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Tag: Horizon

  • State softball roundup: 5A tourney up for grabs after upsets

    Castle View took a 11-1 victory over Pine Creek in five innings against Pine Creek to open its Class 5A state tournament run Friday at Aurora Sports Park. (Dennis Pleuss)
    Castle View took a 11-1 victory over Pine Creek in five innings against Pine Creek to open its Class 5A state tournament run Friday at Aurora Sports Park. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)

    AURORA — One thing is for sure when the winning team hoists the Class 5A state softball trophy Saturday at Aurora Sports Park.

    It will be a first for somebody.

    None of the four teams remaining have ever won a state softball champions in the program’s history. Top-seed Fossil Ridge and No. 4 Castle View square off in one semifinal. No. 6 Grandview and No. 7 Broomfield face each other in the other semifinal at 10 a.m. Saturday at Aurora Sports Park.

    The winners are schedule to play in the title game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. See the full bracket here.

    “That No. 1 seed doesn’t scare me,” Castle View coach Caley Mitchell said after her squad advanced into the semifinals with a 1-0 victory against Eaglecrest late Friday afternoon. “It’s going to be Sabercat versus Sabercat.”

    Castle View moved on thanks largely because of its senior Savannah Heebner. The 6-foot pitcher allowed just two hits in the Sabercats’ 11-1 victory in the opening round Friday morning against Pine Creek.

    Heebner then won a pitching duel a few hours later with Eaglecrest’s ace Alexa Romero. Heebner threw a complete-game shutout allowing just three hits and striking out 10 batters in a 1-0 victory. Castle View’s lone run came in the first inning when junior Kayla Gau’s double drove in sophomore Lexi Kagan.

    “She (Heebner) was fired up to play this game,” Mitchell said. “Last year we lost in the first round so our goal this year to make it here and we did. She gets better as she throws longer.”

    Castle View had high hopes last year going into the state tournament, but Eaglecrest bounced the Sabercats out in the first round with a 5-4 victory.

    “It is our time. Our school motto this year is ‘Our Time’. I believe in that 100 percent,” said Heebner, who has committed to play at the University of Houston next year. “I believe we are going to go all the way.”

    Fossil Ridge shut out Arvada West 2-0 in the opening round and then got hot with the bats against Douglas County in the quarterfinals. Fossil Ridge took a 9-5 win to advance to Saturday.

    Grandview cruised through into the semifinals with dominating wins against Chaparral and Columbine. While, Broomfield had the most interesting two games having to score double-digit runs against Central of Grand Junction and Horizon to survive.

    “That is our thing. Our girls can hit the ball,” Broomfield coach Paula Seifried said after a wild 11-9 victory against Horizon in the quarterfinals.

    The Eagles took a 6-0 lead, but gave up eight runs to Horizon in the top of the fourth inning to fall behind 8-6. Broomfield rallied to regain the lead, but the Hawks wouldn’t go do without a fight.

    Horizon tied the game at 9-9 going to the bottom of the sixth inning. Broomfield senior Kenzie Brock drove in the eventual-game winning run.

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    Class 4A tournament

    D'Evelyn senior pitcher Megan McGinley throws to the plate during the Jaguars' first-round game against Class 4A's top-seed Frederick on Friday at Aurora Sports Park. (Dennis Pleuss)
    D’Evelyn senior pitcher Megan McGinley throws to the plate during the Jaguars’ first-round game against Class 4A’s top-seed Frederick on Friday at Aurora Sports Park. More photos. (Dennis Pleuss)

    A lot of familiar faces and usual suspects advanced into the 4A semifinals.

    Defending state champion and No. 4 Wheat Ridge squeezed out a pair of one-run victories against Air Academy and Discovery Canyon to keep the Farmers’ hopes for a repeat alive.

    Wheat Ridge faces top-seeded Frederick in one semifinal Saturday morning at 10 a.m. The Warriors got victories over D’Evelyn and Ponderosa on Friday.

    No. 2 Valor Christian got back Niwot and Mullen to advance into the state semifinal for the first time in the program’s history. The Eagles get 11-time state champion Erie in the other 4A softball at 10 a.m. Saturday.

    See the full 4A bracket here.

