Three defending state baseball champions are starting the season right where they left off. In the initial CHSAANow.com baseball rankings, Cherokee Trail, Valor Christian and Holly come in at No. 1 in their respective classes.
The Cougars claim the top spot of the 5A rankings with six first-place votes. Centennial League foe, Cherry Creek, sits right behind them at No. 2. The Bruins are looking to end a four-year championship drought in 2017.
Last year’s runner-up, Rocky Mountain, starts the season at No. 3.
Outside of the top three teams, only Rock Canyon (No. 7) and Pine Creek (No. 10) received first-place votes to start the season.
(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
In 4A, Valor Christian, led by new coach Brian Bonn, claimed nine first-place votes to start the season with No. 3 Pueblo West being the only other ranked team to receive one.
Mountain View will start the year at No. 2 with Windsor and Longmont rounding out the top five.
Erie takes the No. 8 spot, meaning that the final four teams that remained in the 4A state tournament on the final weekend will come into the season ranked and carrying high expectations.
University will start the season as the No. 1 team in 3A. The Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals last year before losing 3-2 to Manitou Springs, who finished as the state runner-up.
The Mustangs enter the season at No. 7.
Delta, a 4A team a year ago, sits right behind Manitou at No. 8. Defending champion, Fatih Christian sits high in the rankings at No. 2 as they hope to defend their title.
Paonia enters the season as the No. 1 team in 2A. It’s the same seed the Eagles took into last year’s state tournament where they were upset by Limon in the semifinals.
Heritage 21, Broomfield 14, Mountain Vista 14, Dakota Ridge 12, Legend 11, Grand Junction Central 9, Chaparral 4, Legacy 4, Castle View 3, Chatfield 2, Douglas County 2, Denver East 1, Fairview 1, Grand Junction 1, Monarch 1, Prairie View 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Valor Christian (9)
0-0
99
2
Mountain View
0-0
78
3
Pueblo West (1)
0-0
67
4
Windsor
0-0
57
5
Longmont
0-0
42
6
Silver Creek
0-0
35
7
Canon City
0-0
32
8
Erie
0-0
28
9
Air Academy
0-0
24
10
Denver North
0-0
19
Others receiving votes:
Northridge 18, Evergreen 8, D’Evelyn 6, Lewis-Palmer 6, Wheat Ridge 6, Green Mountain 5, Pueblo South 4, The Classical Academy 4, Palmer Ridge 3, Discovery Canyon 2, Fort Morgan 2, Roosevelt 2, Thompson Valley 2, Pueblo Centennial 1, Pueblo County 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
University (6)
0-0
101
2
Faith Christian (2)
0-0
91
3
Lamar (1)
0-0
90
4
La Junta (1)
0-0
61
5
Valley
0-0
54
6
Eaton
0-0
51
7
Manitou Springs
0-0
49
8
Delta (1)
0-0
33
9
St. Mary’s
0-0
31
10
Bayfield
0-0
27
Others receiving votes:
Kent Denver 25, Colorado Springs Christian 16, Peak to Peak 10, Brush 6, Gunnison 6, Colorado Academy 5, Buena Vista 2, Lutheran 1, Resurrection Christian 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Paonia (5)
0-0
81
2
Dawson (2)
0-0
65
3
Dayspring Christian
0-0
49
4
Sedgwick County
0-0
46
5
Hotchkiss
0-0
37
6
Limon
0-0
35
7
Rocky Ford
0-0
31
8
Akron (2)
0-0
30
9
County Line
0-0
29
10
Sargent
0-0
18
Others receiving votes:
Crowley County 15, Swink 12, Peyton 10, Front Range Christian 9, Haxtun 9, Del Norte 5, Center 4, Denver Christian 3, Yuma 3, Clear Creek 2, Burlington 1, Gilpin County 1.
The 2016 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
[divider]
Class 5A
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Player of the year: Dylan McCaffrey, Valor Christian
Marcus McElroy had three touchdowns for the Mustangs.
[divider]
(9) Holy Family 43, (8) Mead 35
Holy Family picked up a big top-10 win this season that moved the Tigers into sole possession of first place in the Tri-Valley League.
