Rocky Mountain is the No. 10 team in this week’s Class 5A football poll. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Cherry Creek remains the top overall team in the Class 5A CHSAANow.com rankings after a 7-6 win over Pomona Friday night.
The Bruins received all but one of the first-place votes. It was the Panthers who got that other No. 1 vote.
Following its second-straight loss, Valor Christian fell one slot to land fourth in the polls, with Columbine taking over the third spot.
Both Cherry Creek and Valor Christian will travel out of state for games this week.
Newcomers to the 5A poll include Cherokee Trail, fresh off an impressive win over Denver East, and Rocky Mountain.
Like in 5A, the rest of last week’s top teams remained at No. 1 in the polls, with some newcomers being filtered in.
Pine Creek remains the top team in 4A after its bye week. Greeley West made the biggest jump in the 4A pool, going from ninth to sixth, thanks to a 28-20 win over D’Evelyn.
After starting the year 2-0, Palmer Ridge broke into the 4A poll at ninth, followed by fellow-Colorado Springs newcomer, Rampart, at No. 10. The Rams blanked Coronado on Saturday and have yet to surrender a point this season.
Defending champion Pueblo East is still on top in the 3A poll. The top seven teams in 3A held their positions and only one team, Mead, broke in as a newcomer. They join this week’s poll at 10.
Kent Denver remains atop the 2A polls, but the biggest shake-up of the week happened right behind them. Faith Christian fell from second to seventh after a stunning loss to Florence. The Huskies joined the poll this week at eighth on the strength of their 15-12 win over the Eagles.
Trinidad also joins the 2A polls at No. 10 this week. The Miners look good early this season, outscoring their opponents 93-14 through two games.
Crowley County joined the 1A polls at No. 10 this week.
Springfield and Holly each made their way into the 8-man polls. They come in and ninth and 10th, respectively. Merino also jumped from No. 10 to No. 6 this week.
In 8-man, Cheyenne Wells breaks into the top 10, coming in at ninth. Pawnee also jumped from fifth to third this week.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Cherry Creek is atop the Class 5A football poll this week. More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Cherry Creek, fresh off of two impressive wins to begin the season, has ascended to the top of CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings this week.
The Bruins, defending 5A champions, beat Heritage in Zero Week, then followed it up with a 17-3 win over then-No. 4 Regis Jesuit in Week 1. They received 11 of the 18 first-place votes, and edged out Pomona, which moved up to No. 2 after getting six first-place votes.
Cherry Creek and Pomona play on Friday.
Pomona, No. 3 in the preseason, beat No. 1 Valor Christian last week. Valor Christian fell to No. 3 in the 5A poll.
Columbine is fourth, and Grandview moved into the top five following its win over Chaparral. Ralston Valley also moved up — to sixth — after its Week 1 win over Eaglecrest.
Regis Jesuit fell three spots to seventh, Fairview is eighth and Doherty moved up to ninth. Mullen is the lone newcomer to 5A this week at No. 10. The Mustangs opened the season with a 41-0 win against Gateway.
There are also new No. 1 teams in the 2A and 8-man rankings.
Kent Denver is now No. 1 in Class 2A. More photos. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
In 8-man, Dayspring Christian takes over at the top. The Eagles narrowly edged out Norwood with 75 total points to Norwood’s 74 — despite Norwood actually getting more first-place votes (four) than Dayspring (three).
The 8-man poll added Haxtun (No. 9) and Merino (No. 10) this week.
Each of the other No. 1 teams held firm this week: Pine Creek (4A), Pueblo East (3A), Paonia (1A) and Fleming (6-man).
The biggest movers in 4A’s ranking were Windsor, which moved up to fourth and Vista Ridge, now ranked No. 6. That poll added three new teams: No. 8 Ponderosa, No. 9 Greeley West and No. 10 Wheat Ridge.
In 3A, Rifle jumped up from No. 8 to No. 4. That poll, too, has three new members: No. 7 Berthoud, No. 8 D’Evelyn and No. 9 Lewis-Palmer.
There were no new teams in 1A, though Burlington did jump from No. 10 to No. 6.
The 6-man poll added Cheraw at No. 8.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Loveland 13, Montrose 7, Pueblo West 7, Rampart 6, Denver South 4, Palmer Ridge 4, Fort Collins 3, Durango 2, Silver Creek 2, Greeley Central 1.
Dropped out
Denver South (5), Fort Collins (8), Pueblo South (9).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Pueblo East (8)
1-1
130
1
2
Fort Morgan (5)
1-0
109
2
3
Holy Family
1-0
107
4
4
Rifle (1)
2-0
89
8
5
Palisade
1-0
72
5
6
Roosevelt
1-1
50
6
7
Berthoud
1-0
43
–
8
D’Evelyn
1-0
35
–
9
Lewis-Palmer
1-0
29
–
10
Delta
1-1
24
9
Others receiving votes:
Discovery Canyon 20, Mead 13, Evergreen 11, The Classical Academy 8, Conifer 7, Erie 6, Mitchell 4, Pueblo Central 4, Canon City 3, Pueblo County 2, Eagle Valley 1, Frederick 1, Lutheran 1, Thomas Jefferson 1.