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    Class 3A tournament

    No surprises on the 3A side.

    The top four seeds advanced to Saturday. No. 1 Strasburg, No. 2 Valley, No. 3 La Junta and No. 4 Sterling will battle it out Saturday.

    Defending state champion Strasburg has to beat league rival Sterling for the third time this season to advance to the state championship game. The previous two meeting were one-run victories.

    Valley, who also has two losses to Strasburg this season, squares off against La Junta in the other semifinal.

    See the full 3A bracket here.

  • 5A softball state tournament bracket

    The 2014 state tournament bracket for Class 5A softball. The tournament runs Oct. 17-18 at Aurora Sports Park. Tickets can be bought online.

    Find 5A softball regional results here.

    2014 CHSAA State Softball Championships 2014 5A State Softball Bracket

  • Regional softball roundup: Columbine stuns defending champ Legacy

    Softball regionals Columbine Legacy Douglas County
    Columbine’s players celebrate a home run on Saturday. More photos. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)

    Jennifer Romero led Columbine to the biggest upset in the softball regionals on Saturday.

    The sophomore pitched in all three games her No. 31-seeded Rebels played in the Class 5A bracket, and didn’t allow a run — including a complete-game performance against No. 2 Legacy, the defending 5A champion, which clinched a berth in next weekend’s state tournament.

    “She really stepped it up a notch,” Columbine coach Brooks Roybal told CHSAANow.com on Saturday evening. “She pitched really, really well.”

    Columbine actually dropped its opening game of the 5A Region 8 bracket at Broomfield Industrial Park. That was also against Legacy, and the Rebels fell 6-0.

    But Romero entered in the final two innings of the opening game, and didn’t allow Legacy another run.

    Columbine dropped to the loser’s bracket for the second game, and face Cherokee Trail — a team the Rebels had beaten 12-11 in the second game of the season. Like the first meeting, offense ruled. Cherokee Trail led 7-6 midway through before Romero again entered again — and again shut the opposing offense down.

    Columbine went on to rally and win that game, 11-7, thanks in part to a home run from Carly Perry.

    Meanwhile, Douglas County had topped Cherokee Trail 6-0, and then beat Legacy 7-0 to win the region. It set Columbine up with a rematch, with a berth to state on the line.

    This time, Romero started. She pitched a complete-game shutout, and buoyed by a grand slam from Perry, Columbine pulled the upset, 8-0.

    Softball regionals Columbine Legacy Douglas County
    More photos. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)

    “I think playing against Cherokee Trail, our bats came alive a little bit and they had a little more confidence going against Legacy that second round,” Roybal said. “Especially after we shut them down. Legacy might have been down a little bit, too, because they just got beat by Douglas County. You catch them at the right time sometimes.”

    The end result was this: Columbine, a No. 31 seed, moved on to the state tournament, while Legacy did not.

    “We told them afterwards it was probably the biggest win Columbine has had in the last eight years,” Roybal said. “We haven’t been a qualifier for seven or eight years.”

    Columbine already had a number of big wins this season, including topping Brighton and Ralston Valley.

    “They’ve got a few good wins under their belts this year which have been huge,” Roybal said. “You know, we’ve never beat Brighton, we’ve never beaten Ralston Valley. And I’m sure we’ve never beaten Legacy. We’ve always thought we could beat anybody, if we played well.”

    More 5A notables

    • No. 24-seeded Pine Creek upset No. 9 Mountain Range in the opening round in Region 2, then advanced to the state tournament with a 10-9 win over Fruita Monument in the final game.
    • Horizon, a No. 28 seed, rallied from being no-hit by Castle View in its first game to top No. 21 Greeley West (13-2), and then No. 12 Pomona (8-5) in reaching the state tournament.
    • No. 29 Arvada West dropped its first game, but then won two straight to earn a berth. Included was a 10-5 win over No. 13 Rock Canyon.
    • The complete 5A state field, with regional seeds noted: No. 1 Fossil Ridge, No. 3 Dakota Ridge, No. 4 Brighton, No. 5 Castle View, No. 6 Legend, No. 7 Grandview, No. 8 Broomfield, No. 10 Grand Junction Central, No. 11 Rocky Mountain, No. 14 Chaparral, No. 16 Eaglecrest, No. 18 Douglas County, No. 24 Pine Creek, No. 28 Horizon, No. 29 Arvada West, No. 31 Columbine.
    • The softball seeding committee will meet at the CHSAA office at 9 a.m. Monday to seed the state tournament.
    • Complete 5A brackets.

