CHSAANow

Tag: Vista Ridge

  • A-West, Ponderosa make football hires as coaching carousel continues to turn

    Two further football openings were closed on Thursday when Arvada West hired Brad Pyatt and Pondoersa tapped Jaron Cohen.

    Pyatt, an Arvada West grad, was part of the Wildcats’ Class 5A 1997 championship team coached by Dave Logan. He played at Kentucky and Northern Colorado after high school, and then for parts of four seasons in the NFL — mostly with the Indianapolis Colts.

    Pyatt becomes the school’s seventh coach in 50 years, but third in four years. Greg Whisler took over for longtime coach Casey Coons prior to the 2012 season, and went 7-13 in two seasons. A-West is 9-21 since 2011 and hasn’t had a winning season since 2010, but was 11-2 as recently as 2009.

    “We are excited and confident in what Brad will bring to the table in regard to leadership and an abundance of football knowledge,” Arvada West said in a statement. “Brad’s main goal is to bring back the prominence of A-West Football, much like he experienced as a member of the 1997 state championship football team.”

    Cohen, meanwhile, moves over from a one-year stint at Hinkley. He confirmed the switch to the Aurora Sentinel on Thursday.

    “I had to make a decision that was right for my family and Ponderosa will allow me to find balance in my life between teaching, coaching and being a husband and father to two young boys,” Cohen told the Sentinel.

    “Tough decision for sure,” Cohen added later on Twitter. “I’m fired up to continue building on the Ponderosa tradition of excellence.”

    Hinkley went 5-5 last season. Prior to heading the Thunderbolts’ program, Cohen was 24-27 in five seasons at Liberty.

    Cohen will take over for Jamie Woodruff, who came out of retirement to return to the program in 2012. Ponderosa was 17-5 over the past two seasons.

    The hires were just the latest in what’s been a busy offseason.

    Last Tuesday, Wheat Ridge announced the hire of Poudre’s Dan Reardon to replace Reid Kahl. Reardon was 5-14 over the past two seasons at Poudre, and has a long history of coaching.

    He spent seven years at Ursuline High School in Ohio, where he was 68-26 and won three state championships.

    “Dan Reardon is a man of quality character and quality football knowledge and experience,” Wheat Ridge said in a statement. “He is an excellent role model that will help develop character and leadership with our students and athletes. He will be an asset to Wheat Ridge High School.”

    Then on Wednesday, Lutheran shook up the small-school ranks when it hired Faith Christian’s Blair Hubbard, who had been there since 1999. At Faith, Hubbard went 148-30 and won three state titles.

    Those followed other hires this offseason like Gene Hill at Douglas County, Tyler Knoblock at Heritage, Jeff Priestley at Palmer, Rob Royer at Rampart and Jeremi Calip at Vista Ridge.

    A number of high-profile jobs remain to be filled. Highlands Ranch is expected to announce its choice on Friday, and schools like Chaparral, Faith Christian, Fossil Ridge and Poudre remain without coaches. Find a complete list of 2013-14 coaching changes here.

  • Playoff football roundup: Columbine runs over Grand Junction

    Columbine Grand Junction football
    More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    Columbine ran Grand Junction right out of town.

    The seventh-seeded Rebels got three rushing touchdowns from Jeremy Aparicio and easily handled No. 10 Grand Junction, 41-7, in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

    Aparicio had scoring runs of 58, 4 and 1 yards, while Michael Tait passed for a score and rushed for another. Austin Norton had a 30-yard touchdown run and caught Tait’s 28-yard scoring toss.

    The Rebels will play at No. 2 Valor Christian in the quarterfinals. The Eagles exploded for 28 second-quarter points in pulling away from No. 15 Ralston Valley. Up just 14-6 after the first quarter, Valor scored on the first play of the second frame and never looked back.

    It was 42-6 at halftime and a 49-20 final.

    Valor quarterback A.J. Cecil was 19-of-23 for 278 yards and four touchdowns. Christian McCaffrey rushed 13 times for 121 yards and two scores and also caught six passes for 110 and two more touchdowns. The carries were the most McCaffrey has had since he rushed 11 times against Fountain-Fort Carson on Sept. 27.

    Ralston Valley scored two late touchdowns after recovering three-consecutive onside kicks in the fourth quarter.

    We’ll have at least two rematches in the 5A quarterfinals: No. 1 Fairview hosting No. 8 Pomona and No. 3 Cherry Creek hosting No. 6 Cherokee Trail.

    Fairview topped No. 16 Douglas County 45-17 on Friday. Knights quarterback Anders Hill had five total touchdowns, four passing. He tossed scores to Steve D’Epagnier (twice), Cam Frazier and Sam Martin. Fairview also got a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown from Carlo Kemp.

    Douglas County was in the game in the first half, trailing 14-10 after the first quarter, and 21-17 later in the second, but Fairview’s Jonathan Swartzwelter nailed a 47-yard field goal just before the half to give Fairview a spark heading to the locker room.

    When the night ended, Fairview had scored the game’s final 24 points.