It was not a good week to be ranked as the 2015 football season began in earnest.
When the dust settled on Friday night, here’s what we were left with:
Three No. 1 teams lost on Friday night. 5A’s Valor Christian was clipped by No. 3 Pomona. 2A’s Brush, the defending champion, last to 3A No. 2 Fort Morgan, and 8-man’s Caliche fell to unranked Kiowa.
Ranked teams are just 35-23 so far in Week 1. That includes three ranked 4A teams which lost to unranked opponents on Friday alone.
In all, there have been 16 upsets so far in Week 1, including 13 ranked teams losing to unranked opponents.
To the games.
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3A/2A: (2) Fort Morgan 47, (1) Brush 7
Fort Morgan controlled this rivalry game from start to finish — a game that had a new twist with new Brush coach Reid Kahl, who graduated from Fort Morgan.
“I consider Reid Kahl one of my good friends. When I got to Fort Morgan, the Kahls took me in,” Fort Morgan coach Harrison Chisum told Colorado Preps’ Scoreboard Show. “I’m glad it’s over. It’s tough coaching against friends. He’s an outstanding coach and I have a lot of respect for him. … I’m just glad it’s done and we’re still friends.”
Brush had won five consecutive games in the rivalry.
“It was a little more enjoyable this year,” Chisum said. “Five years in a row, they’ve had our number. To finally come out on top, it feels good. The boys did a good job.
“I didn’t realize it was five years. I think I was trying to forget some of those years. … It’s pretty nice to be able to start off with a win.”
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8-man: Kiowa 12, (1) Caliche 6
In a rare low-scoring game, Kiowa knocked off the No. 1 team, and defending champions.
Kiowa led 12-0 after the first quarter, and it turned out to be all the points it would need.
The win avenged last season’s 49-6 loss to Caliche. Kiowa went on to finish 2-7 in 2014. This win actually snapped a six-game losing streak.
Conversely, Caliche had won nine games in a row — including a Zero Week game against Soroco.
[divider]
4A: Loveland 36, (5) Denver South 18
Quarterback Ayden Eberhardt had four total touchdowns to lead Loveland to the upset of Denver South.
“Our quarterback is just a great, nifty little runner and can do things,” Loveland coach Wayne McGinn told the newspaper. “You don’t know where he’s going. I don’t know where he’s going half the time.”
[divider]
6-man: (3) Arickaree/Woodlin 58, (5) Peetz 50
Arickaree/Woodlin, the defending 6-man champion, out-gunned Peetz in a shootout despite having a young roster.
“Our starting six or seven have a lot of experience, but they’re in some different positions this year,” Arickaree/Woodlin coach David Saffer told the Scoreboard Show. “And we’ve got a bunch of young kids and they’re just kind of learning high school football and adjusting to the speed and learning what it takes to win at this level.”
[divider]
Notables
Arvada beat Sheridan 27-14, and in doing so, snapped an 18-game losing streak which dated to 2013. The Bulldogs’ last win came on Sept. 13, 2013, in overtime against Skyview. The program had been 1-22 over its past 23 games going back to 2012.
Manitou Springs recovered five onside kicks in its game against Faith Christian. Faith Christian, however, won 46-32.
It was a top-5 matchup in 2A as No. 5 Platte Valley beat No. 3 Strasburg 30-7.
In 3A, Mitchell beat Widefield 34-28 in double overtime. It wasn’t the night’s only extra time. 1A’s Olathe beat Hotchkiss in overtime, 29-27, and in 5A, Cherokee Trail beat ThunderRidge 22-15.
In 1A, No. 1 Paonia beat No. 7 Monte Vista 21-7.
Dakota Ridge, ranked No. 3 in 4A, opened with a big 38-9 win over 5A Monarch. “We challenged our kids all week that they needed to play physical and play tough,” coach Ron Woitalewicz told the Scoreboard Show. “Our kids really rose to that expectation.”
Eaglecrest led 5A No. 9 Ralston Valley 14-13 at halftime, but the Mustangs stormed back to take a 33-27 win. Ralston Valley nearly fell victim to a comeback of its own, as it held a 33-14 lead in the fourth quarter but had to hold on.
5A No. 6 Fairview led Grand Junction 21-0, but had to hold on for a 21-12 win.
Lakewood handed 5A No. 8 Fountain-Fort Carson its second straight loss, this one a 31-21 decision.
Chaparral played 5A No. 7 Grandview tough early, but the Wolves pulled away for a 29-12 win.
