It came down to a fourth-down conversion in overtime, then an extra point, but Gunnison survived.
No. 12-seeded Sterling pushed the No. 5 Cowboys to overtime on Saturday afternoon in the Class 2A football playoffs.
Tied at 22 at the end of regulation, Sterling scored on its possession in overtime, but went for two points and didn’t convert.
When it got the ball, Gunnison quickly faced a third-and-10. Gunnison quarterback Jake Wallin scrambled to the 1-yard-line to set up a 4th-and-1. The next play, running back Brady Wilson scored. The Cowboys then kicked the extra point to take a 29-28 win.
“It’s playoffs. A win is a win,” Wallin told the Gunnison Country Times afterward. “It doesn’t matter what the score is. If you win, you go on, if you lose, you’re taking your pads off for good. We’re excited to play another week.”
Gunnison advances to play Eaton, the No. 13 seed which upset No. 4 Lamar 41-20 on Saturday.
Eaton led 26-7 at halftime in that game. Lamar cut it to 26-14 with a score early in the third quarter, but Eaton pulled away with a 15-point fourth quarter.
Elsewhere in 2A:
No. 1 Brush rolled over No. 16 Moffat County 49-7. Brush will face No. 8 Faith Christian, which beat No. 9 Bayfield on Saturday.
No. 3 Strasburg handled No. 6 Florence 48-6. Strasburg scored on six of its first seven possessions, according to the Canon City Daily Record.
Platte Valley, seeded No. 6, beat No. 11 Bennett 30-15. It will face Strasburg in the quarterfinals.
No. 2 seed Kent Denver took care of No. 15 La Junta, 58-14. The Sun Devils will face No. 7 Montezuma-Cortez, which won a wild game on Friday night.
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Notables
No. 9 Platte Canyon pulled off the lone upset in the 1A playoffs, beating No. 8 Wray on the road, 30-14. It will play defending champion Paonia in the quarterfinals. Paonia, the top seed, beat No. 16 Wiggins 49-0.
In 8-man, No. 8 Vail Christian held off No. 9 Merino to win 38-34. Merino led this one 14-0 early before Vail Christian rallied to take a 24-20 halftime lead. Merino went back up 28-24, but Vail Christian grabbed the lead for good with a touchdown late in the third quarter. The Saints draw top-seeded Dayspring Christian, which is also the defending champion.
6-man‘s semifinals are set: No. 1 Arickaree/Woodlin will host No. 4 Fleming, while No. 3 Peetz will be at No. 2 Eads.
Higher-seeded teams went a combined 25-3 in the first rounds of the 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man playoffs.
Highlands Ranch volleyball celebrates its regional championship in 5A. (Via @RBWHRHSAthletic on Twitter)
Highlands Ranch dropped its first match of the Class 5A volleyball regionals on Saturday. It was a grueling, five-set affair — but that it went five sets later turned out to be a major advantage.
The Falcons rallied from dropping that match to later win 5A’s Region 11 in a tiebreak over Rocky Mountain, 25-15. With the win, Highlands Ranch moves on to the 5A state tournament.
But things looked bleak for a while.
For starters, since volleyball’s regionals moved to three-team pools a few years ago, the overwhelming majority of those advancing no longer drop a match. It has turned the tie-break scenario, once a common occurrence, into a rarity.
Ralston Valley, the region’s host and No. 11 seed in 5A, had already beaten No. 27 Rocky Mountain in four sets to open regional play.
So when No. 14 Highlands Ranch lost to Rocky Mountain in the region’s second match (19-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 16-14), it had one last-gasp shot at qualification: knock Ralston Valley off.
The Falcons did that, by a 3-1 margin. All three teams in the regional, at that point, were 1-1 — dusting off the tiebreak scenario. In the event of a three-way tie, two teams faceoff in a one-set playoff, with the winner facing the third in a second one-set playoff match.
Highlands Ranch volleyball poses with the regional championship trophy. (Via @RBWHRHSAthletic on Twitter)
Highlands Ranch was set aside for the first tie break because it had won a higher percentage of total sets played (5 of 9) during the regional compared to Ralston Valley (4 of 8) and Rocky Mountain (4 of 9). Rocky Mountain beat Ralston Valley 25-15 in that first tie-break, then advanced to play Highlands Ranch.
