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.
Lewis-Palmer, the defending 4A volleyball champion, heads the preseason ranking in that class. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Rampart, Lewis-Palmer, Manitou Springs, Resurrection Christian and Fleming are the preseason No. 1 volleyball teams in their respective classifications.
CHSAANow.com’s preseason poll was released on Monday, and three of last year’s champions are atop the rankings. Those are Lewis-Palmer, Resurrection Christian and Fleming.
Rampart, which received eight of the 11 first-place votes, heads the Class 5A poll. The Rams made the state tournament last season, where they went 1-1 in pool play. They return a number of top players from that team.
Cherokee Trail is No. 2 to start the year, and is followed by No. 3 Fossil Ridge, No. 4 Grandview — the defending champion — and No. 5 Cherry Creek.
Pine Creek is sixth, Eaglecrest is seventh, Legend is eighth, Arapahoe is ninth and Mountain Vista rounds out the ranking.
Lewis-Palmer heads 4A. Ponderosa is No. 2, and Air Academy, last year’s runner-up, is third.
Manitou Springs is on top of the 3A ranking, just ahead of defending champ Eaton. Manitou was runner-up last season.
Resurrection Christian leads 2A, while Fleming is on top of 1A.
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.
Valor Christian running back Christian McCaffrey is the player of the year in Class 5A. (Mark Adams)
The 2013 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 coaches, and then a vote of coaches. Find more information here.
The players who received the most votes in their classification were selected as the player of the year in their class.
Dayspring Christian freshman Nathan Crawford breaks free into the secondary during the 8-man state championship game Saturday afternoon in Iliff. The Eagles defeated league rival Caliche 35-28. (Dennis Pleuss)
ILIFF — Even with Dayspring Christian quarterback Kylar Mai rushing for 292 yards and having a hand in five touchdowns, the No. 2-seeded Eagles still needed a late-game defensive play Saturday afternoon to win the 8-man football championship.
Caliche senior quarterback Mitch Davison had his eyes on a potential game-tying touchdown with under a minute to play, but Davison was hit from behind by sophomore Gavin Bicknell at the Eagles’ 11-yard line. The hit jarred the ball loose. Dayspring senior Ty Eichman recovered at the 1-yard line with 22 seconds left to preserve a 35-28 victory for Dayspring.
8mantrophy.jpg Dayspring Christian football players hoist the 8-man championship trophy Saturday afternoon in Iliff. It’s the Eagles’ third state football title over the past six seasons. (Dennis Pleuss)
“When I saw the ball I just wanted to get on it as fast as I could,” said Eichman, who also had a touchdown catch in the championship game at Amory E. Beede Field on Caliche High School’s campus. “I was so relieved after I got the ball. As soon as we got it, I knew we were champions.”
It was the third 8-man state title for Dayspring since 2008. The Eagles (13-0) have had plenty of recent championship game experience, playing for the 8-man final five of the past seven years.
“It was awesome,” said Mai, who had 28 carries for 292 yards, along with throwing three first-half touchdowns. “It was a great game.”
Mai’s 71-yard touchdown run with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter put the Eagles up 35-20, but the Buffaloes rallied with a quick scoring drive and 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 35-28 with 3:09 left.
“Offense was a big part of it, but it came down to defensive stops,” said Mai, who also plays on defense.
The Eagles’ offense was nearly unstoppable in the first half. Mai had a 36-yard touchdown run to cap off the first offensive series for Dayspring. The junior quarterback then threw a trio of touchdown passes to end the next three drives for the Eagles. Junior Christian Hershberger, senior Devan Mock and Eichman each caught a first-half touchdown from Mai.
“(Mai) is a super kid,” Caliche coach Paul Zink said. “We just let him make too many plays.”
Caliche’s defense was able to slow down Dayspring in the second half after the Eagles scored 28 points in the first half. Dayspring’s defense also was key, forcing four turnovers by Caliche all in Eagles’ territory in the second half.
Dayspring coach Mick Holmes said he stressed in the locker room at halftime that defense would determine the winner in the battle between the two A8 North-Plains League squads. The two met earlier this season with Dayspring taking a 38-15 victory on Oct. 18.
“I talked to them that defense wins championships,” Holmes said. “Let’s win this game through our defense.”