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    4A notables

    • Air Academy, a No. 24 seed, dropped its first game of the tournament, to Erie, 3-1. The Kadets then beat No. 25 Holy Family 1-0, and upset eighth-seeded Mountain View 7-5 to claim a state berth.
    • Region 4 had a length rain delay which disrupted play in its second round games. Prior to the delay, Wheat Ridge advanced. After the delay, No. 20 Thompson Valley went on to upset No. 13 Pueblo East for the other berth.
    • No. 26-seeded Mead rebounded from an opening-round loss to win its next two games and advance to the 4A tournament. The Mavericks beat No. 23 Thomas Jefferson and No. 10 Berthoud.
    • D’Evelyn, a No. 27 seed, actually upset No. 6 Vista Ridge in the first round but then dropped the winner’s-bracket game to No. 11 Ponderosa. D’Evelyn had to turn around and beat Vista Ridge again for the tournament berth.
    • The complete 4A state field, using regional seeds: No. 1 Frederick, No. 2 Valor Christian, No. 3 Pueblo West, No. 4 Wheat Ridge, No. 5 Silver Creek, No. 7 Discovery Canyon, No. 9 Erie, No. 11 Ponderosa, No. 12 Mullen, No. 14 Niwot, No. 16 Falcon, No. 18 Windsor, No. 20 Thompson Valley, No. 24 Air Academy, No. 26 Mead, No. 27 D’Evelyn.
    • Complete 4A brackets.

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    3A notables

    • Surprisingly, there was not a single upset during the entire 3A regional tournament. It meant the new format, which would have only played a third game if the top seed in a given region lost, was not used this season.
    • The complete 3A state field, using regional seeds: No. 1 Strasburg, No. 2 Valley, No. 3 La Junta, No. 4 Sterling, No. 5 Eaton, No. 6 Lamar, No. 7 Skyline, No. 8 Burlington, No. 9 Cedaredge, No. 10 Brush, No. 11 Rocky Ford, No. 12 Basalt.
    • Complete 3A brackets.

  • 5A softball regional tournament brackets

    A complete schedule for the Class 5A regional softball playoffs. All games are Oct. 11, unless noted.

    These tournaments are in a double-elimination format. The winners of games four and five in each region will qualify for the state tournament.

    Printable bracket: PDF

    Go to region: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

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  • Photos: Savage leads Horizon boys soccer to upset of Broomfield

    THORNTON — Nikoli Savage had two goals as Horizon upset No. 4 Broomfield in Class 5A boys soccer on Saturday, 3-2.

    Jackson Bratcher also scored for Horizon. Broomfield got goals from Luke Cangilla and Armando Ocampo in the loss.

  • Photos: Karraker leads Mountain Range football over Horizon

    WESTMINSTER — Ayden Karraker rushed for two touchdowns and 93 yards, Dominick Castiglione had 159 yards and a score, and Horizon beat rival Mountain Range in football on Friday, 31-7.

  • Football roundup: Obinnah helps Grandview outlast Eaglecrest in overtime

    Grandview ThunderRidge football
    Chukwuma Obinnah, pictured during a game against ThunderRidge earlier this season. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)

    Grandview’s Chukwuma Obinnah had a four-yard touchdown in overtime to lift the Wolves to a 34-27 overtime win against Eaglecrest on Friday night.

    Obinnah finished with 261 yards and five touchdowns on 39 carries.

    The night nearly belonged to Eaglecrest, which played the Wolves incredibly tight. The game was tied 7-7 at the half and Grandview led 14-13 after three quarters. The Wolves looked to have the game all but locked up when Obinnah made it 27-19 with 1:20 to play on his fourth touchdown.

    But Eaglecrest wouldn’t go quietly. Though a 65-yard touchdown pass at the start of the drive was called back on a penalty, Eaglecrest marched down to Grandview’s 14-yard-line with 12.1 seconds remaining. Then, the Raptors scored as time expired and converted a two-point conversion to tie the game at 27.

