Football’s 2017 state playoff bracket for 8-man.

2017 CHSAA State Football Playoffs CHSAA 8-Man Football Playoffs

Windsor broke up a two-point conversion attempt in overtime to seal a wild 56-55 win over Skyline and wrap up the Northern League championship on Friday.

The fifth-ranked Wizards had led 49-33 with 5:47 remaining, but Skyline came storming back to tie the game at 49 following two touchdowns and two-point conversions.

Windsor scored first in overtime — quarterback Connor Apodaca faked a handoff up the middle and ran to an open end zone to his left — but No. 10 Skyline again responded. The Falcons’ Nathan McGregor hit Austin Robison on a play-action pass on fourth-down.

Skyline then went for two, its fourth such attempt of the game. This time the pass was broken up in the left side of the end zone. According to the Fort Collins Coloradoan, it was senior Bryce Kellum who had the big play.

The result was a Windsor win, and a conference championship. The Wizards are now 8-1 this season, and 4-0 in their league. Every other Northern team has at least two league losses.

Skyline is now 7-2, including 2-2 in the Northern.

“It was awesome,” Kellum told the paper of the win. “Just awesome.”

Windsor led 35-20 at halftime, a lead secured by a key interception from junior Tayt Gallatin in the end zone.

Noah Montague had two rushing scores for the Wizards, including a 91-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Salazar also rushed for two touchdowns, according to the Coloradoan’s Kevin Lytle.

Skyline’s star running back Jeremy Hollingsworth had two touchdowns. McGregor had four total touchdowns, including a pass to Jack Wathen with 15.7 seconds left in regulation that helped tie the game.

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6-man playoffs:

• Top-seeded Stratton/Liberty rolled to a 52-6 win over No. 16 Briggsdale.
• No. 7 Kit Carson advanced to the quarterfinals with a 46-12 win over Cotopaxi.
• The remaining six first-round games are on Saturday.
• Here’s an updated 6-man bracket.

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Notables:

• 4A No. 4 Fruita Monument wrapped up its first conference title since 2002, according to Matt Meyer of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, with a 50-16 win over George Washington.
• 3A No. 7 Canon City locked up at least of share of the Southern League with a 48-7 win over Woodland Park. The Tigers also hold a potential tiebreaker with a win over Discovery Canyon last week.
• 5A No. 4 Columbine is now in the same position in the Mount Cameron Conference, sitting at 4-0 after a 50-0 win over Mountain Range on Friday. The Rebels hold a potential tiebreaker over Fairview (which is 3-1 in league play).
• In 8-man, No. 3 Merino beat No. 9 Haxtun 39-24.
• No. 8 Burlington edged No. 5 Limon 29-28. “It was a great ballgame that could’ve gone either way,” coach Glynn Higgs told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show.
• 8-man No. 2 West Grand cruised to a 52-0 win over No. 6 Gilpin County.
• Another top-10 clash in 8-man, where No. 10 Sargent rolled past No. 8 Mancos 54-14.
• The 2A game between Pagosa Springs and Montezuma-Cortez was delayed following a power outage in the first half. The delay lasted 45 minutes. Pagosa ultimately won 48-7.
• In 1A action, Wray beat rival county rival Yuma 19-7 to retain the Harvest Cup.
• Another 1A game: Cedaredge and Hotchkiss were scoreless in regulation, and then Cedaredge won in overtime, 3-0.

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More coverage:

• No. 1 Mead football stayed unbeaten with a win over No. 4 Erie.
• Pueblo East took control of the South Central League with an upset of No. 5 Harrison.
• 4A No. 3 Chatfield survived a test against Dakota Ridge.
• An updated top-10 scoreboard after Friday’s games, and Saturday’s top-10 slate.
• All scores from Friday, and Saturday’s full schedule.
• Updated RPI standings.
• Replay the night via our live coverage.

A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Week 9 of the 2017 season.

• Live scoreboard
• Complete CHSAANow.com rankings
• Playoff brackets: 6-man
• RPI standings
• Full schedule and scoreboard of this week’s games

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(Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)

This week’s football rankings are out, and Chaparral (5A), Rifle (3A), Aspen (2A) and Clear Creek (1A) have entered the polls.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Football Polls

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.

A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Week 8 of the 2017 season.