“We talked about what it would take to put ourselves in a situation to win a league championship, and they responded really well,” Holy Family coach Mike Gabriel told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “It was a great battle.”
In fact, Mead had one final drive that Holy Family had to turn away.
“With a few seconds left, they still had a shot,” Gabriel said. “Our kids responded to put it away.”
[divider]
3A: (9) Sterling 27, (6) Weld Central 13
Not only did Sterling hand Weld Central its first loss this season, the Tigers also snapped their 12-game winning streak, which was the longest in the state.
“It was good battle across the board, two teams that kind of wanted it pretty bad,” coach Rob Busmente told the Scoreboard Show. “It came down to two plays that we were fortunate enough to be able to capitalize on.”
Sterling is now 5-3 following an 0-3 start, and sits in first place in its league, the Patriot East, at 4-0.
“It’s been good, it’s been fun,” Busmente said. “The kids have been showing a lot of resiliency and a lot of perseverance to go through some of those things. We ran a pretty tough gauntlet there at the beginning with some of those top teams.
“We were able to come back and regroup and put a pretty good push here toward the end,” he added. “Hopefully we can keep riding this momentum as we’re riding out the season.”
[divider]
2A: (7) Bayfield 23, (5) Delta 7
Bayfield broke open a close game on a pick-six early in the fourth quarter, and is now 6-2.
The game was tied at 7 at halftime.
“I thought our team came prepared to play,” coach Gary Heide told the Scoreboard Show. “We just felt that if we stayed with it play by play by play, that we would be the one to make the plays in the second half.”
“They are one tough team,” Heide added of Delta. “They are going to be reckoned with in the playoffs.”
[divider]
Notables
Longmont Christian beat Mountain Valley 71-20, snapping an 18-game losing streak that dated to the 2013 season. (Longmont Christian didn’t field a team last season.) Stay turned here as QB Luke Puchino broke the state passing record last week.
3A No. 1 Discovery Canyon very narrowly avoided a massive upset with a 35-34 win against Canon City. The Thunder got a 99-yard kickoff return for a score from Josh Tomjack in the game, but had to rally from down 31-21 in the third quarter to win.
Lakewood’s Brock Miller also had a 99-yard kickoff return for a score against Poudre. Lakewood edged Poudre 35-33.
No. 3 Meeker won a big clash in 1A by topping No. 2 Paonia 12-7. “It was a defensive struggle most of the night,” Cowboys coach Shane Phelan told the Scoreboard Show. “It’s been a long drought against Paonia. … Our kids just played hard. We’ve got a bunch of good, tough hard-nosed kids.”
Pueblo West recently dropped from the 4A football rankings, but the Cyclones may soon be back: They upset No. 8 Mesa Ridge 31-17.
1A No. 6 Peyton is now 8-0 following a 35-8 win over Buena Vista. “We’ve been talking about it since June, about how good this football team could be,” coach Richard Deems told the Scoreboard Show. “The kids have grasped it.”
8-man No. 3 Akron beat No. 8 Haxtun on a Hail Mary, 48-43.
There were two top-10 matchups in 6-man: No. 10 Eads upset No. 4 Cheyenne Wells 36-34, and No. 7 Hi-Plains knocked off No. 3 Stratton/Liberty 61-50.
In 1A, Olathe trailed Hotchkiss 21-0 in the second quarter, but rallied to win 28-21 in overtime.
Silver Creek moved up to No. 2 in 3A football. (@SilverCreekAD/Twitter)
Silver Creek is playing its best football at the right time.
And thanks to a 28-14 win over Fort Morgan on Friday, the Raptors jumped to No. 2 in the Class 3A CHSAANow.com football rankings.
They are now firmly entrenched behind Discovery Canyon, which held on to its No. 1 spot thanks to a thrilling win over Lewis-Palmer.
Rifle was the only new team to break into the 3A poll, coming in at No. 10.
Pomona hung on to the top spot in the 5A rankings and Mullen was able to stay at No. 2 thanks a blocked extra point in overtime that gave the Mustangs a 28-27 win over No. 5 Columbine.