    That led to overtime, and Obinnah’s winning score.

    Grandview, ranked No. 3 in 5A, is now 5-0 to start the season.

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    3A: D’Evelyn 34, Lewis-Palmer 33

    It seems we can’t go a week this season without updating the state record book in some fashion. Once again Friday, it was the single-game passing mark under assault.

    D’Evelyn quarterback Owen Burke threw for 535 yards and five touchdowns. That is now No. 5 all-time, and is the third time this season a quarterback has cracked the top-10. Holy Family quarterback Chris Helbig threw for 491 on Sept. 5, and Air Academy’s Adam Brown broke the state record last week by throwing for 589 yards.

    Meanwhile, Burke’s main target, Cameron Brown, had 316 receiving yards and caught all five scores. Both figures are tied for third-best in state history.

    Lewis-Palmer running back Charley Young, meanwhile, rushed for 331 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries in the loss.

    When the night ended, the two teams had combined for 1,111 yards of total offense, which is now the eighth-most in state history.

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    3A: (5) Rifle 36, (3) Delta 19

    Rifle jumped all over Delta early, leading 10-0 after the first quarter, and then cruised to the win.

    In fact, by the time Rifle led 16-0 midway through the second quarter, Delta didn’t yet have a first down, according to the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent.

    Rifle running back Brock Clark had three total touchdowns.

    “We had to fight for everything we got, so I’m extremely proud that, if we have to do that we were still able to score 36 points,” Rifle coach Damon Wells told the Post-Independent.

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    2A: (4) Platte Valley 38, (5) Eaton 14

    The defending 2A champions notched an important league win over a rival on Friday.

    “Fantastic atmosphere,” Platte Valley coach Troy Hoffman Colorado Preps’ Scoreboard Show. “Football’s crazy. Anytime you’re playing such a big game, a rivalry game like this, and then also a league opener, it just added to the atmosphere and I’m very, very happy to come out on top tonight.”

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    4A: (8) Greeley West 31, Greeley Central 14

    The Spartans are now 5-0 after going 1-9 last season.

    “Really, it started in December, just working in the offseason and changing our offense a little bit,” Greeley West coach Jason Renouf told the Scoreboard Show. “We really hit the weight room hard, and our kids have really bought into what we’re selling to them. It’s been great to be a part of.”

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    6-man: (4) Peetz 42, (3) Fleming 28

    Peetz jumped out to a 28-0 lead at halftime and cruised from there.

    “I think we sent a message to everyone else in the conference that we’re to reckon with,” coach Scott Sorensen told the Scoreboard Show. “I know Pawnee’s got a really strong team; we still have Weldon Valley on our schedule, too. If we’re going to finish this out, we have to stay focused and play good football.”

    Peetz is now 4-1 this season.

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    Cherry Creek Cherokee Trail football
    More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    5A: (8) Cherry Creek 23, (9) Cherokee Trail 0

    The Bruins cruised out to a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter and never looked back.

    Henry Lyon kicked three field goals — 48, 23 and 20 yards — Milo Hall had a 2-yard rushing touchdown, and Joseph Parker caught a 12-yard score.

    Cherry Creek improved to 3-2 this season. Cherokee Trail is also now 3-2.

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    8-man: (4) Akron 20, (5) Merino 12

    The Rams won a physical top-10 game on Friday. Akron is now 5-0.

    “I knew going into the season that we were going to be young, but I knew were going to go have some talent,” Akron coach Jerome Weers told the Scoreboard Show. “I think to some extent, they’ve even exceeded at times my expectations. … They can play real well when they want to, and they play well as a group, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