No. 5-seeded Caliche (11-2 record) never led on its home field, but the Buffaloes made things interesting after falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter. Caliche’s rushing attack of Davison, junior Austin Yahn, along with seniors Austin Zink and Chase Debus racked up 468 yards on the ground.
Davison led the way with 33 carries for 206 yards and a touchdown. Yahn added 154 yards and two scores on 18 carries. Debus finished with 99 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Caliche senior quarterback Mitch Davison is tackled by Dayspring Christian’s Christian Hershberger and Mitch Sides during the first half of the 8-man title game Saturday. Davison had 206 yards rushing for the Buffaloes, but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles won 35-28. (Dennis Pleuss)
The Buffaloes’ defense allowed just the one Dayspring touchdown in the second half after the Eagles scored on their first four possessions of the game.
“We had some great defensive stops in the second half,” Zink said. “I thought we were going to get it done. It just didn’t happen.”
Zink called the late fumble by Davison “heart-breaking”.
“(Davison) has carried us all year,” Zink said. “It’s too bad it happened, but it did.”
Both coaches did make good on their promise before the start of the postseason. At the meeting where coaches selected the all-conference picks from the A8 North-Plains League, Zink and Holmes shook hands on both meeting up in the championship game.
“It’s too bad someone had to lose,” Holmes said. “Both sides played really well.”
Dayspring senior Ty Eichman fights for extra yards Saturday. Eichman biggest play came on defense when he recovered a Caliche fumble in the final minute to help the Eagles preserve a 35-28 victory in the 8-man championship game (Dennis Pleuss)Dayspring junior quarterback Kylar Mai is brought down by Caliche junior Joel Contreras during the third quarter of the 8-man state championship game played in Iliff. (Dennis Pleuss)Dayspring junior Kylar Mai, left, makes a move on Caliche junior Chase Debus during the 8-man championship game Saturday. Mai had 292 yards rushing and two touchdowns, along with passing or 147 yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles’ 35-28 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)Caliche senior quarterback Mitch Davison gets off a pass before Dayspring Christian senior Devan Mock can get to him during the first half Saturday at Amory E. Beede Field in Iliff. The Buffaloes’ second-half rally came up short as the Eagles finished the season with an undefeated record with a 35-28 victory in the 8-man championship game (Dennis Pleuss)
Faith Christian will play at Platte Valley for the 2A championship. (Pam Wagner)
Class 2A
No. 4 Faith Christian (10-2) at No. 3 Platte Valley (10-1) 1 p.m. Saturday at Platte Valley HS
Faith Christian, mind you, started the 2013 season 2-2. Yes, it was a tough schedule — three of those four teams made the postseason in their respective classifications. The fourth just missed the field.
Still, Faith wasn’t exactly championship-game material four games into the season. Now, following eight-straight wins, the Eagles are. Saturday, they will play in the title game for the fifth time in school history. Faith Christian has won in each of the four previous trips (2009, 2006, 2004 and 1998).
Faith got to this point largely on the back of junior Daniel Langewisch, who has rushed for 1,557 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. Sophomore Adam Buchmann has 821 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, while senior Jonas Spitzer has 535 and eight.
Defensively, senior lineman Connor McCain has a team-high 80 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and 3.5 sacks.
McCain and his teammates will have to deal with Platte Valley quarterback Logan Sitzman, who has thrown for 10 touchdowns and 1,478 yards while rushing for 16 scores and 1,056 yards.
“They’ve got a different style of offense, that’s for sure, so we’ve got a lot of late nights ahead of us to try and prepare to stop them,” Faith Christian coach Blair Hubbard told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show on Saturday.
Platte Valley has also won eight games in a row. The Broncos have been to the championship game three times before, including a loss to Kent Denver last season. Platte Valley also won in 2007 and lost in 2006.
“I think their record may have been a little deceiving to some, because their two losses were to Holy Family to Kent Denver — a playoff team in 3A, and a playoff team in 2A,” Platte Valley coach Troy Hoffman told the Scoreboard Show of Faith Christian. “I think they had to kind of learn their offense and get going. They’re doing what we’ve been doing: they’re peaking at the right time. It’s going to be a lot of fun up in Kersey.
“That’s a program that consistently wins every year. We want to match with that. That’s what we want to be,” Hoffman added. “But I’m very proud — Platte Valley’s been in the finals now four times in the last eight years. I think we have a program that’s reaching some of that respect, as well.”
