There were a number of major movers as CHSAANow released the first football rankings of the regular season on Monday.
New Wheat Ridge football coach Dan Reardon. (Tracy Renck)
Pueblo East (Class 3A), Discovery Canyon (3A), and Wheat Ridge (4A) all made big jumps after being unranked in the preseason.
Pueblo East had the biggest climb, and wound up at No. 3 in the 3A poll after winning its first two games. The Eagles beat Longmont, No. 4Â in the preseason 4A poll, in Zero Week, then topped Coronado, the defending 3A champion which has since moved up to 4A, in Week 1.
Discovery Canyon is No. 6 in 3A this week. Last Thursday, the Thunder beat Silver Creek, the 3A runner-up a season ago which has also moved up to 4A.
And Wheat Ridge, also off to a 2-0 start under new coach Dan Reardon in 4A, has won its games by a combined 91-0. The Farmers are No. 5 in this week’s 4A poll.
In total, those moves were just a microcosm of the new rankings, which saw massive change. All seven polls got at least one new team, with 4A and 6-man getting four new members, and 3A adding three.
There’s also a new No. 1 team in 2A, where Brush takes over for Platte Valley.
The least amount of change occurred in 5A, where Valor Christian continues its stranglehold on the No. 1 spot following its physical win over Pomona. The Eagles received all 13 first-place votes.
Teams Nos. 2-4 stayed the same behind them: Cherry Creek (which beat Regis Jesuit), Cherokee Trail and Pomona. Grandview joined the top five this week, bumping up three places from its preseason No. 8 spot.
More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
Chatfield remained at No. 6, Fairview moved up three spots to No. 7, Regis Jesuit fell to No. 8 and Ralston Valley remained at No. 9.
The lone newcomer in 5A is Overland, which joined at No. 10.
In addition to Wheat Ridge in 4A, new teams include No. 8 Vista Ridge, No. 9 Falcon and No. 10 Fort Collins. Pine Creek remained atop that poll following its escape of Falcon’s upset bid.
Besides Pueblo East and Discovery Canyon, D’Evelyn also joined the 3A ranking. Lutheran stayed atop that poll after its overtime win in Texas last week.
2A added No. 9 Eaton, while 1A added No. 7 Meeker. Paonia is still No. 1 in 1A.
The 8-man ranking added No. 8 Akron and No. 9 Springfield. Dayspring Christian continues to lead that pack.
Finally, 6-man added No. 6 Prairie, No. 7 Pawnee, No. 8 Walsh and No. 10 Cotopaxi. Stratton/Liberty remained in the top spot.
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 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.
Lutheran and Lutheran South Academy meet at midfield after their game on Friday night. (Courtesy of Lutheran athletics)
Lutheran was destined to win its football game on Friday night.
Consider that while on the road in Texas, the Lions saw a 21-point lead erased; surrendered an onside kick in a tie game with less than three minutes to play; faced fourth down in overtime; and — finally — had to stop a two-point conversion attempt later in that overtime.
Lutheran lead 35-21 at halftime and seemed to be in relative control. The lead extended to 42-21 early in the third quarter, but then things got crazy.
Lutheran South Academy scored 21 unanswered points, the final touchdown coming with 48 seconds to play in the third quarter. Lutheran retook the lead at 49-42 in the fourth quarter, but Lutheran South answered with 2:58 remaining. It followed the score up with an onside kick, and recovered.
But Lutheran’s defense forced a punt, and it’s offense drove down to Lutheran South’s 35-yard-line before regulation eventually expired.
In overtime — unlike Colorado, Texas starts teams at the 25-yard-line — Lutheran had possession first but soon faced 4th-and-9. That’s when quarterback James Willis hit Joshua Clausen for a first down at the 10. Three plays later, Willis had a 3-yard score on the ground.
It was 56-49. But not for long. Lutheran South quickly scored a touchdown of its own and called timeout. Out of the break, Lutheran South went for two but was turned away.
Clausen had a monster game with 214 receiving yards and a score, and running back Jamil Bond had four rushing scores and 184 yards. Willis threw for 238 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for the winning score.
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Adams City 21, Thornton 8
Friday’s victory marked the first time since 2008 that Adams City had won a football game on the field.
The Eagles had lost 58-consecutive games on the field, though their loss to Niwot to open the 2011 season was later forfeit. In fact, dating to the 2006 season, Adams City was 4-96 heading into 2014.
Adams City made the move to Class 4A this season after years of playing in 5A.
Friday was also the first time since 2005 that the Eagles had won their opening game of the season. That year, they went 6-5.
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4A: (1) Pine Creek 34, Falcon 28 (OT)
(Photo: District 49)
All night, this game had the state buzzing: Is Falcon going to knock off the top-ranked and defending champion Eagles to start the season?
Well … no.
Falcon led 14-6 at halftime, 21-14 in the third quarter and 28-20 late in the fourth. But Pine Creek rallied to score a touchdown and convert for two with 1:02 to play in regulation.
The Eagles then stopped Falcon’s offense on its possession in overtime, and scored on its own possession a short while later.
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2A: (7) Strasburg 26, (1) Platte Valley 22
While the defending 4A champ might not have been toppled on Friday, the 2A champ was — on the road, no less.
Like many games across the state on Friday, the teams endured a lightning delay. And Strasburg coach Jeff Giger said it may have helped, especially with his team trailing by 10 at the time.
“We were able to regroup,” he told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show. “I thought the kids just battled through it. I can’t say enough about them. They worked so hard to put themselves in this position.”
Giger added that the win may be a springboard, of sorts.
