Longmont is ranked No. 8 in 4A this week. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Longmont and Windsor have joined CHSAANow.com’s Class 4A football rankings this week.
The Trojans beat then-No. 7 Greeley West 23-14 last week. They are ranked No. 8 in the 4A poll.
Windsor, meanwhile, handled Thompson Valley 50-7. The Wizards are No. 9.
Pine Creek remained in the No. 1 spot, has it has since the preseason. In fact, the top six teams all stayed put — including No. 2 Montrose, No. 3 Fort Collins, No. 4 Denver South, No. 5 Pueblo South and No. 6 Vista Ridge.
Dakota Ridge moved up to No. 7, while Greeley West fell to No. 10
Canon City was the lone newcomer in the 3A poll, which continued to be led by Discovery Canyon.
It’s the final week of the regular season in 4A and 3A, meaning these will also be the final rankings of the season. Classes 5A, 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man all released playoff brackets on Sunday.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Quarterback Cody Summers and Grandview are now the top-ranked team in Class 5A football. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Grandview, now 8-0, is the new No. 1 team in CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings this week.
The Wolves took over the top spot previously occupied by Valor Christian, which lost an in-state game for the first time in 28 outings on Friday when then-No. 9 Cherry Creek upset the Eagles 33-17.
Led by senior Andrew Wingard, Ralston Valley is No. 2 in the 5A poll. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Ralston Valley also had a good claim to the top ranking. The Mustangs are 8-0, too, and won a monster game over then-No. 3 Pomona on Friday. They settled into the No. 2 spot this week, just 10 overall points behind Grandview.
Grandview received 10 first-place votes; Ralston Valley got five.
Meanwhile, Fairview moved up two places to No. 3 after escaping an upset bid from Fossil Ridge.
Pomona dropped one spot to fourth, Cherry Creek rocketed up from No. 9 to No. 5, and Valor fell all the way to sixth. Regis Jesuit is seventh, dropping one place despite a good win over then-No. 7 Mountain Vista.
Rocky Mountain remained at No. 8, Mountain Vista fell to No. 9 and Doherty rejoined the 5A poll at No. 10.
Speaking to the uncertainty in the 5A ranking at the moment, spots Nos. 4-7 are separated by a mere five points. Things could get much more clouded â Valor Christian and Grandview play in their regular season finale on Friday.
In the other six classificatoins, none of the top-ranked teams were displaced. It means Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man) stayed on top.
There were no newcomers in the 4A ranking this week, though 3A added Palisade (No. 10), and St. Mary’s (No. 9). Eaton (No. 10) joined the 2A poll. 1A added Crowley County (No. 10), and North Park joined 6-man’s ranking at No. 9.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
Fountain-Fort Carson is ranked No. 10 in 5A this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
Buoyed by its four-overtime win against Doherty on Friday night, Fountain-Fort Carson cracked CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings on Monday.
The Trojans, now 6-1, entered the poll at No. 10. They have won their last five games.
Elsewhere in 5A, Valor Christian stayed atop the ranking after receiving ten of the 16 first-place votes. Grandview, which got four first-place votes after its big win against Cherry Creek, returned to the No. 2 spot this week.
Pomona is third, and Ralston Valley is fourth. Those two cross-town rivals play one another on Friday night.
Fairview rounds out 5A’s top five, Regis Jesuit is sixth, Mountain Vista moved up to No. 7 and Rock Mountain is No. 8. Cherry Creek fell three places to No. 9.
The other No. 1 teams also remained put, including Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
Newcomers (or returners to the rankings) this week include Dakota Ridge (No. 9 in 4A); Berthoud (No. 9, 3A); Fort Morgan (No. 10, 3A); Sterling (No. 9, 2A); and Cheyenne Wells (No. 10, 6-man).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding, except in 5A where they are used as part of the seeding criteria.
EVERGREEN — In the bottom of the seventh inning, Josh Bellatti sat on a fastball and drove it the opposite way, clearing the outfield fence, but in foul territory. When that same pitch came across the plate again, he didn’t miss.
Josh Bellatti’s three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh gave the Evergreen Cougars a 7-4 win over Lewis-Palmer allowing them to claim the 4A District 2 title and move on in the 4A state playoffs.
The win capped off a roller coaster of a game that had the Cougars up 4-0, only to lose the lead in the top half of the seventh and win the game in walk-off fashion. They did it all without their ace pitcher, Brock Burke, who threw seven strong innings in the day’s first game to advance the Cougars to the district title game.
“The team we just beat is a very good team, up and down the lineup,” Cougars coach Dale Hutchings said. “But our guys stayed right with it and pitch-by-pitch, play-by-play they did a great job.”
A 3-1 win over the Air Academy Kadets earlier in the day earned the Cougars the right to play for a chance to move on. The Cougars fell behind early as Air Academy third baseman Jeremy Hockmuth crushed a home run to center field in the first inning. Burke didn’t let that phase him and would go on to strikeout 13 Kadets en route to the win.
“The fastball was working. I kept looking off the curveball, but the fastball was working really well,” Burke said. “I figured (the home run) was a fluke thing and the next time he (Hockmuth) came up I threw three straight fastballs and he didn’t touch one of them.”
The Rangers were dominant themselves in their first game of the day. They found themselves in a pitchers duel with Fort Morgan and their ace Jared Bohm, but after a few adjustments, they were able to start making contact with the ball, grabbing a 3-0 lead on three-straight singles in the fourth inning. Paul Tillotson added a home run in the fifth to give the Rangers a clean 4-0 win, setting up their game with the Cougars.
“We talked to the team — the game is all about corrections — and so after the first two innings we started making corrections and crowding the plate a little bit more,” Rangers coach Tom McCabe said. “They made good adjustments and we expected a good game out of (pitcher Colin) Cicere and we got more than we expected to tell you the truth.”
The Rangers once again found themselves in an offensive funk early in their game against the Cougars. Through the first four innings they mustered only two hits and failed to score a run. The Cougars on the other hand, were able to get to Tillotson — the staff ace for the Rangers — early.
A couple of a errors and a wild pitch in the second inning allowed the Cougars to get on the game first and the frustration got to the sophomore hurler as he gave up a two-run home run to catcher Dylan Schmoker. Daniel Gibbins added a solo-shot in the fourth, putting the Cougars up 4-0.
“Defense is part of the game, you make an error here and an error there,” McCabe said. “It’s acceptable and our boys did a great job.”
Hope was not lost for the Rangers, however, as a fifth inning, three-run home run by leftfielder Conner Weeth pulled Lewis-Palmer to within a run. The Rangers would find that run in the top of the seventh as Weeth walked and was moved to third on a Tillotson single. The Cougars intentionally walked Conner Haws setting up a P.J. Underwood game-tying single.
Despite still having the bases loaded with one out, the Rangers wouldn’t be able to bring in another run and the two teams went into the bottom of the seventh tied 4-4.
It was there that two runners would reach, and a swing of the bat from Josh Bellatti would bring everyone in and keep in the Cougars in the hunt for a state championship.
“Their pitcher was having trouble with the off-speed pitch so I knew he was going fastballs all the way,” Josh Bellatti said. “I usually like to pull the ball but I knew with two strikes he wouldn’t give me anything good to hit and he was working that outside corner so I knew if I was going to put the ball in play I would have to hit it to right field.”
The walk-off win for the Cougars capped an exciting day in the 4A field that saw three of the state’s top four seeds fall. Evergreen now moves on to the state bracket which will be played next weekend.