The rest of the 5A rankings remained fairly consistent as no new teams broke into the poll.
In 4A, Denver South, Chatfield and Pine Creek all held their spots at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.
Mesa Ridge made the biggest jump of the week, gaining two spots to come in at No. 8. Greeley West (No. 9) and Monarch (No. 10) are the two new teams in the 4A poll.
La Junta remains the undisputed No. 1 team in 2A, receiving every first-place vote in the process.
There were no new teams in the 2A rankings this week.
Strasburg hangs to the No. 1 spot in 1A with Paonia still hanging right behind them at No. 2.
Meeker was able to overtake Platte Canyon as the No. 3 team in the rankings with both teams still undefeated on the year.
The 1A poll also had no new teams this week.
Thanks to receiving eight of 12 first-place votes, Sargent is still the No. 1 team in the 8-man rankings.
Akron jumped one spot to come in at No. 3 and at No. 9, West Grand is the only new addition to the 8-man poll.
Fleming edged out Kit Carson by one vote to hang on to the top spot in the 6-man rankings.
Stratton/Liberty still hangs tight at No. 3 as each of the top three teams in the poll remain undefeated.
There were no new teams in the 6-man poll.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Resurrection Christian climbed a spot to No. 2 and Delta made the biggest jump on the week, gaining two spots to land at No. 6.
Strasburg remains the No. 1 team in 1A with Paonia hanging on to the No. 2 spot.
Cedaredge gained the most ground with a three-spot jump to come in at No. 6 this week.
By a one-point margin, Sargent is still the top team in 8-man. Sedgwick County comes in at No. 2 with an equal number of first-place votes as the Farmers.
Akron jumped two spots to land at No. 4 while Hoehne (No. 6) and Pikes Peak Christian (No. 9) each moved up one spot from the last set of rankings.
Fleming keeps a firm hold on 6-man’s No. 1 spot with Kit Carson and Stratton/Liberty coming in at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.
Newcomer Hi-Plains joins the 6-man poll at No. 9.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Stratton/Liberty pulled off one of the biggest comebacks of the 2016 football season on Friday night.
The Knighted Eagles trailed Cheyenne Wells 41-8 at one point in the second quarter, but scored the game’s final 41 points to rally and get a huge top-5 win in 6-man, 49-41.
“A win like this could carry a team a long way,” Stratton/Liberty coach Toby Kechter told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “It’s just the belief that they can do anything. They stay together as a team, don’t doubt each other or get mad at each other.”
The Knighted Eagles scored just before halftime to cut it to 41-16, and then really came out firing in the third quarter.
“They had the momentum the whole first half, and we got it back and our guys started believing and it just snowballed after that,” Kechter said. “There wasn’t no stopping us.”
The game, Kechter said, was a “tail of two halves. I mean, we couldn’t do anything right the first half, and they couldn’t do nothing wrong. Then it switched the other way in the second half.”
Stratton/Liberty tied the game up at 41 with a safety in the fourth quarter. It then held Cheyenne Wells and got the ball back.
“We were just going to try and kick a field goal to win, but we snuck her in on a fullback dive, and we got the win,” Kechter said. “It was pretty exciting.”
Pueblo East led 10-0 at halftime, and pushed it to 17-0 with 6:56 to play in the third quarter.
Durango then went on a tear and rallied to take the 20-17 lead by scoring 20 unanswered points. Its last score came with 3:02 to play, but then Pueblo East had a clutch drive to go take the lead and secure the win.
[divider]
4A: Monarch 24, (10) Skyline 13
(Josh Watt/CHSAANow.com)
The Coyotes handed the Falcons their first loss of the season after jumping out to a 17-0 halftime lead.
“We had quite a few offensive snaps,” Monarch coach Phil Bravo told the Scoreboard Show. “When we know we can do that, we’re going to keep someone’s offense frustrated and off the field.”
Monarch moved to 3-3 with the win, while Skyline is now 5-1.