    In the quarters, the Knights will get Pomona, a team they beat 33-30 on Oct. 18. Pomona beat Chatfield 49-35 on Friday. (Find a full recap of that game here.)

    Cherry Creek, meanwhile, beat No. 19 Overland for the second time this season with a 49-14 victory Friday. The Bruins got 21 second-quarter points to make it a 35-7 halftime margin.

    Cherry Creek plays Cherokee Trail in the quarterfinals. The two teams played a tight one on Oct. 4 — a 28-27 Creek win.

    Cherokee Trail easily handled No. 11 Mountain Range, 41-7, on Friday. Quarterback Aric Johnson was 14-of-19 for 171 yards and two scores through the air. He also rushed for 84 yards and two more touchdowns.

    Junior running back Cameron Smith had 163 yards and two touchdowns.

    No. 5 ThunderRidge beat No. 12 Doherty, 56-35, on Friday. The Grizzlies could get a rematch, as well: No. 5 Regis Jesuit and No. 20 Grandview play Saturday. Should Regis win, it would give ThunderRidge a chance to avenge its only loss of the season, which came Sept. 27 to the Raiders.

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    Class 4A

    Fifth-seeded Pueblo South was in trouble heading into the fourth quarter against No. 12 Longmont.

    The Colts trailed 27-17 following a 15-point outburst from Longmont in the third quarter, but rallied with 21 fourth-quarter points for a 38-27 win.

    Trailing 27-24 with 5:34 to play, South converted a fourth-and-6 and went on to score the go-ahead touchdown. The Colts stopped Longmont on fourth-and-13 on their ensuring drive, and sealed the game with a score a few plays later.

    In other 4A games, No. 3 Pine Creek beat No. 14 Pueblo West, 35-18, and No. 2 Monarch handled No. 15 Vista Ridge, 62-28.

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    Class 3A

    No. 7 The Classical Academy looked to be in control. But, late in the third quarter, a Conifer touchdown cut the Titans’ lead to 14-6. Then, with six minutes to play in the fourth, Conifer made it 14-12.

    A stop of a two-point conversion attempt on the try gave TCA its first postseason victory in school history, 14-12, over the tenth-seeded Lobos.

    In Friday’s other 3A game, No. 3 Roosevelt cruised past No. 14 Frederick, 47-13, to move to the quarterfinals.

    Higher seeds were 13-0 in Friday night’s football playoffs.

  • Valor Christian grabs preseason No. 1 ranking in CHSAANow.com football poll

    Valor Christian is the preseason No. 1 team in Class 5A. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
    Valor Christian is the preseason No. 1 team in Class 5A. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    Football is back, and things seem to be picking up right where we left them.

    Valor Christian leads the first-ever CHSAANow.com 5A football poll, which is voted on by coaches and media members across the state. The Eagles are four-time defending champions across three classifications, and beat Cherokee Trail to win last year’s 5A crown. Cherokee Trail, not surprisingly, is No. 2 in the preseason poll.

    ThunderRidge, a semifinalist a year ago, is third, followed by Cherry Creek and Pomona. Grandview is No. 6 to begin the season, Ralston Valley is No. 7, while Columbine (No. 8), Chaparral (No. 9) and Regis Jesuit (No. 10) round out the 5A poll.

    A total of three teams received first-place votes in the ranking: Valor Christian got 14, while Cherokee Trail and Cherry Creek received one each.

    Monarch, the defending 4A champion, leads the preseason ranking in that classification, while Denver South, runner-up a year ago, is second. Wheat Ridge, Pine Creek and Pueblo West round out 4A’s top five teams.

    In fact, each of the defending champions lead their respective preseason rankings. That includes Silver Creek (3A), Kent Denver (2A), Cedaredge (1A), Hoehne (8-man) and Fleming (6-man).

    Complete polls for all classifications 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.

    Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man | 6-man

    Class 5A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Valor Christian (14) 0-0 157 –
    2 Cherokee Trail (1) 0-0 139 –
    3 ThunderRidge 0-0 102 –
    4 Cherry Creek (1) 0-0 98 –
    5 Pomona 0-0 81 –
    6 Grandview 0-0 71 –
    7 Ralston Valley 0-0 62 –
    8 Columbine 0-0 37 –
    9 Chaparral 0-0 35 –
    10 Regis Jesuit 0-0 23 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Mullen 22, Fairview 15, Fountain-Ft. Carson 9, Arapahoe 8, Eaglecrest 7, Mountain Vista 5, Douglas County 3, Chatfield 2, Grand Junction 2, Lakewood 2, Fort Collins 1.

    Class 4A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Monarch (14) 0-0 140 –
    2 Denver South 0-0 103 –
    3 Wheat Ridge 0-0 93 –
    4 Pine Creek 0-0 71 –
    5 Pueblo West 0-0 64 –
    6 Vista Ridge 0-0 58 –
    7 Ponderosa 0-0 57 –
    8 Windsor 0-0 39 –
    9 Mesa Ridge 0-0 35 –
    10 Falcon 0-0 32 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Dakota Ridge 20, Longmont 19, Loveland 10, Standley Lake 8, Montrose 7, Broomfield 5, Green Mountain 5, Cañon City 2, Mountain View 2, Cheyenne Mountain 1.