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    Notables

    • Two more running backs rushed for six touchdowns: Dakota Ridge’s Jeremy Lujan (who also had more than 300 yards), as well as Montrose’s Mike Rocha. They are the third and fourth players to do that this season.
    • Doherty running back TeQuan Baker went for 272 yards and four touchdowns in a 28-14 win over Castle View. Doherty is now 5-0.
    • Big plays: Sterling’s Ethan Rose hit Brennan Skerjanec on a 96-yard touchdown pass, and Longmont’s Ethan Gabrielle had a 92-yard score.
    • Columbine’s Jake Lowry threw four touchdowns in his team’s 56-35 win over Mullen. Yes, that’s correct. Surprisingly, though, that’s not a school record for the traditional rush-happy offense. That belongs to former Rebel great Danny Spond, who threw five against Thomas Jefferson in 2009. Still, Lowry’s performance even had former Columbine great and current Denver Broncos player Ryan Miller weighing in.
    • Adams City beat Aurora Central 24-21 and is now 4-1 for the first time since 2005, when the team actually started 4-0. The move to 4A has really helped the program. For perspective on the turnaround: Adams City won four total games from 2006-2013, going 4-76 over that span. One of those wins was a forfeit.
    • Air Academy had itself another wildly offensive game, and once again, the Kadets fell short. A week after losing 68-62 to Sand Creek, they lost 76-41 to Canon City. Canon City’s Trenton Stringari rushed for 255 yards and five touchdowns, according to the Canon City Daily Record. A week after breaking the state’s passing record, Air Academy quarterback Adam Brown threw for 352 yards and two touchdowns. Teammate Jalen Etsep had two kickoff returns for a score: 97 and 96 yards. Canon City’s Dacian Sullivan also had a kickoff return for a score (87 yards), part of a three touchdown night.
    • Mountain Vista moved to 5-0 with a 21-17 win over rival ThunderRidge. It is the first time in school history the Golden Eagles have won that game in nine tries. Vista quarterback Brock Rubley threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns, while Matt Yockey had 18 tackles and two sacks.
    • There were two instances where cross-town rivals played for the first time Friday: Longmont beat Silver Creek 42-21, while Chaparral beat Legend 33-30.
    • More rivalries: Heritage beat Arapahoe 23-14 for the Milk Can, while Harrison beat Sierra 25-9. It is Sierra’s first loss.
    • Green Mountain led Wheat Ridge 14-7 and 20-14 in the fourth quarter, but the Farmers rallied to take a 29-20 win.
    • In a game we previewed this week, No. 9 Berthoud moved to 5-0 with a 17-7 win over Erie in 3A.
    • Fountain-Fort Carson edged Douglas County 21-20 in overtime. FFC totally turned things around at halftime, when the Trojans were being shutout and had just one first down. Later, they rallied from down 13-7 with seven minutes to play.
    • Rangely topped Hayden in overtime, 20-14. Hayden made a goal-line stop to even get to overtime, but Rangely prevailed.
    • Palmer beat Sand Creek 35-28 in overtime to win on homecoming. Sand Creek tied the game with a touchdown in the final moments to force overtime.
    • Platte Canyon, No. 10 in 1A, beat Front Range Christian 29-0 to move to 4-1. “We preach that we’re going to try to improve every week,” Platte Canyon coach Mike Schmidt told the Scoreboard Show. “We’re young still, we’ve only got five seniors, so we feel like we’ve still got a long way to go, and a lot of improving to do.”
    • On its debut week in the 5A top-10, No. 10 Rocky Mountain beat Horizon 31-20.
    • In 3A, No. 8 Lamar beat No. 9 St. Mary’s 25-10.
    • Glenwood Springs upset 3A No. 10 Palisade, 17-10. It was sealed by a hard count which drew Palisade offside.
    • Hotchkiss knocked off 1A No. 7 Cedaredge, 27-13.

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    More coverage

  • Photos: Lynch leads Legacy football over Horizon

    WESTMINSTER — Matt Lynch threw for a touchdown and ran for another, Connor Connolly had 173 rushing yards and a score, and Legacy beat Horizon 21-17 in football on Friday.

    Lynch passed for 173 yards in the win.

  • Notebook: 5A softball only grows more confusing by the week

    Brighton Grandview softball
    Brighton softball is among the many contenders in Class 5A. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)

    A little more than three weeks ago, Eaglecrest softball went to Dakota Ridge and easily handled the Eagles.

    The final was 8-1 that day. They’d already beaten Douglas County, a quarterfinal team last season, as well as Rock Canyon, another quarterfinalist in 2013. No one is going to anoint a state champion after three games — but Eaglecrest sure looked like a favorite at that point.