“We’ve been talking about it all week long, about … playing a team that just doesn’t know how to lose. They really haven’t,” Bravo said. “At 5-0, I mean, they just don’t understand what that loss column is all about. And a team that doesn’t know how to lose refuses to lose.
“All in all, we played really well against a good football team,” Bravo said.
[divider]
5A: (7) Regis Jesuit 36, Legacy 8
Regis Jesuit scored the game’s final 29 points en route to a 36-9 win over Legacy.
The seventh-ranked Raiders, now 5-1, had a monster second half to come back to beat the Lightning, who dropped to 4-2.
Legacy had leads of 3-0 and 9-7 in the first half, with the second lead holding up at halftime.
But Regis Jesuit came out firing in the second half, including an early TD which game the Raiders a 15-9 lead, as well as a long interception return that pushed it to 22-9.
With the win, Regis moved to 1-0 in the new Mt. Antero Conference.
The Patriots ran out to a hot start, and never really looked back in an upset performance that made a few dents in the record book.
Hi-Plains/Flagler led 48-16 after the first quarter. The 48 points were the fourth-most in a single quarter, and the 64 combined points were the second-most in a quarter by two teams.
At halftime, it was 64-16. The 64 points were tied for the sixth-most in a half by one team.
In the end, the Patriots cruised to the 82-16 win.
[divider]
Notables
After an 0-3 start, 2A No. 10 Sterling won its third game in a row, beating Platte Valley 27-18. “They bounced back nice off the bye and we were able to take that week to get back to the basics, get back to some fundamentals, and just back to believing in ball again,” coach Rob Busmente told the Scoreboard Show. “The kids have responded really well.”
Holyoke upset 1A No. 6 Limon, 21-14.
In 8-man, No. 2 Sedgwick County rolled past No. 8 Haxtun, 56-6.
Another top-10 showdown in 8-man turned out to be pretty one-sided as No. 6 Akron beat No. 4 Merino 45-0.
In 3A, Evergreen is now 4-2 after beating Skyview 33-7. “I was very happy with the defense. We played physical,” coach Rob Molholm told the Scoreboard Show. “The defense played very consistent tonight, and very aggressive.”
Defending 1A champion Buena Vista has responded to a two-game losing streak with two straight wins. The Demons beat Colorado Springs Christian 34-29. “We gave away a few games, and now that should be far away from them,” Buena Vista coach Matt Flavin told the Scoreboard Show. “With this younger team, they just need to go out there and play and enjoy it and have fun. That’s kind of what we pushed this week.”
West Grand beat Plateau Valley 30-6, giving Chris Brown his state-leading 311th career win.
Kent Denver and coach Scott Yates (308 wins) play Ridge View Academy on Saturday.
5A’s Cherry Creek, now 3-3, answered a few doubters about their No. 10 ranking with a dominant 42-7 win over Fossil Ridge (now 4-2).
Pueblo West is ranked No. 9 in 4A this week. (Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)
The Class 4A CHSAANow.com football rankings has some fresh faces with the release of this week’s rankings, and it’s happening at the right time.
Pueblo West comes into the poll at No. 9 and Skyline is right behind them at No. 10.
With a 28-0 win over Niwot on Friday, the Falcons remain undefeated on the year and received enough support from the voters to be regarded as a top-10 team.
The Cyclones have won three-straight games after surrendering their first two of the season. Wins against Pueblo South and Dakota Ridge got them votes, but it was the  57-20 win over Coronado on Saturday that pushed them into the poll.
Denver South hung on to the top spot in 4A, taking 16 of 17 first-place votes.
Coming off a bye, Pomona hung on to the No. 1 position in 5A, but Mullen was able to jump one spot to No. 2.
Fairview (No. 6) and Doherty (No. 9) also jumped one spot from a week ago. Despite coming up short against No. 8 Valor Christian last Thursday, Cherry Creek stayed in the rankings at No. 10 meaning no new teams broke into the 5A rankings.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Discovery Canyon made a statement against Vista Ridge Friday night and as a result, hang on to the No. 1 spot in 3A.
After snagging a couple of first-place votes, Lewis-Palmer jumped to No. 3, one spot above where they were a week ago.