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Class 1A
No. 3 Centauri (11-1) at No. 4 Paonia (11-1) 1 p.m. Saturday at Paonia Town Park
Paonia was last in a championship game in 1962. It hasn’t won a championship since capturing what was then Class A in 1959. Centauri has never even appeared in a title game. The school opened in Jan. 1965.
So some sort of history will be made in the 1A title game on Saturday.
The game will be a rematch of Centauri’s 27-14 win on Sept. 14. That’s Paonia’s only loss this season.
“It’s like a storybook, really,” Paonia coach Brent McRae told the Scoreboard Show. “It’s a rematch, and (Centauri) coach (Kyle) Forster is going to have his kids ready, because he’s a great coach and Centauri’s a great team. It’s going to be a fun day.”
Sophomore Taylor Walters leads Paonia’s rushing attack with 24 touchdowns and 1,813 yards. Senior Will Austin has 1,376 yards and seven touchdowns.
Centauri is led by the trio of Jason Buhr, Jareb Aziz and KC Jarvies. Buhr, a senior, has 1,150 yards and 17 touchdowns rushing and 562 yards and six touchdowns receiving. Aziz, a junior, has 15 total touchdowns. Jarvies, the team’s quarterback, has thrown for 1,725 yards and 19 touchdowns.
“We’re ready to play this,” Forster told the Scoreboard Show. “This was a goal we had, shoot, 14 weeks ago. It’s come true. Now, we’re just going to have to go in and play our best, because Paonia is playing their best football of the year right now, too. It’s going to be a real big dog fight.”
Of the rematch, Forster said they wouldn’t take much away from the earlier win and added, “We’re going to have to really step up our game. Like I said, they’re playing some of the best football across the state.”
[divider]
8-man
No. 2 Dayspring Christian (12-0) at No. 5 Caliche (11-1) 1 p.m. Saturday at Caliche HS
Dayspring Christian beat Caliche 38-15 on Oct. 18. But, “You know what?” Dayspring coach Mick Holmes told the Scoreboard Show on Saturday. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“They actually did not play a really good game against us the first time,” Holmes said. “The pressure’s on us: It’s harder to beat somebody twice than it is the first time. It’s just difficult. Plus, I know their head coach (Paul Zink), and he’ll have them ready. It should be a good game.”
Still, Holmes’ Eagles will be the favorite on Saturday, if for no other reason than the fact that they are still unbeaten.
Junior quarterback Kylar Mai is a do-everything guy for Daypsring. He has 19 passing touchdowns — and 35 on the ground. He’s thrown for 1,311 yards and rushed for 2,013. His 3,343 total yards (including 19 receiving) are second in the state, regardless of classification.
He’s had help, though: Senior Ty Eichman has 923 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing, and also 566 yards and seven scores receiving.
Caliche is led by senior Mitch Davidson, who has rushed for 15 touchdowns. Austin Yahn, Chase Debus and Austin Zink each have five rushing scores.
ThunderRidge claimed the final semifinal spot with a 13-9 win over Grandview. Backup quarterback Branden Brenning led the Grizzlies to the win. Read the full story here.
[divider]
Class 4A
Pueblo South is headed to the semifinals for the first time since 2004 with a 27-21 win over Dakota Ridge.
“We got them to fumble in their first possession, and we marched it right down and got a big score, got some momentum going in our favor,” Pueblo South coach Ryan Goddard told Colorado Preps’ Scoreboard Show. “Then we had a big interception and a long return, and were able to make some plays off of that and turn that into points, as well. We’ve been pretty successful this year in winning the turnover battle. If you win turnovers and third downs, you’re going to be OK most of the time.”
Pueblo South will face Montrose in the semifinals.
“Our kids were excited after the game, and I was excited for them,” Goddard said. “I told them they did a good job, and that they’re a special team and they have an opportunity to do something special here, and they’re making their impact on the program. But it’s time to go to work on Monday and we’ve got to start thinking about Montrose.”
Montrose beat Denver South 47-27 on Saturday. The Indians led 33-6 at halftime.
“Our guys did a great job of just executing. We were able to get on them on some special teams stuff and get a couple of short fields,” Montrose coach Todd Casebier told the Scoreboard Show. “We had some good special teams in the first half.
“South kept playing until the very end, but we were just too much for them today.”