Six more Colorado teams played out-of-state opponents on Friday, going 4-2. Durango, Holly, La Junta and Sedgwick County all notched wins, while Wray and Montezuma-Cortez lost on Friday. So far in 2015, Colorado teams are 8-2 against out-of-state foes.
Dylan McCaffrey (12) and Valor Christian open 2015 as the No. 1 team in Class 5A. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Defending champions rule the preseason football rankings, save for two classifications.
Pine Creek (Class 4A), Pueblo East (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A) and Caliche (8-man) all won championships last season — and each one sat atop their respective classfication when the preseason CHSAANow.com Football Polls were released on Monday.
Only Valor Christian (5A) and Fleming (6-man) are preseason No. 1 teams without being a defending champion. Valor was the runner-up in 5A last season, while Fleming was a semifinalists in 6-man.
The 5A voters were pretty determined that the top three teams this season would be Valor, Cherry Creek and Pomona. Each team received at least one first-place vote, and the trio separated themselves from the rest of the field by more than 50 points each.
Valor got nine of the 15 first-place votes and totaled 140 points. Cherry Creek, last season’s 5A champion, is No. 2 with four first-place votes and 134 total points. Pomona got one first-place vote and is No. 3 at 123 total points.
At No. 4 is Regis Jesuit and new coach Dan Filleman. Perennial contender Columbine rounds out the top five.
Fairview, led by senior star Carlo Kemp, checks in at No. 6; returning semifinalist Grandview is No. 7; and Fountain-Fort Carson is No. 8.
Ralston Valley, another semifinalist, opens at No. 9, and Doherty rounds out the ranking at No. 10.
Longmont, the 4A runner-up, is No. 2; Dakota Ridge is third; and Falcon (No. 4) and Denver South (No. 5) round out the top five.
Pueblo East is No. 1 in 3A’s preseason poll. (Mark Adams)
In 3A, defending champion Pueblo East returns a stacked roster, but will have a new coach in interim head Lee Meisner. Even still, the Eagles got 13 of the 14 first-place votes in 3A, and lead the ranking.
Fort Morgan got the other first-place vote and is No. 2 to begin the year. Evergreen is third, Holy Family is fourth and Palisade is No. 5.
Brush, another team looking to defend its title, led the 2A poll with seven of the 10 first-place votes. The Beetdiggers, too, have a new coach: Reid Kahl. Kent Denver, last year’s runner-up, opens at No. 2.
In the 1A ranking, Paonia, the defending champion, received eight of the 12 first-place votes. Buena Vista is No. 2.
The 8-man poll was interesting. Defending champion Caliche leads the way at No. 1 in the preseason, but four different teams received first-place votes — including Dayspring Christian at No. 3, which got three top votes. Caliche and No. 2 Norwood each got two first-place votes, and Granada got one.
Fleming got four first-place votes to lead the 6-man ranking, while No. 2 Eads and No. 3 Arickaree/Woodlin each received one. Arickaree/Woodlin won last season’s title.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Greeley West 19, Montrose 15, Ponderosa 5, Pueblo West 4, Rampart 4, Wheat Ridge 4, Standley Lake 3.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Pueblo East (13)
0-0
130
2
Fort Morgan (1)
0-0
94
3
Evergreen
0-0
74
4
Holy Family
0-0
73
5
Palisade
0-0
65
6
Roosevelt
0-0
61
7
Discovery Canyon
0-0
47
8
Rifle
0-0
43
9
Delta
0-0
39
10
Lutheran
0-0
26
Others receiving votes:
Berthoud 20, Canon City 18, D’Evelyn 18, The Classical Academy 15, Conifer 9, Pueblo Central 8, Pueblo County 8, Erie 7, Lewis-Palmer 6, Glenwood Springs 5, Niwot 2, Mead 1, Thomas Jefferson 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Brush (7)
0-0
92
2
Kent Denver (2)
0-0
89
3
Strasburg
0-0
63
4
Faith Christian
0-0
59
5
Platte Valley
0-0
54
6
Eaton
0-0
44
7
Gunnison
0-0
42
8
Bayfield (1)
0-0
32
9
Florence
0-0
27
10
Lamar
0-0
18
Others receiving votes:
La Junta 13, Bennett 4, Moffat County 4, Trinidad 4, Sterling 2, Valley 2, Alamosa 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Paonia (8)
0-0
125
2
Buena Vista (4)
0-0
120
3
Meeker
0-0
81
4
Resurrection Christian (1)
0-0
78
5
Platte Canyon
0-0
60
6
Rye
0-0
56
7
Monte Vista
0-0
36
8
Cedaredge
0-0
30
9
Wiggins
0-0
29
10
Burlington
0-0
28
Others receiving votes:
Crowley County 17, Limon 17, Colorado Springs Christian 11, Centauri 9, Ellicott 6, Center 4, Hotchkiss 4, Wray 4, Denver Christian 1.