Longmont made the big 3A jump of the week, leaping three spots to come in at No. 7.
There were no new teams in the 3A rankings this week.
In 2A, both La Junta (No. 1) and The Classical Academy (No. 2) maintained their spots after a thrilling showdown Friday night that saw the Tigers come away with the late win.
La Junta’s schedule does not get any easier this week as they host Manitou Springs, which jumped to No. 4 after a homecoming win over Lamar.
At No. 10, sterling is the only new team to break into the 2A poll.
Strasburg hangs on to the No. 1 spot in 1A as all 10 teams from last week’s rankings remained in the this week’s poll.
Peyton made the big jump of the week to come in at No. 7, two spots better than they were previously ranked.
In 8-man, Sargent took five of 13 first-place votes to hang on to the top spot.
Merino made a three-spot leap to come in at No. 4.
There were no new teams in the 8-man rankings.
Still undefeated, Fleming holds strong as the No. 1 team in 6-man with Kit Carson hanging tight at No. 2.
Cotopaxi (No. 5) and Peetz (No. 6) each jumped three spots from last week’s rankings.
At No. 10, Genoa-Hugo is the only new team in the 6-man rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
La Junta, newly-minted as the No. 1 team in Class 2A, beat No. 2 The Classical Academy 26-21 on a Hail Mary to end the game.
La Junta grabbed a 6-0 lead with 5 minutes left in the first quarter, and things that way until midway through the third quarter.
TCA went up 7-6 with 6:36 remaining in the third, and expanded the lead to 14-6 early in the fourth quarter after recovering a bad snap on a punt.
That’s when things got wild.
La Junta made it 14-12 in with six minutes to play, but had a two-point conversion called back because of a penalty. The Tigers took an 18-14 lead with 1:20 play, and that lead turned out to be brief. That’s because TCA drove down the field to go up 21-18 with 37 seconds to play.
All of this, of course, just served to set the stage for La Junta’s game-winning Hail Mary.
This was the Tigers’ second huge win in a week. La Junta beat then-No. 1 Kent Denver last week in another top-2 showdown.
[divider]
3A: (10) Longmont 46, (7) Holy Family 35
Longmont scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to put this back-and-forth game away.
The team teams were tied at 8 after the opening frame, and Longmont held just a 23-21 lead at halftime. After a Trojans’ field goal, Holy Family went up on a passing score from Stone Samaras to Kyle Helbig.
The Tigers pushed it to 35-26 on the first play of the fourth quarter, but that’s when Longmont turned it on and scored the game’s final 20 points.
“We knew that if it came down to the fourth quarter, we were going to do the right things this time that we needed to do to get the win,” Longmont linebacker Austin Hassler told BoCoPreps.com after the win.
[divider]
3A: Skyview 11, Lincoln 5 (OT)
This was a weird one.
Skyview grabbed an early 2-0 lead on a first-half safety. Lincoln then went up 3-2 on a field goal with 5:23 remaining in the third quarter.
The Lancers expanded that lead to 5-2 with a safety of their own with 1:57 remaining in the third, only to see Skyview tie it on this field goal with 44 seconds left:
Skyline is now 5-0, and off to its best start in more than a decade after a 28-0 win over Niwot.
The Falcons were already receiving votes in this week’s 4A rankings, and could slide into the poll on Monday.
It’s quite the turnaround for the program: Skyline has won five games in a season just once since 2014.
“We’ve got great kids, and they’re coachable, and they buy into the mentality and the scheme and the system, and once you get buy-in, good things happen,” Skyline coach Michael Silva told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “That’s what they’ve done and they’ve showed that they have the mentality, regardless of the situation, that they’re going to find a way to win. That’s tough to do, because of our history.
“These guys have managed to find a way, and trust in me and my staff, and it’s been a fun ride so far. And we don’t want it to stop.”
[divider]
Notables
Sand Creek broke a 20-game losing streak with a 14-8 win over Air Academy. That had been the longest drought in the state. It was the Scorpions’ first win since Sept. 19, 2014, which also came over Air Academy. That was a wild 68-62 win which set all kinds of records.
