
0-0
89
1
3
Valley
3-0
80
4
4
Platte Valley
2-0
62
5
5
Bayfield
1-1
61
3
6
University
0-1
36
6
7
Sterling
1-2
26
7
8
Lutheran
2-4
21
8
9
Colorado Springs Christian
0-0
16
10
10
Gunnison
0-1
12
–
Others receiving votes:
Pagosa Springs 10, Coal Ridge 9, St. Mary’s 8, Machebeuf 6, Lamar 5, Faith Christian 4, Frontier Academy 4, Centaurus 1, Grand Valley 1, Olathe 1, The Academy 1.