8-man
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Caliche (2)
0-0
60
2
Norwood (2)
0-0
59
3
Dayspring Christian (3)
0-0
54
4
Granada (1)
0-0
52
5
Hoehne
0-0
50
6
Akron
0-0
38
7
Sedgwick County
0-0
35
8
Springfield
0-0
23
9
Simla
0-0
15
10
Sargent
0-0
13
Others receiving votes:
Vail Christian 10, Sangre de Cristo 8, Wiley 7, Merino 6, Haxtun 4, Holly 4, Fowler 2.
Fort Morgan’s Toby McBride (32) evades a tackler during the 2014. (Photo courtesy of Toby McBride)
It’s been a long time since Fort Morgan High School could brag about a Division I football recruit. But Toby McBride changed all that Tuesday night when he announced his commitment to play Colorado State.
McBride, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound star for the Mustangs, became the first Division I commit out of the school since 2006. That’s not bad for a kid who had a legitimate choice between two sports.
On top of being a beast on the gridiron, McBride is a two-time state wrestling champion. He won the 220-pound division in Class 4A in 2015 and 2014. But when push came to shove, he decided that his sport of choice was football.
And he won’t be playing far from home either.
Less than 24 hours after announcing his commitment, he chatted with us about his choice to head to Fort Collins as well as what being a multi-sport star did for his ability to get recruited.
[divider]
McBride with new CSU coach Mike Bobo. (Photo courtesy of Toby McBride)
Q: Let’s start with the obvious one. Why did you choose Colorado State?
Toby McBride: I had been on the campus the most, compared to all the other colleges (that I visited). After camp and being coached by their coaches, I felt that they are what they say they are and that they’re going to stay for a while and be contending for a Mountain West (Conference) championship.
Q: Does your approach change now going into this season in the sense that now you’re officially a Division I player and now you have to live up to that expectation?
McBride: No, I’ve always felt that I’d be a Division I player someday and that it would come with hard work. More pressure has just been taken off of me knowing I don’t have to decide a college instead of trying to prove that I am good enough. I’m more concentrated on having a winning season and going to the playoffs with my team.
Q: Going into your senior year, has your approach been any different now that you can reflect on this being the last high school training camp you’re going into?
McBride: Yeah, it’s my senior year so I know what needs to be done. I’m going to be able to step up more for my teammates and lead them through my last season. Obviously I want it to be my best. I just need to know that this is the last chance to win a state title.
Q: You have a couple of individual state titles under your belt in wrestling, were you ever torn between wrestling and playing football in college?
McBride: Yeah. Being a good wrestler, my coaches told me that I should start looking into wrestling in college and maybe doing both. After I won (NHSCA) nationals, I started getting a lot of calls from big-time wrestling colleges that wanted to start recruiting me. I decided that football is what I enjoy doing more and see the most success in my future with so that’s what I’ve decided to do.
Q: There’s a lot talk these days that kids need to not specialize, that they need to diversify themselves in as many sports as possible. From your standpoint, having to make that choice, how challenging is that to have to choose one of two or three sports that you want to play in college?
McBride: I guess my parents made that choice for me when I was five-years-old. They wanted me to be able to earn a scholarship. With so many family members, it would be hard for them to pay for everyone going to college. One of our family friends told them that college coaches like to recruit players who are wrestlers over basketball players, baseball players, stuff like that. So that’s when they put me in pee wee wrestling and that’s what I’ve done since.
It wasn’t more as a sport that I like doing, but a sport that’s a perk. I tell college coaches I wrestle and I’m successful at it, so I’ll be a better football player and it compliments my game.
Q: How did the coaches react when you were telling them that?
McBride: They liked that I’m a wrestler. From all the college coaches I’ve talked to, they like recruiting wrestlers more than anything else. To hear that I’m a successful wrestler, the other thing I know is leverage and all that other kind of stuff.
Q: What’s been the best moment of your high school athletic career thus far?
McBride: Probably going to the playoffs with my football team last year. The whole playoff experience is the most fun I’ve had in high school sports.
McBride at CSU. (Photo courtesy of Toby McBride)
Q: Rivals said you are the first Division I commit from your school since 2006. What does that tell you about your abilities?
McBride: It’s big for my town. I’ve been doubted a lot by people in my town. It hasn’t happened much in Fort Morgan. It just drives me more to get better. But the people that are closest to me and my coaches, they’ve always believed I’ve been able (to go Division I) and that just helps me perform better.
Q: Do you feel that you have bragging rights now that you’ve proven those doubters wrong?
McBride: I don’t think so. I don’t like to show off too much. I really don’t want to say that I’m better than anyone because of what I’m doing or anything like that.