“We’ve got to take it in stride, it is a season-opener, but at the same time, playing in the Patriot League as long as we did, we’ve never beaten those guys. So for the kids to get out there and do that, I think it just helps confidence. We think we have a pretty good team this year, and it’s a huge stepping stone for us starting off the season.”
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4A-3A: (2) Montrose 28, (2) Delta 21
Montrose picked up yet another big win to start the season. A week after beating rival Grand Junction, the Indians had to rally and beat Delta.
“Delta’s a heck of a team, so I was happy to get out of there with a win,” Montrose coach Todd Casebier told the Scoreboard Show.
Delta hung tough most of the game, thanks to its offense. So Montrose’s D stepped up.
“Our defense has got to carry us sometimes, and they did tonight in the second half,” Casebier said.
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1A: (1) Paonia 20, (7) Monte Vista 14
The defending 1A champion had a tough matchup to start the season, but prevailed.
“It was a fun game,” Paonia coach Brent McRae told the Scoreboard Show. “They played a heck of a ballgame. Our kids fought, their kids fought. … It was a fun night.”
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5A: (3) Cherokee Trail 35, ThunderRidge 7
Izaiah Lottie rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns, Quincy Voss had 102 and a score and Cherokee Trail cruised to a win.
Quarterback Connor Nantkes also threw a touchdown for the Cougars, who led 21-7 at halftime.
Zeke Johnson had 83 rushing yards in the loss for ThunderRidge. Quarterback Tristan Eve hit Alex O’Reilly on a 39-yard touchdown.
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Notes
Rocky Mountain kicker Alex Kinney had a 56-yard field goal in his team’s 34-7 win over Brighton. Kinney is a CU recruit.
Fossil Ridge beat Boulder 24-14 tonight, and it was apparently the first time in school history that the team had won its opener.
Another long winless streak came to an end on Friday night. Battle Mountain, coming off of consecutive 0-10 seasons, beat Middle Park 58-0 to capture its first game since Nov. 4, 2011. The losing streak spanned 21 games.
Dakota Ridge beat Taravella (Fla.) 26-3, but the two teams didn’t finish their game until close to 2 a.m. in Florida because of a late kick caused by a lightning delay in an earlier game. They actually didn’t kick off until 11:20 p.m. local time. The win improved Colorado teams to 10-4 against out-of-state competition, including a 6-1 mark on Friday. They are 10-3 on the road.
Legacy won the Mayor’s Cup by virtue of a 21-6 win over Broomfield.
Can’t wait to see this boxscore: Holy Family 66, Mountain View 47. Still, the combined 113 points doesn’t even crack the top-10 all time. The record is held by Hugo and Vona (mostly Hugo, though) at 182 points. Hugo beat Vona 176-6 in 1930.
Valor Christian is the preseason No. 1 in 5A. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Defending champions head six of football’s seven preseason CHSAANow.com rankings, which were unveiled Monday morning.
The lone exception is Lutheran in Class 3A — which saw both its champion (Coronado) and runner-up (Silver Creek) move up to 4A this cycle.
In fact, that ranking was also the most split of any other, with both Lutheran and preseason No. 2 Delta both getting three first-place votes. Lutheran got the No. 1 nod with 65 total points. Delta had 53 points.
Lutheran was eliminated in the first round of the 3A playoffs last season, while Delta made the semifinals. Lutheran is entering its first season under new coach Blair Hubbard, formerly of Faith Christian.
Other preseason No. 1 teams are Platte Valley (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Stratton/Liberty (6-man).
The rankings are voted upon by coaches and select media members, and are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, rankings will be released each Monday.
ThunderRidge 31, Overland 16, Monarch 7, Legend 5, Douglas County 3, Grand Junction 3, Mullen 2, Doherty 1, Fountain-Fort Carson 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Pine Creek (11)
110
2
Montrose
81
3
Pueblo South
75
4
Longmont
67
5
Denver South
53
6
Broomfield
43
7
Standley Lake
36
8
Dakota Ridge
28
9
Pueblo Centennial
26
10
Windsor
25
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo West 18, Vista Ridge 17, Loveland 13, Fort Collins 5, Coronado 3, Palmer Ridge 2, Wheat Ridge 2, Falcon 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Lutheran (3)
65
2
Delta (3)
53
3
Holy Family
52
4
Rifle (1)
40
5
Roosevelt
33
6
Evergreen
25
7
The Classical Academy
19
8
Palisade
16
9
Lewis-Palmer (1)
15
10
Vista PEAK
11
Others receiving votes:
Fort Morgan 9, Northridge 9, Pueblo East 7, Mead 4, Conifer 3, Discovery Canyon 3, Erie 3, Frederick 3, Woodland Park 2, Eagle Valley 1, Pueblo Central 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Platte Valley (5)
66
2
Faith Christian (1)
64
3
Brush (1)
54
4
Manitou Springs
41
5
Kent Denver
38
6
Florence
31
7
Strasburg
24
8
Bennett
23
9
Lamar
16
10
Olathe
9
Others receiving votes:
Gunnison 7, La Junta 4, Sterling 4, Eaton 2, Middle Park 1, Moffat County 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Paonia (4)
63
2
Centauri (2)
58
3
Limon (1)
53
4
Buena Vista
49
5
Resurrection Christian
40
6
Burlington
36
7
Monte Vista
30
8
Yuma
13
9
Wray
10
10
Cedaredge
8
Others receiving votes:
Platte Canyon 6, Colorado Springs Christian 5, Meeker 4, Holyoke 3, Hotchkiss 3, Rye 2, Front Range Christian 1, Wiggins 1.
Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 17 are below.