Highlands Ranch then won the second playoff match, 25-15, to advance to the state tournament.
The 5A field will consist of: Eaglecrest, Grandview, Regis Jesuit, Rampart, Chaparral, Pine Creek, Cherokee Trail, Chatfield, Cherry Creek, Fairview, Highlands Ranch and Legend
Headed to 4A’s state tournament are: Lewis-Palmer, Ponderosa, Cheyenne Mountain, Montrose, Valor Christian, Mullen, Mead, Berthoud, Battle Mountain, Pueblo West, Niwot and Air Academy.
In 3A’s tournament: Eaton, Valley, Bayfield, University, Colorado Springs Christian, Manitou Springs, Platte Valley, Sterling, Faith Christian, Pagosa Springs, Coal Ridge and Olathe.
Comprising the 2A field: Swink, Resurrection Christian, Paonia, Simla, Sargent, Yuma, Dolores and Colorado Springs School, as well as four Wildcard teams to be selected on Monday.
And 1A’s field: Sangre de Cristo, Kit Carson, Otis, Weldon Valley, Norwood, Springfield, Idalia and Fleming — as well as four additional Wildcard teams.
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Notables:
A seeding committee will meet on Monday morning to finalize the pools for the state tournaments. The Wildcard selections in 1A and 2A will be selected based on the MaxPreps Freeman Rankings published on Monday. The next four highest-ranked teams who made it to regionals but didn’t advance will be the selections.
All five defending champions have made a return trip to the state tournament. They are: Grandview (5A), Lewis-Palmer (4A), Eaton (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A).
Chatfield is the highest-remaining regional seed of any of the 5A, 4A and 3A regions. The Chargers were No. 17, and upset No. 8 Douglas County. (The 1A and 2A regions are not seeded across the classification, but instead set by district finish.)
Of those seeded regionals (5A-3A), the host teams went an astounding 70-2 in matches, including 212-36 in terms of sets won.
5A’s Region 10 wore out the courts in its first two matches. First, No. 10 Fairview rallied to beat No. 27 Rangeview in five sets — 26-28, 25-18, 17-25, 28-26, 15-13. Rangeview then turned around and went another five sets in losing to No. 15 Arapahoe, 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-9. The final match only went four sets, a 3-1 Fairview win over Arapahoe to claim the regional crown.
Kit Carson trailed its first match in 1A Region B 0-2, but rallied to take a five-set win (20-25, 12-25, 27-25, 25-15, 16-14) and later won the regional.
The Montrose volleyball team poses for a picture after winning a regional championship in Class 4A. (Tom Hoganson)
Eaglecrest is the No. 1 seed in 5A. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
AURORA — Eaglecrest, Lewis-Palmer and Eaton nabbed the top seeds when volleyball’s regional tournament brackets were released on Monday morning.
Eaglecrest is the top seed in the Class 5A field and is set to host No. 24 ThunderRidge and No. 36 Liberty in its regional.
Grandview, Regis Jesuit, Rampart, Chaparral, Pine Creek, Cherokee Trail, Douglas County, Cherry Creek, Fairview, Ralston Valley and Legend will also host regionals. See the full 5A bracket here.
The top 12 teams (and regional hosts) were all seeded strictly based upon the MaxPreps computer rankings at the regular season’s end. All league champions earned automatic bids to regionals, and the remaining teams were selected based on the same MaxPreps rankings.
Lewis-Palmer volleyball is 4A’s No. 1 seed. (Matt Daniels)
Lewis-Palmer heads the 4A field, and will host No. 24 The Classical Academy and No. 36 Weld Central. Ponderosa, Cheyenne Mountain, Montrose, Valor Christian, Mullen, Mead, Berthoud, Pueblo West, Niwot and Air Academy are also regional hosts.
The 3A regional tournament field is led by No. 1 Eaton, which will host No. 24 Middle Park and No. 36 Denver Science & Tech – Green Valley Ranch. This is the first postseason appearance for a GVR team in the school’s short history.