On the other side of the coin, 2A No. 8 Weld Central has now won 10 consecutive games, the longest such streak in the state. The Rebels, now 5-0 this season, beat Valley 28-21.
An update on the all-time wins list: Kent Denver beat Elizabeth 39-20 in an afternoon game. That gave coach Scott Yates his 308th career win. West Grand and coach Chris Brown beat Hayden 53-18. That’s Brown’s 310th career win.
Berthoud connected on a Hail Mary at halftime of its game with Thompson Valley. But TV won, 28-13, to notch its first win this season (1-4).
There was also a first-half Hail Mary in Rangeview/Gateway. Rangeview’s Jaelin Odegard hit Josh Hollins from near midfield (video here). Rangeview went on to win 52-7.
Dayspring Christian had another wild game. This time, 8-man’s No. 2 team beat No. 8 Haxtun 55-53.
A big game in 8-man: No. 3 Sedgwick County took care of No. 4 Akron 46-8.
In 6-man, No. 3 Stratton/Liberty beat No. 5 Arickaree/Woodlin 54-28.
Another top-10 6-man game: No. 8 Cotopaxi upset No. 6 La Veta.
Eaglecrest is now 5-0 after a 42-20 win over Bear Creek. The Raptors, No. 4 in 5A, are off to their best start in more than a decade.
Fairview, ranked No. 7 in 5A, is also 5-0 after beating Arapahoe 48-7.
In 1A, No. 2 Paonia beat No. 7 Cedaredge 35-21.
Florence upset 2A No. 10 Salida 22-13. That is actually the lone upset of an unranked team over a ranked team so far in Week 5. Ranked teams are a combined 34-1 against unranked opponents through Friday’s games this week.
Denver South is the new No. 1 team in 4A football. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
To the victors go the spoils.
After wins last week, Denver South now sits atop the Class 4A CHSAANow.com football rankings while La Junta takes the top spot in the 2A poll.
Discovery Canyon also jumps to No. 1 in the 3A poll despite previous No. 1 Fort Morgan not losing this week. Strasburg had a similar fortune this week, taking the No. 1 spot in 1A despite Paonia winning this weekend.
The Rebels got a hard-fought win over Heritage on Saturday and with Chatfield’s loss to Columbine earlier in the week, they traded places this week in the rankings.
Pine Creek (No. 4) and Ponderosa (No. 7) each jumped two spots from last week’s poll.
At No. 10, Mesa Ridge is the only new team in the 4A rankings.
La Junta is the new No. 1 team in 2A. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
After a win over Pueblo Central, The Classical Academy jumps to No. 2 and will host No. 1 La Junta on Friday.
D’Evelyn (No. 5) and Manitou Springs (No. 6) each jumped two spots from a week ago. Florence comes in at No. 10 as the only new team in the 2A rankings.
Pomona hangs on to the top spot in 5A thanks to a comeback win over Valor Christian on Friday night.
Grandview made the biggest jump in the poll, ending up at No. 5 thanks to a big win over Cherry Creek.
Doherty comes in at No. 10 and is the only newcomer to the 5A rankings.
In 3A, the Discovery Canyon and Fort Morgan traded places at the top of the poll with the Thunder coming in as the new No. 1.
Thanks to a huge win over Longmont, Mead arrives to the 3A poll as the only newcomer, taking the No. 9 spot this week.
Despite Paonia receiving eight of 15 first-place votes, it’s Strasburg who lands at No. 1 in 1A. The Eagles fell only one spot to land at No. 2.
Meeker made a two-spot jump this week, landing at No. 5.
Peyton was the only new team to jump into the 1A poll, landing at No. 9.
A 22-20 win over Norwood keeps Sargent in the top spot of the 8-man poll.
The top seven teams overall from last week’s rankings held their position this week.
At No. 9 and 10 respectively, Pikes Peak Christian and Soroco are the two new teams in the 8-man poll.
Fleming hangs on to the No. 1 spot in 6-man with Kit Carson holding firm at No. 2.
North Park jumped three spots to land at No. 7 this week.