    Well, here’s the state of Class 5A softball at this moment: Dakota Ridge is ranked No. 1, Eaglecrest is now No. 9. And both are still very much in contention for the No. 1 overall seed come next month.

    The classification has been crazy. Consider that there ceased to be an unbeaten team in 5A softball on Sept. 11 — less than three weeks into the season.

    But what makes it all the more confusing is the sheer amount of parity.

    Chaparral shot up to No. 5 in this week’s ranking after 10-consecutive wins. The Wolverines dropped their first two games this week.

    After Eaglecrest’s 3-0 start, the Raptors lost to Brighton. Two games later, Brighton lost to Columbine. Columbine turned around and lost to Mountain Vista. Mountain Vista then fell to Cherry Creek. Two games after that, Cherry Creek lost to Lakewood, which then lost to Chatfield.

    Dakota Ridge is currently the No. 1 team in the state. They have won four games in a row, but have the loss to Eaglecrest and another to Mountain Range. Two games after beating Dakota Ridge, Mountain Range lost to Fossil Ridge.

    Fossil Ridge Mountain Range softball
    Another 5A contender: Mountain Range. (Pam Wagner)

    “When the committee sits down to figure out head-to-head, it’s going to be: ‘What week?’” joked Bud Ozzello, CHSAA’s assistant commissioner who administers softball. “That’s how good this classification is.”

    So who will end up as the No. 1 seed? Who knows. What’s clear is that there’s no clear-cut favorite.

    Dakota Ridge has a win over Legend, which beat Douglas County, which has beaten Columbine, which has topped Brighton, which owns a win over Grandview, which beat Eaglecrest — which, of course, beat Dakota Ridge.

    The classification has become a snake eating its own tail.

    Ultimately, what this regular season is proving is that it likely won’t even matter much who gets the No. 1 overall seed. Or the Nos. 8, 9 or 10, for that matter.

    Because in order to reach the state tournament, and move on once there, “You’re going to have to battle,” Ozzello said.

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    Short stuff

    • The first of the new championship trophies were delivered last week: boys golf. The rest have since been delivered, and now dot CHSAA’s hallways until their championship dates.
    • Berthoud football is off to a 3-0 start, and ranked No. 10 in 3A this week. This may be a case of those special graduating classes that come through schools at one time or another. According to John Hall of the Berthoud Surveyor, this year’s junior class was a stellar bunch dating to their youth, including winning the Northern Colorado Championship.
    • Due to low numbers, Deer Trail will forfeit its game to Peetz this week. Deer Trail was down to five guys.
    • Pinnacle’s football team beat Jefferson 55-18 last week, and in doing so snapped an 18-game winning streak. Their last win came in Sept. 2012.
    • Castle View’s Savannah Heebner threw a perfect game in a 14-0 win over Highlands Ranch last week. She struck out 10 in five innings, and is now 10-1 with a 0.77 ERA in 11 games. She has four shutouts.
    • It was quite the weekend for Fairview’s athletic department. The volleyball team won the Bruins Classic on Saturday, capped by a 2-1 win over Cherry Creek. On Monday, the volleyball team cracked the 5A rankings at No. 8. Also over the weekend, the boys tennis team also tied Cherry Creek in winning the Cherry Creek Invitational. That followed a win over Cherry Creek in a dual earlier in the week.
    • Steamboat Springs JV boys soccer goalie Andrew McCawley scored a goal off a long punt. Here’s video.
    • Following Valor Christian’s loss last week, 8-man’s Dayspring Christian owns the state’s longest football winning streak at 16 games.
    • After going 3-4 last week, Colorado football teams are now 20-11 against out-of-state competition this season.
    • Three Broncos players visited local football programs on Tuesday. Corey Nelson stopped by Horizon, Ben Garland went to Legacy, and Montee Ball was at Gateway.
    • Englewood’s student-athletes spent time at a local elementary school on Wednesday.
    • The NFHS Network previewed the Chaparral-Legend volleyball match, which is Thursday night.
    • Cherry Creek wideout Joseph Parker committed to Wyoming on Monday.
    • Colorado boys lacrosse has two highly-ranked sophomores in the Class of 2017. Per Inside lacrosse, Mountain Vista’s Colin Munro (a North Carolina commit) is No. 4 nationally, while Fossil Ridge’s Jake Frane (Notre Dame) is No. 17.
    • Highlands Ranch hired longtime assistant Joe Gleason as its baseball coach.
    • Mullen turned to Matt Guglielmo to coach its girls soccer team. He’s also the school’s boys coach.
    • Valor Christian alum Max McCaffrey had two touchdowns for Duke football in its win over Kansas last week. He’s now the team’s leading receiver this season with 178 yards.
    • Grandview alum Kevin Gausman was part of the Balitmore Orioles squad which clinched the AL East on Tuesday.
    • A Colorado legislator is considering a proposal which “would require public schools to change Indian-themed mascots that the Native American community found offensive.” The threat of losing state funding would hang over those schools which don’t change it, according to the proposal.
    • If you missed it Wednesday, our Brian Miller detailed the story of Hugo Falco, a Brazilian exchange student who is playing 6-man football at Stratton/Liberty.
    • How about this rushing performance from Alaska: 516 yards, eight touchdowns.
    • More national stuff: A Pennsylvania football team won on a last-second hook and ladder play.
    • Really interesting piece here: The Death of the Multisport Athlete.