Other 3A regional hosts are Valley, Bayfield, University, Colorado Springs Christian, Manitou Springs, Platte Valley, Sterling, Faith Christian, Pagosa Springs, Coal Ridge and Olathe.
The 1A and 2A regional brackets were also released after those two classifications completed district play this past weekend. Those fields were not seeded by a committee, but instead the districts determined regional placement.
Elsewhere in 5A, Rampart continued to lead the way, and Grandview moved up three places from No. 5 to No. 2 after a week which included a win over then-No. 2 Eaglecrest.
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.
Regis Jesuit volleyball returned to the 5A poll this week. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
Regis Jesuit has returned to this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 5A volleyball rankings.
The Raiders went 3-0 last week and are now 11-6 this season. They returned to the poll at No. 10. Regis Jesuit was last ranked on Sept. 1.
Elsewhere in 5A, Grandview moved from No. 8 to No. 5.
Each of the five No. 1 teams stayed the same this week. Those are Rampart (5A), Lewis-Palmer (4A), Eaton (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A).
The 4A poll added Air Academy (No. 10), 3A added Faith Christian (No. 10), Cedaredge (No. 10) joined 2A and Norwood (also No. 10) was new to 1A.
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 media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Eaglecrest is No. 2 in this week’s 5A volleyball rankings. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
There was some upheaval in the Class 5A volleyball rankings this week as both Eaglecrest and Cherokee Trail moved into the top five.
The Raptors (10-2) jumped from No. 5 to No. 2 in CHSAANow.com’s poll, while Cherokee Trail went from No. 6 to No. 3.
Rampart received 11 first-place votes and remained atop the 5A poll. The ranking added Denver East at No. 10 this week.
Each of the other No. 1 teams remained the same this week, as well, including Lewis-Palmer (4A), Eaton (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A).
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 media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Valor escaped with a 23-21 win thanks to a game-sealing interception from Brian Dawkins Jr. in the final minute.
It was the second-straight league game in which Valor (5-1) got all it could handle. Last week, Centennial foe Overland hung until midway through the fourth quarter before the Eagles’ ran off 21-unanswered points to win 35-10.
Valor Christian’s Dylan McCaffrey, pictured earlier this season. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
This week, Eaglecrest led 14-7 after the first quarter as Elijah Ross found Peter Anderson twice on long touchdown passes. Valor then scored 16 straight points to take a 23-14 halftime lead.
But Eaglecrest (3-3) wouldn’t go away. The Raptors’ Glenn Washington scored on a 25-yard run with 7:52 to play in the third quarter to make it 23-21.
After that, each team’s offense stalled as turnovers and penalties ruled the night.
Eaglecrest did get the ball back with just over two minutes to play in the game, but was backed up as Valor downed a punt at the 4-yard-line.
The Raptors weren’t able to move the ball, but the Eagles were flagged for roughing the passer on fourth down, giving Eaglecrest a first down at their own 16. Two plays later, Dawkins picked off the pass to seal the win.
Dylan McCaffrey finished with 184 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and Eric Lee Jr. had 106 yards rushing — including an 84-yard score. Jarred Kendziorski made a 28-yard field goal which proved to be the difference.
Valor Christian’s in-state winning streak now stands at 27 games. The Eagles play Cherokee Trail next week.
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1A: (1) Paonia 22, (3) Meeker 16
Paonia trailed 16-14 with less than two minutes to play, but was able to drive down and get what was ultimately the winning score when Taylor Walters found tight end Joel Simianer for a 4-yard touchdown with 34 seconds to play.
“It was just kids making plays, and we were fortunate enough to come out on top,” Paonia coach Brent McCrae told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show. “We actually had a big fourth-down conversion (on the final drive), where we just trusted our O-line; they pushed the pile. And then we had a pretty big pass play … on a third-down and long. Two biggies there.”
Meeker did drive down and had the ball in the red zone, but Paonia held on for the win.
“We were fortunate enough to have a linebacker to make the tackle just as time expired,” McCrae said. “I think they were on the (5-yard-line) at that point.”