• Live scoreboard
• Complete CHSAANow.com rankings
• RPI standings
• Full schedule and scoreboard of this week’s games

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Canon City (3A), Peyton (1A) and Mancos (8-man) are newcomers to this week’s football rankings.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Football Polls

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.

(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)

Senior quarterback Zach Cozzolino had a monster game on Saturday as Pueblo South continued its great season.

Cozzolino threw for 297 yards and six touchdowns on 14-of-24 passing as the Colts, No. 9 in Class 4A, beat Liberty 48-16. Pueblo South is now 6-1.

This is the Colts’ best start since going 10-2 in 2014. That year, Pueblo South went 9-1 in the regular season and advanced to the 4A quarterfinals.

Steve Brock rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown for Pueblo South, while Marcell Barbee, Thomas Pannunzio and Jesse Anzar each had two receiving scores. Barbee (115 yards) and Anzar (109) each had more than 100 yards receiving.

Pueblo South plays at Cheyenne Mountain next week. Liberty (0-7) is at Sand Creek.

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Notables:

• 6-man No. 2 Prairie beat No. 6 North Park 52-12.
• 4A No. 8 Fruita Monument stayed unbeaten at 7-0 with a 48-6 win over Thornton.
• 5A No. 3 Pomona rolled to a 42-7 win over Hinkley. The Panthers are 5-2.
• 3A No. 7 Faith Christian beat D’Evelyn 14-7 and is now 6-1.
• 1A No. 7 Platte Canyon is still unbeaten at 6-0 after topping Manual 37-22.
• Gilpin County, No. 8 in 8-man, shutout Hayden 38-0 and moved to 6-1. Manny Gomez had 15 tackles.
• Poudre improved to 5-2 with a 29-19 win over Legend in 5A.
• In 8-man, Rocky Mountain Lutheran beat Belleview Christian 58-0 and is now 5-2.

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More coverage:

• 3A No. 2 Palmer Ridge cruised to 7-0 with a big win over previously unbeaten Denver North.
• An updated top-10 scoreboard after Week 7 games.
• All scores from Week 7.
• Updated RPI standings.
• A roundup of Friday’s games.
• A roundup of Thursday’s games.

A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Week 7 of the 2017 season.

• Live scoreboard
• Complete CHSAANow.com rankings
• RPI standings
• Full schedule and scoreboard of this week’s games

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Unbeaten Stratton/Liberty has taken over the No. 1 spot in the 6-man football rankings this week.

The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.

Complete rankings for all classes are below.

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CHSAANow.com Football Polls

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.

(Steven Higgins)

A week after beating sixth-ranked Silver Creek, Erie football has another top-10 feather in its cap.

On Friday night, the Tigers, now ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, beat No. 4 Berthoud 33-7.

“Playing in the Tri-Valley (League), it doesn’t get any easier,” coach Chad Cooper told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show after the game. “I told our kids to enjoy this one tonight, but tomorrow morning we’re back to work and getting ready for Holy Family.

“It’s kind of similar to a playoff run where you can’t let down,” Cooper continued. “It’ll be good to kind of prepare us for the playoffs. You can’t have any let downs in the playoffs. It’ll be a great test for us.”

Erie’s Jacob Mansdorfer hit Alex Mathis with a touchdown pass just before the end of the first half to push the Tigers’ lead to 20-7.

Noah Roper rushed for two second-half touchdowns, and also recovered two fumbles on defense. He returned one of those for a touchdown. Roper had 165 yards rushing.

“Noah, obviously, is a talented kid. He kind of does it all for us,” Cooper said. “He runs extremely hard and is able to grind on people, too, with the style that we have on offense.”

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6-man: (5) Prairie 44, (1) Peetz 41

Prairie got the go-ahead score with 11.8 seconds remaining to secure the upset of previously unbeaten Peetz.

“It was just a dive to the right to Trenton Holzworth, one of our seniors, and he was able to power through a couple of kids and was able to get the ball in,” coach Justin Kerns told the Scoreboard Show of the winning score.

Prairie is now 6-0 this season.

“The players here are excited, the kids are excited,” Kerns said.

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2A: (3) Platte Valley 42, (6) Sterling 21

Tied at 21 at halftime, Platte Valley reeled of 21 unanswered points in the second half to secure a big win and move to 6-0 this season.