  • Football roundup: Columbine edges Bear Creek in 2 OTs

    Nine minutes remained in the fourth quarter on Friday night, and Columbine led Bear Creek 28-7. The Rebels would win 43-42 an hour and five minutes later.

    Wait, what?

    Despite nearly letting the game slip through its fingers, Columbine battled through double overtime to outlast Bear Creek.

    Columbine Fountain-Fort Carson football
    Columbine quarterback Jake Lowry. (Dennis Pleuss)

    “I was proud of how our kids stepped up and did fight, and made plays at the end, just enough to win it,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show after the game. “Our kids just never gave up and our offense just made plays at the end in overtime, and we squeaked one out.”

    Bear Creek was shut out until five minutes remained in the third quarter, and actually trailed 21-0 at that point. But the Bears’ rally really didn’t start until six minutes remained in regulation, when they cut it to 28-14. After an onside kick recovery, and two more scores, it was suddenly tied up and heading to overtime.

    “I give Bear Creek a lot of credit for just fighting and playing hard,” Lowry said. “Their coaches did a good job, and they made a lot of plays. We just couldn’t finish in that fourth quarter.”

    After blowing the late lead, “We were down a little bit,” Lowry said, “but we just talked to (the team) about how this is a good challenge for us to be able to grow up and face some adversity and have to fight for something.”

    Both teams scored in the first overtime, and then Bear Creek converted on its offensive possession in the second. So did Columbine — but the Rebels opted to go for two, and Columbine’s junior quarterback, Jake Lowry, kept the ball to convert for the win.

    “My coaches were calling for it, saying, ‘Go for two! Go for two!’” Andy Lowry said. “We just hadn’t stopped them for quite a few possessions in a row. The offense was doing well, and they were over-loading one side, and we just decided to put it in Jake’s hands.

    “He made a great play and got in the end zone. You just hate to miss an extra point or something like that and end something that way, so we kept it in our offense’s hands.”

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    4A: (9) Fort Collins 13, (8) Windsor 12

    Windsor led 6-0 at halftime and later 12-7 in the fourth, but Fort Collins quarterback Kyler Sigsbee found Dawson Johnson for the winning 5-yard score with six minutes remaining.

    The Lambkins’ defense recovered a Windsor fumble on the ensuing drive, and Fort Collins was able to run the clock out.

    “We we kind of using this as a barometer to find out where we rank among the 4A elite, because we definitely consider Windsor an elite 4A team,” Fort Collins coach Eric Rice told the Scoreboard Show. “I’m really glad our kids passed the test tonight.”

    Later, he added, “When you hold a team like Windsor, which has a potent offense and is good at what they do, to 12 points, you’ve got to be happy about that.”

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    6-man: (2) Arickaree/Woodlin 60, (1) Stratton/Liberty 30

    Not only did Arickaree/Woodlin position itself to take over the top spot in the poll on Monday, the squad also knocked off the defending 6-man champions.