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2A: (1) Brush 32, (4) Platte Valley 28
Brush got its first real big test of the year, and passed.
“It was a heck of a battle,” Brush coach Randy Dreitz told the Scoreboard Show. “They’re a very good football team.”
The Beetdiggers had a great third quarter, where they expanded a 13-7 halftime lead to 28-14, and then Michael Gutierrez’s 20-yard rushing score with eight minutes to play made it 34-21.
Platte Valley did cut things to a six-point game with two minutes remaining, but Brush held on and defended its No. 1-ranking.
“The difference was that we held them more than they held us. If you get one play here or there where you can hold them and take it down and score, I think that was the key,” Dreitz said. “Our kids played really well tonight, but their kids played hard. It was a definite battle.”
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1A: Wray 14, (5) Burlington 12
The Eagles pulled off the upset.
“We’ve play each other so many times over the years. We know what we’re doing against each other,” Wray coach Levi Kramer told the Scoreboard Show. “It really comes down to who’s going to make the plays at the end of the games, and turnovers. We had one tonight, and they had a couple. It comes down to that.”
Wray started 1-3 but is now 3-3 after two straight wins.
“(The kids) could have very easily just said, ‘This is the year we’re going to be down,’ or whatever, but they refused to do that,” Kramer said.
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2A: (9) Gunnison 39, (10) Bayfield 14
The Cowboys led 24-0 at halftime, and 31-6 midway through the fourth quarter. They cruised from there.
“Offensively, we just got off the bus tonight … and our boys were just ready to play,” Gunnison coach Bob Howard told the Scoreboard Show. “We had a pretty good mix tonight of run and pass.”
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8-man: (1) Dayspring Christian 32, (2) Akron 20
For the second week in a row, Dayspring came out on top of a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.
The Eagles were up 20-6 at halftime, but Akron battled back to tie the game at 20 after three quarters. Dayspring then rattled off the game’s final 12 points to stay unbeaten.
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4A: (8) Greeley West 14, (4) Windsor 0
The Spartans are now 6-0, and have a feather in their cap after this win. They led 14-0 early in the second, and the score held up.
Running back Alex DeLaCroix had both of Greeley West’s touchdowns, the first on a 14-yard run, the second on a 7-yard catch.
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Notables
D’Evelyn quarterback Owen Burke had another record performance on Friday night. He threw for 530 yards and four touchdowns as D’Evelyn lost to No. 10 Conifer, 38-35, in 3A. Burke threw for 535 last week. The 535 yards were No. 5 all time last week, while the 530 are No. 6 this week. In his last two games, Baker has thrown for 1,065 yards and nine touchdowns. He has 1,762 yards this season.
Antonito beat Cotopaxi 83-56. The 139 combined points are now the ninth-most in state history.
Luke Nethercot threw for six touchdowns in Canon City’s 45-27 win over Lewis-Palmer on Friday. Technically, that’s tied for eighth-best all-time, though 28 others have done it, as well. He’s a sophomore.
TeQuan Baker rushed for 344 yards and three touchdowns in 5A No. 10 Doherty’s 34-14 win over Legend. He now has 1,328 yards this season, which is second in the state. Baker’s gone over 100 yards in all six games, and over 200 yards in five of six. His 18 touchdowns lead the state.
No. 4 Holy Family handled No. 8 Berthoud 43-7 in a battle of ranked 3A teams. Holy Family actually trailed 7-6 after the first quarter. “I think the hype of the game got to our kids a little bit,” coach Mike Gabriel told the Scoreboard Show. “But then we kind of settled in and pulled away.” Ultimately, the Tigers scored the game’s final 43 points.
Is this the biggest turnaround in 2014? Mountain Valley is now 6-0 in 6-man football. The Indians were 1-7 last year, and didn’t field a team in 2012 because of low numbers. Wow.
Mountain Vista is 6-0 in 5A following a 34-7 win over Rock Canyon on Friday night. The Golden Eagles — who had a pink-out on Friday — should be sniffing the top-10 come Monday.