“It was one heck of a game up here for homecoming week, that’s for sure,” coach Troy Hoffman told the Scoreboard Show.

Hoffman praised his team’s effort on defense, which forced four turnovers.

“The kids created some opportunities and some turnovers,” Hoffman said. “We just needed to do that, play a little more aggressive in the second half, and when you get four turnovers, a lot of times good things happen for you, and it sure did for us tonight.

Senior Zach Waite had four touchdowns, including runs of 55 and 50 yards, and Ernseto Rios and Trevon Wehrman also score the the Mustangs.

Platte Valley had more than 400 yards of total offense.

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2A: (5) The Classical Academy 27, (8) Salida 19

TCA rallied from down 13-7 late in the second quarter to get an important top-10 win.

Jenson Hall had two rushing touchdowns for the Titans, and Cade Bethany accounted for two total touchdowns.

Brayden Luft added a receiving touchdowns.

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Notables

(Sedgwick County/NFHS Network)

• 8-man No. 1 Sedgwick County cruised to an easy win over No. 3 Haxtun, 44-0.
• Centauri is 6-0 in 1A after beating Monte Vista 27-2. The Falcons, No. 4, got another big night out of their defense. “That’s been our strength this year,” coach Kyle Forster told the Scoreboard Show. “Our defense has done a great job when we needed them to.”
• In 2A, Basalt got a big rivalry win over No. 10 Aspen, 48-22. Noah Williams had six touchdowns for the Longhorns. “Just a big, strong, very, very gifted athlete,” coach Carl Frerichs told the Scoreboard Show of Williams.
• 5A No. 4 Regis Jesuit beat Legacy 32-7. “I think this puts us in the driver’s seat” for the conference title, Raiders coach Danny Filleman told the Scoreboard Show.
• Caliche snapped a two-game losing streak and knocked off No. 8 Dayspring Christian in 8-man, 18-13.
• 8-man No. 10 Gilpin County is 5-1 following a 48-0 win over Soroco.
• 6-man No. 8 La Veta cruised to a 52-19 win over Sierra Grande in an afternoon contest.
• Platte Canyon moved to 5-0 this season following a forfeit by Front Range Christian. The Huskies are ranked No. 7 in 1A.
• No. 6 Merino got a narrow win over Akron in 8-man, 28-26.
• Paonia, No. 6 in 1A, is 5-1 after beating Hotchkiss 28-21.
• Deer Trail picked up its first win of the season when Cheraw forfeit Friday’s 6-man game due to lack of players. It snaps a 13-game losing streak for Deer Trail.
• Denver North beat Vista PEAK 15-13 in 3A, and is now 6-0 this season.
• Wray is now 3-3 following a 40-8 win over Wiggins in 1A. Cade Hillman had 227 yards and two touchdowns, while Manny Heurta added three scores.
• 3A No. 9 Harrison is 6-0 after a 46-0 win over Sierra.
• Springfield upset No. 2 Holly in overtime, 32-26, in 8-man.
• An impressive win for Northglenn over ThunderRidge in 5A. Northglenn is now 5-1.
• Evergreen upset 3A No. 6 Skyview, 10-9.
• Olathe beat Cedaredge 21-14 with a 98-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
• The top-3 matchup in 6-man between No. 2 Stratton/Liberty and No. 3 Cheyenne Wells was delayed to Saturday because of a light that wasn’t working.
• Frederick football is 5-1 after a 7-6 win over Holy Family.
• Jaion Colbert rushed for 238 yards and three scores as Overland football beat Arapahoe 47-28.

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More coverage

• Check out this wild touchdown pass as time expires from Middle Park’s Boston Gleich.
• No. 9 Columbine ground out a win on the ground against No. 5 Fairview in 5A. Photos from the game are here.
• 3A No. 1 Mead jumped out early and stunned No. 5 Roosevelt in a big win.
• In an awesome overtime game, 8-man No. 5 Hoehne beat No. 7 Fowler.
• Photos from Machebeuf/Englewood. Machebeuf is now 6-0.
• Photos from Loveland/Broomfield. Loveland is also 6-0.
• An updated top-10 scoreboard after Friday’s games, and Saturday’s top-10 slate.
• All scores from Friday night, and Saturday’s full schedule.
• Replay the night through our live coverage.
• Updated RPI standings.
• A roundup of Thursday’s games.