    “This is probably the biggest win since we restarted the program four years ago,” Arickaree/Woodlin coach David Saffer told the Scoreboard Show. “The seniors this year have come from the bottom and worked their way up, so it was a very good win for us.

    “We also understand that we’ve got a long season ahead of us, and we’ve got to keep going week-by-week here.”

    On the presumptive No. 1 ranking, Saffer said, “We’ve got a target on our backs. We’ve just got to stay focused and keep working.”

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    5A: (6) Fairvew 35, Horizon 28

    Horizon nearly pulled off its second-straight upset.

    Nearly.

    A week after knocking off then-No. 6 Chatfield, Horizon battled with Fairview all night on Friday. Ultimately, though, the Knights secured the win.

    Horizon actually led 21-7 early in the second quarter, but Fairview rallied to tie things with 3:56 to play before the half. Then, quarterback Johnny Feauto found Tim Ryan for a 20-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left in the half to give the Knights the lead.

    “Yeah, he’s our version of Johnny Football,” Fairview coach Tom McCartney joked on the Scoreboard Show. “He’s a tremendous player, he’s the point guard on the basketball team, he was on the baseball team that was in the Elite 8. He loves the center of attention, he loves competition. He just makes a ton of plays for us, and we’re fortunate to have Johnny Football.”

    Oh, but Horizon wasn’t done. The Hawks tied it up early in the fourth on a touchdown pass of their own.

    Jason Harvey then provided the heroics. His 14-yard run with 1:39 to play proved to be the difference — but only after the Knights’ defense stopped Horizon on fourth-and-2 from near midfield.

    “It was a good stop there to try to get that thing secure,” McCartney said.

    “The second half was just hard-fought, two teams going at it. … We just found a way.”

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    1A/2A: (2) Buena Vista 21, (10) Manitou Springs 0

    Buena Vista, a 1A school, held serve at home against 2A Manitou Springs.

    “What got us going, I would say, is our defense and how they stayed disciplined,” Buena Vista coach Matt Flavin told the Scoreboard Show. “I told them we needed to stay disciplined, and they responded and stayed with the gameplan even though they came out and started running the ball on us.

    “That kind of got a spark in us to keep going. They got the offense going, as well.”

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    Notes

    • In a rematch of last year’s 1A championship game, No. 1 Paonia handled No. 4 Centauri 44-0.
    • Mountain View beat Loveland 24-21 on Jayce Melby’s 24-yard field goal with six seconds left.
    • Falcon also got a late field goal to beat Pueblo West 16-14. Falcon’s 16 points were actually unanswered after trailing 14-0.
    • With Valor Christian’s loss, Dayspring Christian now solely owns the longest winning streak in the state at 15 games. The defending 8-man champions play Soroco on Saturday.
    • Poudre took down Monarch, 7-2. Monarch actually had a chance from the 9-yard-line with 0.4 seconds to play, but couldn’t score.
    • Eaglecrest, a 5A program, upset 4A No. 3 Denver South 12-6.
    • Overland rolled Legend, 54-0. The Trailblazers are now 4-0. As recently as 2011, they opened 0-4.
    • 4A No. 5 Vista Ridge edged Ponderosa 35-28.
    • Rampart beat Palmer 31-6. It was apparently the Rams’ first homecoming win in five years.
    • Boulder running back T.J. Jones rushed for 300 yards in his team’s 42-22 win over Thornton, according to BoCoPreps.com.
    • 5A No. 4 Grandview rushed for six touchdowns in its 49-27 win over Arapahoe.
    • 4A No. 4 Montrose rebounded from its first loss with a 55-0 win over Fruita Monument.
    • In a top-10 4A matchup, No. 9 Holy Family took care of No. 7 Palisade. Said coach Mike Gabriel to the Scoreboard Show: “We really needed it after last week. We played a little less than what we were capabale of last week, so this is a big win for us.”
    • There were three other top-10 games in 6-man this week besides the 1-2 showdown: No. 3 Eads 52, No. 8 Cheyenne Wells 6; No. 6 Peetz 53, No. 7 Prairie 0; No. 9 Flagler 46, No. 10 Kit Carson 22.

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