There is one newcomer in the 6-man poll with Peetz landing at No. 9.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
University 19, Valley 9, Platte Valley 7, Gunnison 6, Bishop Machbeuf 4, Sterling 3, Eaton 2, The Academy 2, Alamosa 1, Faith Christian 1.
Dropped out
Platte Valley (10).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Strasburg (7)
4-0
141
2
W
2
Paonia (8)
4-0
137
1
W
3
Platte Canyon
4-0
115
3
W
4
Bennett
3-1
104
5
W
5
Meeker
4-0
83
7
W
6
Limon (1)
3-1
73
4
L
7
Cedaredge
4-0
62
8
W
8
Crowley County
3-1
39
9
Bye
9
Peyton
4-0
33
–
W
10
Burlington
2-2
27
10
L
Others receiving votes:
Buena Vista 10, Dolores 9, Clear Creek 8, Holyoke 8, Hotchkiss 8, Rye 5, Colorado Springs Christian 4, Highland 4, Olathe 4, Ellicott 3, Centauri 2, Front Range Christian 1.
Dropped out
Buena Vista (6).
8-man
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sargent (5)
4-0
119
1
W
2
Dayspring Christian (6)
4-0
104
2
W
3
Sedgwick County (1)
3-1
84
3
W
4
Akron (1)
3-1
79
4
W
5
Norwood
3-1
73
5
L
6
Hoehne
2-2
67
6
L
7
Merino
4-0
64
7
W
8
Haxtun
4-0
48
9
W
9
Pikes Peak Christian
3-1
15
–
W
10
Soroco
3-1
14
–
Bye
Others receiving votes:
Mancos 12, Sangre de Cristo 11, West Grand 8, Plateau Valley 6, Holly 5, Wiley 5, Justice 2.
Dropped out
Sangre de Cristo (8), West Grand (10).
6-man
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Fleming (9)
4-0
112
1
W
2
Kit Carson (2)
4-0
106
2
W
3
Stratton/Liberty
4-0
81
4
W
4
Cheyenne Wells
3-1
60
5
L
5
Arickaree/Woodlin
2-1
55
6
Bye
6
La Veta
3-0
54
3
Bye
7
North Park
3-1
41
10
W
8
Cotopaxi
4-0
40
8
W
9
Peetz
3-1
32
–
W
10
Eads
3-1
31
9
W
Others receiving votes:
Hi-Plains 14, Sierra Grande 12, Cheraw 8, Genoa-Hugo 8, Otis 5, Pawnee 2.
Fort Morgan is the new No. 1 team in 3A football. (Brandon Boles/Fort Morgan Times)
There is a new top dog in the Class 3A CHSAANow.com football rankings.
Following a loss to Discovery Canyon — which lands at No. 2 this week — Pueblo East fell out of the No. 1 spot and Fort Morgan took its place.
No new teams made their way into the 3A rankings, but there was plenty of movement as Lewis-Palmer (No. 5), Palisade (No. 6) and Silver Creek (No. 7) all climbed two spots.
The 1A rankings also saw a new team land in the No. 1 spot as Paonia now sits atop the poll. The Eagles topped Ridge View Academy to move to 3-0 and Buena Vista fell out of the top spot with a 16-8 loss to Platte Canyon.
The Demons come in at No. 6 this week.
Burlington is the only newcomer to the 1A poll, coming in at No. 10 this week.
A 57-0 win over Fowler helped Sargent move into the top spot in the 8-man poll with former No. 1 Sedgwick County falling to No. 3.
That was the only big change in 8-man as there were no newcomer to those rankings.
In 5A, Pomona remains and No. 1 with Mullen still on its heels at No. 2.
Columbine is up to No. 3 in Class 5A. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Columbine jumped one spot to No. 3 after beating Bear Creek, but the big jump went to No. 4 Eaglecrest. The Raptors jumped six spots after beating Grandview on Friday night.
Only one new team jumped into the 5A rankings this week as Legend breaks in at No. 10.
Chatfield holds a firm grip on the No. 1 spot in 4A, taking 14 of 17 first-place votes.