    Class 3A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Silver Creek (8) 0-0 97 –
    2 Rifle (2) 0-0 63 –
    3 Elizabeth 0-0 61 –
    4 Pueblo East 0-0 58 –
    5 Conifer 0-0 47 –
    6 Discovery Canyon 0-0 37 –
    7 Pueblo Central 0-0 32 –
    8 Roosevelt 0-0 31 –
    9 Holy Family 0-0 30 –
    10 The Classical Academy 0-0 18 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Glenwood Springs 17, Lutheran 14, Eagle Valley 12, Palisade 9, Delta 8, Erie 7, D’Evelyn 5, Northridge 3, Evergreen 2, Skyline 2.

    Class 2A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Kent Denver (8) 0-0 80 –
    2 Platte Valley 0-0 68 –
    3 Florence 0-0 62 –
    4 Eaton 0-0 53 –
    5 Bayfield 0-0 46 –
    6 Brush 0-0 38 –
    7 La Junta 0-0 30 –
    8 Faith Christian 0-0 27 –
    9 Grand Valley 0-0 17 –
    10 Strasburg 0-0 8 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Manitou Springs 3, Middle Park 3, Bennett 2, Trinidad 2, The Academy 1.

    Class 1A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Cedaredge (8) 0-0 90 –
    2 Buena Vista (1) 0-0 74 –
    3 Limon 0-0 71 –
    4 Centauri 0-0 49 –
    5 Wray 0-0 47 –
    6 Monte Vista 0-0 43 –
    7 Wiggins (1) 0-0 41 –
    8 Hotchkiss 0-0 37 –
    9 Holyoke 0-0 28 –
    10 Resurrection Christian 0-0 23 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Burlington 14, Ignacio 9, Paonia 8, Crowley County 4, Platte Canyon 4, Rye 4, Byers 2, C.S. Christian 2.

    Class 8-man
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Hoehne (7) 0-0 70 –
    2 Granada 0-0 57 –
    3 Fowler 0-0 55 –
    4 Dayspring Christian 0-0 38 –
    5 Elbert 0-0 32 –
    6 Walsh 0-0 26 –
    7 Akron 0-0 22 –
    8 Caliche 0-0 20 –
    9 Dove Creek 0-0 16 –
    10 Hayden 0-0 9 –
    Others receiving votes:
    McClave 8, Swink 8, Cheyenne Wells 6, Kiowa 5, Haxtun 4, Merino 3, La Veta 2, Sargent 2, Springfield 2.

    Class 6-man
    RK TEAM W-L PTS PVS
    1 Fleming (5) 0-0 25 –
    2 Eads 0-0 17 –
    3 Deer Trail 0-0 12 –
    4 Hi-Plains 0-0 10 –
    5 Liberty/Stratton 0-0 7 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Otis 3, Briggsdale 1.

  • Regis Jesuit, Valor Christian, Kent Denver lead first boys golf polls

    Regis Jesuit (5A), Valor Christian (4A) and Kent Denver (3A) are the No. 1 teams in the first CHSAANow.com boys golf poll of the season.

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    CHSAANow.com Boys Golf Polls

    Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org.

    Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A

    Class 5A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS
    1 Regis Jesuit (5) 50 –
    2 Boulder 38 –
    3 Cherry Creek 36 –
    4 Fossil Ridge 24 –
    5 Columbine 21 –
    6 Ralston Valley 20 –
    7 Douglas County 18 –
    8 Arapahoe 16 –
    9 Fairview 14 –
    10 Heritage 12 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Pine Creek 9, Legacy 8, Rock Canyon 8, Monarch 5, Fruita Monument 3, ThunderRidge 2.

    Class 4A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS
    1 Valor Christian (3) 39 –
    2 Pueblo South (1) 31 –
    3 Silver Creek 28 –
    4 Coronado 22 –
    5 Windsor 21 –
    6 Cheyenne Mountain 17 –
    7 Elizabeth 15 –
    8 Montezuma-Cortez 13 –
    9 Thompson Valley 10 –
    10 Vista Ridge 8 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Battle Mountain 5, Evergreen 5, Mullen 3, D’Evelyn 2, Rifle 1.

    Class 3A
    RK TEAM W-L PTS
    1 Kent Denver (4) 47 –
    2 Holy Family 42 –
    3 Vail Christian 30 –
    4 Trinidad 26 –
    5 Aspen 23 –
    6 Estes Park 16 –
    7 Manitou Springs (1) 15 –
    8 Lutheran 13 –
    9 St. Mary’s 11 –
    10 Vail Mountain 10 –
    Others receiving votes:
    Sterling 8, The Classical Academy 8, Alexander Dawson 7, Florence 7, Peak to Peak 4, Colorado Academy 3, Alamosa 2, Jefferson Academy 2, Machebeuf 1.