[divider]
Class 3A
Defending champion Silver Creek rolled into the semifinals. The Raptors handled Pueblo East, 34-14.
“It was a really big win. That Pueblo East team was as good a team as we’ve played,” Silver Creek coach Mike Apodaca told the Scoreboard Show. “We’re real fortunate to get a win.”
Silver Creek will play Delta in the semifinals. Delta beat Glenwood Springs 13-9 on Saturday.
“We’re excited about the trip,” Apodaca said. “Western Slope football is good football. … It’s exciting. It’s good 3A football, and a good community, so it’s an exciting trip for our kids.”
Coronado beat Roosevelt 29-27 to claim a spot in the other semifinal. It will meet The Classical Academy, which upset Palisade on Friday.
“There’s special things happening with these young men,” Coronado coach Bobby Lizzarraga told the Scoreboard Show. “It’s showing up on the field.”
[divider]
Class 2A
The 2A title matchup is set: Faith Christian will play Platte Valley. Both teams upset higher-seeded opponents on Saturday.
“In the first half, it was one of those games where it looked like neither team was going to punt, because we couldn’t stop each other,” Faith Christian coach Blair Hubbard told the Scoreboard Show. “Then, the adjustments and the turnovers in the second half were just a big part of it.”
No. 3 Platte Valley beat No. 2 Manitou Springs, 13-7. The Broncos are making a second-consecutive trip to the title game.
“We made some mistakes that have been uncharacteristic of what we’ve been doing the last few weeks,” Platte Valley Troy Hoffman told the Scoreboard Show, “but we fought back, we regrouped very well in the fourth quarter and the kids fought through this barrier, this obstacle and they came through with a victory today. I’m very proud of them.”
[divider]
Class 1A
Paonia will face Centauri in the 1A championship next week.
Centauri topped Limon 21-8 to reach the title game for the first time in school history.
“We’re ready to play this,” Centauri coach Kyle Forster told the Scoreboard Show. “This was a goal we had 14 weeks ago, and it’s come true. Now we’re just going to have to go in and play our best because Paonia is playing their best football of the year right now, too. So it’s going to be a real big dog-fight.”
Paonia beat Buena Vista 28-14 on Saturday.
“We came out and we were ready to go,” Paonia coach Brent McRae told the Scoreboard Show, “but getting (an early) score and then the first three-and-out we got and scoring again — just the confidence. Our kids knew they would be able to run the ball and that just carried us the whole game.”
Of the title game, McRae said, “It’s going to be a fun day.”
[divider]
8-man
Caliche and Dayspring Christian will play for the 8-man title.
Caliche topped top-seeded Hoehne 44-40, while Dayspring Christian edged Norwood 44-43 with a 22-yard field goal in the final moments.
“We made big plays. That’s probably what the difference was,” Dayspring Christian coach Mick Holmes told the Scoreboard Show. “It came down to a field goal with seven seconds left. It’s kind of funny — we talked about it all week: ‘It may come down to a field goal.’ And we put it through the uprights.”
[divider]
6-man
Liberty/Stratton captured the 6-man title with a 44-40 win over Hi-Plains. Read the full story here.
Mountain Range is ranked 10th this week. (Pam Wagner)
Mountain Range, 7-1 this season, has joined this week’s CHSAANow.com football poll in Class 5A.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 10, are riding a four-game winning streak, including a 22-16 decision against Rocky Mountain last week. Their lone loss this season came at Grand Junction on Sept. 20.
Valor Christian remained atop the 5A ranking with 19 of the 22 first-place votes. Fairview, which got the other three first-place votes, stayed in the No. 2 spot following its big win over Pomona, and continued to be followed by No. 3 Regis Jesuit, No. 4 Cherry Creek and No. 5 ThunderRidge.
Columbine stayed in sixth this week, while Cherokee Trail bumped up two spots to seventh. Pomona remained in eighth and Grand Junction moved up to ninth after beating 4A No. 1 Montrose.
Despite the loss, Montrose remained atop the 4A ranking. Pine Creek moved up to No. 2, jumping Monarch, which fell to No. 3.
Coronado is now atop the 3A poll after Palisade’s loss to Delta. Discovery Canyon is second and Palisade dropped to third.
Delta joined the ranking at No. 7, as did Roosevelt (No. 9) following its win over then-No. 3 Silver Creek. Silver Creek dropped to No. 8 this week.
