All but one boys golf regional completed play last week, and that made for a number of changes to CHSAANow.com’s boys golf polls this week.
The No. 1 teams — Regis Jesuit (5A), Valor Christian (4A) and Alexander Dawson (3A) — stayed put, but a total of seven new teams joined the rankings. In 5A, Fossil Ridge (No. 8) and Grand Junction (No. 10) joined; 4A added Coronado (No. 7), Steamboat Springs (No. 9) and Thompson Valley (No. 10); while new to 3A were Eaton (No. 5), and Aspen (No. 7).
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.
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.
The expectations were already high. Now, perhaps, things have been kicked up a notch.
ThunderRidge, coming off a 36-18 win over then-No. 3 Ralston Valley, took over atop the CHSAANow.com football poll in 5A this week. The Grizzlies had been No. 2, but jumped Valor Christian, which lost in overtime to Bingham (Utah).
Valor has yet to play an in-state opponent this season, and the four-time defending champion still received half of the first-place votes. Still, the Eagles are No. 2 this week.
Cherry Creek had its own big win last week — over then-No. 6 Pomona — and moved up on place to No. 3.
Grandview (No. 4) also moved up one place, and faces ThunderRidge this week.
Columbine went from No. 7 to No. 5 to round out the top five.
Ralston Valley settled in sixth following its loss, Regis Jesuit is seventh and Fairview is eighth.
The 5A top-ten is rounded out by two newcomers: Chatfield (No. 9) and Grand Junction (No. 10).
In 4A, Monarch continued its hold on the No. 1 spot. Denver South moved up to second, and the ranking added Standley Lake at No. 9.
Class 1A also got a new No. 1 team this week with Buena Vista taking over at the top.
Pomona 42, Cherokee Trail 40, Arapahoe 34, Douglas County 20, Doherty 8, Horizon 4, Legend 2, Mullen 2, Mountain Range 1, Mountain Vista 1.
Dropped out
Pomona (6), Cherokee Trail (8).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Monarch (19)
2-0
192
1
2
Denver South (1)
2-0
170
3
3
Pueblo West
2-0
120
7
4
Montrose
3-0
113
5
5
Wheat Ridge
1-1
98
2
6
Falcon
2-0
96
6
7
Loveland
2-0
88
8
8
Pine Creek
1-1
70
4
9
Standley Lake
2-0
31
–
10
Windsor
1-1
29
9
Others receiving votes:
Montbello 15, Dakota Ridge 14, Mesa Ridge 14, Durango 13, Pueblo Centennial 9, Longmont 7, Vista Ridge 5, Sand Creek 4, Ponderosa 3, Widefield 3, Green Mountain 2, Pueblo South 2, Thompson Valley 2.
Dropped out
Dakota Ridge (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Silver Creek (8)
2-0
124
1
2
Discovery Canyon
3-0
97
2
3
Rifle (4)
2-0
89
3
4
Holy Family
2-0
80
6
5
Conifer
2-0
79
5
6
Palisade
2-0
53
8
7
Lutheran (1)
3-0
50
9
8
Coronado (1)
3-0
45
–
9
Roosevelt
1-1
35
7
10
Elizabeth
1-1
28
4
Others receiving votes:
Eagle Valley 16, Pueblo East 15, Northridge 10, Erie 4.
Dropped out
D’Evelyn (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
1
Platte Valley (7)
2-0
79
1
2
Brush (1)
2-0
64
4
3
Kent Denver
1-1
62
3
4
Florence
1-1
45
2
5
La Junta
2-0
40
6
6
Strasburg
2-0
36
8
7
Eaton
1-1
33
5
8
Manitou Springs
1-0
18
10
9
Lamar
2-0
16
9
10
Bayfield
1-1
12
–
Others receiving votes:
Fort Lupton 11, Denver West 7, Faith Christian 7, Ridgeview Academy 6, University 2, Aspen 1, KIPP 1.
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.
Heritage 5, Chaparral 4, Fort Collins 2, Fruita Monument 2, Abraham Lincoln 0, Arvada West 0, Aurora Central 0, Bear Creek 0, Brighton 0, Castle View 0.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
PTS
PVS
1
Kent Denver (3)
39
1
2
Niwot (1)
36
2
3
Colorado Academy
31
3
4
Cheyenne Mountain
28
4
5
Air Academy
24
5
6
Steamboat Springs
17
7
7
Valor Christian
16
8
8
Mullen
12
9
9
Discovery Canyon
10
6
10
Greeley Central
6
–
Others receiving votes:
Vail Mountain 1, Alameda 0, Alexander Dawson 0, Arvada 0, Aspen 0, Broomfield 0, C.S. Christian 0, C.S. School 0, Canon City 0, Cedaredge 0.
Prairie View’s Alex Munoz tackles Grand Junction’s Theron Verna while Jack Parsons looks on during the first half. (Kathy Schneider/MetroWest Newspapers)
HENDERSON — Mother Nature threatened to ruin the 2013 football opener for Grand Junction and Prairie View, but the teams got the last laugh in staging one of the wildest games of the early season.
After a delayed start, the visitors walked off the field at 11:12 p.m. with a 61-42 win that resembled more of a 6-man football game.
The game was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but a severe thunderstorm prompted game managers to, wisely, postpone the start until 8:05. The teams started an abbreviated warm-up only to be pulled off the field by game officials for another delay. By the time the teams returned, it was nearly 8:45.
Prairie View’s Skylar Severance (84) grabs a hold of Grand Junction running back Austin Lewis. (Kathy Schneider/MetroWest Newspapers)
The Tigers opened the game by trying an onside kick, but Prairie View covered the kick. PVHS struggled on it first possession and GJHS’s Tanner Griffin blocked the punt and then recovered it in the end zone. PVHS got its first score when Anthony Prespotino recovered a muffed punt in the end zone. Jessica Dunn’s first of six PATs gave the Thunderhawks a short-lived lead at 7-6.
That started the scoring onslaught and created nightmares for both defenses. The score was 21-18 after the first quarter in favor of Prairie View and 31-28 Grand Junction at the half.
Grand Junction added a pair of scores early in the third, took at 46-28 lead at 9:37 in the third and thwarted numerous attempts from the potent Thunderhawk offense to start 1-0.
Both teams’ offenses had plenty of stars. The Tigers quarterback Tyler Heinsma threw for over 250 yards and three TDs. Theron Verna was a force in the game, scoring on passes of 73 and 22 yards and taking a pitch from Heinsma and sprinting 58 yards to score. Austin Lewis had three scores on a pass and two runs.
Not to be outdone, Prairie View’s RJ Martinez is a home run threat every time he touches the ball, especially on kickoffs where he amassed over 100 return yards and had an 80-yard kickoff return called back by penalty. Cole Barone had two scoreds on runs of 56 and 68 yards for Prairie View, while quarterback Ben Meraz added a 46-yard TD run of his own.
Stormy weather forced Grand Junction and Prairie View to delay their kickoff until 8:45 p.m. (Bert Borgmann/CHSAANow.com)