With a win over Greeley Central on Saturday, Loveland jumped three spots to land at No. 3. Vista Ridge also climbed three spots after an impressive 24-22 win over Dakota Ridge.
With a showdown looming with No. 9 Ponderosa, Rampart is new to the 4A rankings this week. The Rams round out the rankings at No. 10.
Kent Denver holds on to the No. 1 ranking in 2A this week as La Junta makes the one-spot jump to No. 2. The Sun Devils and Tigers play each other on Friday night.
The Classical Academy jumps two spots to land at No. 3, just two weeks ahead of their league-opener against La Junta.
Manitou Springs jumps into the 2A rankings at No. 8. Through three games, the undefeated Mustangs have already matched their win total from a year ago.
Fleming got eight of 12 first-place votes to hang on to the top spot in the 6-man poll.
Cheyenne Wells made the big jump of the week, moving up two spots to land at No. 5.
At No. 10, North Park is the only new team to the 6-man rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Greeley West 20, Mesa Ridge 13, Niwot 11, Skyline 11, Pueblo South 9, Pueblo West 7, George Washington 6, Dakota Ridge 5, Brighton 1, Monarch 1, Widefield 1.
Dropped out
Pueblo South (7).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Fort Morgan (5)
3-0
124
2
W
2
Discovery Canyon (4)
3-0
107
4
W
3
Longmont (2)
2-1
101
3
W
4
Pueblo East
2-1
94
1
L
5
Lewis-Palmer (2)
3-0
84
7
W
6
Palisade
3-1
59
8
W
7
Silver Creek
3-0
46
9
W
8
Holy Family
2-1
38
6
L
9
Erie (1)
3-0
36
10
W
10
Roosevelt
1-2
27
5
L
Others receiving votes:
Conifer 14, Mead 12, Rifle 7, Skyview 6, Pueblo County 5, Thompson Valley 4, Evergreen 2, Battle Mountain 1, Denver North 1, Eagle Valley 1, Palmer Ridge 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Kent Denver (7)
3-0
122
1
Bye
2
La Junta (5)
3-0
120
3
W
3
The Classical Academy (2)
3-0
119
5
W
4
Resurrection Christian
3-0
100
2
W
5
Delta (1)
2-1
82
6
L
6
Bayfield
2-1
67
7
Bye
7
D’Evelyn
2-1
47
4
L
8
Manitou Springs
3-0
36
–
W
9
Weld Central
3-0
35
9
W
10
Platte Valley
1-2
22
8
L
Others receiving votes:
Eaton 21, Alamosa 16, Florence 15, University 8, Cortez 7, Brush 4, Gunnison 2, Sterling 1, Valley 1.
Dropped out
Eaton (10).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Paonia (11)
3-0
176
2
W
2
Strasburg (7)
3-0
167
3
W
3
Platte Canyon
3-0
123
8
W
4
Limon
3-0
108
4
W
5
Bennett
2-1
96
5
W
6
Buena Vista (1)
2-1
91
1
L
7
Meeker
3-0
82
6
Bye
8
Cedaredge
3-0
50
10
W
9
Crowley County
3-1
49
7
W
10
Burlington
2-1
31
–
W
Others receiving votes:
Peyton 20, Rye 10, Center 9, Dolores 8, Hotchkiss 8, Clear Creek 5, Ellicott 5, Colorado Springs Christian 4, Holyoke 2, Highland 1.
Dropped out
Ellicott (9).
8-man
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sargent (3)
3-0
105
3
W
2
Dayspring Christian (8)
3-0
103
2
W
3
Sedgwick County (1)
2-1
78
1
L
4
Akron
2-1
67
5
Bye
5
Norwood
3-0
64
4
W
6
Hoehne
2-1
60
6
W
7
Merino
3-0
54
7
W
8
Sangre de Cristo
4-0
45
8
W
9
Haxtun
3-0
34
10
W
10
West Grand
3-0
19
9
W
Others receiving votes:
McClave 10, Soroco 6, Wiley 6, Plateau Valley 5, Pikes Peak Christian 3, South Park 1.