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.
It’s not as though Grandview was flying under the radar. The Wolves, after all, were ranked No. 3 in this week’s Class 5A CHSAANow.com poll — and have been ranked since the preseason.
But Friday’s 24-6 win over No. 6 Cherry Creek was an announcement, of sorts: We’re to be reckoned with.
Grandview led 17-6 at the half and added a late score off a blocked punt that was recovered by Keifer Glau. Quarterback Cody Summers had a game, throwing for a score and rushing for another.
If they weren’t already, the Wolves, now 7-0, are a legitimate threat for the Class 5A title. They play Overland next week. Win that, and the season finale with Valor Christian could be for the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs.
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3A: (6) Roosevelt 34, (3) Holy Family 26
In a back-and-forth game which featured six ties or lead changes, Roosevelt pulled away in the fourth quarter to win.
Christian Majszak had four touchdowns to lead Roosevelt.
“It’s that time of year again,” coach Noland Eastin told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show. “We better start strapping our chinstraps on a little tighter, because that was a heck of a battle out there, and it could have went either way.
“It was back-and-forth,” he added. “It was just one of those epic battles. … The dust was flying around, kids were hanging in there. Their kids were battling. It was jsut a fun night of football. It was a good throw-back night.”
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3A: Palisade 18, (3) Rifle 10
It’s a big upset that also does wonders for Palisade’s playoffs hopes. The Bulldogs improved to 5-2.
The team teams were knotted at 10 at the break, and again after three quarters before Caleb Clarkson scored the winning touchdown on a 9-yard run with 1:45 to play. According to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Palisade had actually stopped Rifle on fourth-and-2 at their own 38 prior to the winning drive.
“The only way you’re going to compete against Rifle is you have to match their discipline and toughness, and that’s what we’re built on,” Palisade coach Joe Ramunno told the paper.
Easton Wood also had a touchdown pass to John Goff for Palisade, while Ty Leyba had a 56-yard touchdown run for Rifle.
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5A: (1) Valor Christian 17, Cherokee Trail 7
The top-ranked Eagles grinded out a win against yet another tough Centennial League foe.
Quarterback Dylan McCaffrey threw for a touchdown and rushed for another.
Brian Dawkins Jr. and Eric Lee Jr. both had interceptions at key moments.
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3A: (7) Delta 39, (10) Glenwood Springs 10
Delta scored the game’s final 29 points in the top-10 showdown.
Tristan Brown and Damon Jensen each had two touchdowns for Delta, running in place of a cramped Jonny Ponce, according to the Daily Sentinel.
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2A: Sterling 21, (9) Eaton 14
The Tigers pulled off the upset after scoring the game’s final 14 points.
“We kind of came in at the half and had to make some quick adjustments to some of the things they took advantage of,” Sterling coach Rob Busmente told the Scoreboard Show. “We regrouped well at halftime and came out and made some of those adjustments, and we were able to go out and perform.”
Sterling plays at No. 1 Brush next week.
“This is the Patriot League,” Busmenete said. “There’s never a week off. There’s always a tough game waiting for you on Friday.”
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2A: La Junta 21, (5) Florence 20
La Junta stopped No. 5 Florence’s two-point conversion attempt with 20 seconds to play to preserve the win in 2A.
“It was a great stop for us,” coach Clint Buderus told the Scoreboard Show. “The kids came through in the clutch and found a way to win.”
La Junta has won three games in a row after starting 1-3.
“We’re young. We’ve got 10 or 11 sophomores playing for us,” Buderus said. “We just had to get them some experience … and just had to get them rolling, get some confidence. This is a big win for us, it’s just a, ‘We can do it.’”
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.
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.
Ranked football teams had an outstanding weekend last week, and as a result, there wasn’t a whole lot of movement in the latest CHSAANow.com rankings on Monday.
Top-10 teams went a combined 54-11 last week, and only two of those losses came to unranked foes.
So it follows that all seven No. 1 teams remained the same this week. Leading their respective rankings are Valor Christian (Class 5A), Pine Creek (4A), Lutheran (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
There wasn’t a whole lot of change elsewhere.
In 5A, the teams ranked Nos. 1-6 — Valor, Pomona, Grandview, Ralston Valley, Fairview and Regis Jesuit — didn’t budge.
The classification did add at Rocky Mountain at No. 10, and Overland jumped Cherry Creek for the No. 7 spot, but it was a quiet week otherwise. Regis Jesuit remains No. 9.
Pomona remained ranked No. 2 in 5A this week. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
The 4A poll added Greeley West at No. 8. The biggest mover there was Fort Collins bumping up to No. 4 this week.
Palisade rejoined the 3A poll at No. 10, while 2A added No. 10 Montezuma-Cortez. Platte Canyon (also No. 10) was 1A’s newcomer, and Flagler (another No. 10) joined the 6-man ranks.
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.