The rivalry between Pueblo Central and Pueblo Centennial might as well mark the beginning of high school athletics in Colorado.
The two teams first squared off in 1892, nearly 20 years before the formation of what is now the Colorado High School Activities Association. It is often regarded as the oldest high school rivalry in the western United States.
Central won the first matchup. NFL Hall of Famer Earl “Dutch” Clark helped the Wildcats claim the win in his final two seasons at Central (1924-25).
In 1950, a new wrinkle was added to the annual game as the victory bell was introduced and the winner has been taking it home ever since.
Fast forward to present day and the Bell Game is still a must-see event in the realm of Colorado High School football. Over 15,000 people pack Dutch Clark Stadium and clear battle lines are drawn. Fans are either going red or going blue.
With the craziness that surrounds the game, Central athletic director Mike Kovac and coach Kris Cotterman joined Centennial athletic director John Ward and coach Jeff Wilkerson to chat about the intensity of Bell Game week and just how important it is to each school.
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How is the Monday of Bell Game week different than a typical week in your building?
Kovac: There’s more hype and anticipation of the game because there’s so much tradition in it. With the tradition and everything leading up to the game that week, there’s just a lot of anticipation not only from the students and the staff, but the community as well.
Ward: We have so many things happening. Number one, we have the community coming into the school to buy tickets. We have our boosters, our other clubs, all selling merchandise and goes really big that week. It looks like a little mini Walmart in front of our athletic office. We have like eight tables of stuff; the official bell game t-shirt and all the other Centennial gear. It feels like Black Friday. Everybody has to get all their stuff and it’s the biggest sale day of the year because everyone’s in there trying to get tickets. I can tell you that there have been times where the game sold out by around lunch time the next day. I know there have been times where they may be sold out late on the first day.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
How about the players? Do they come into practice any differently than they would on a regular week?
Cotterman: I think they’re more excited. As we’ve gotten better, practices really haven’t changed that much but definitely I think there’s more enthusiasm. From a standpoint of do that practice harder? Probably not. We’ve gotten to the point where they’re practicing pretty hard anyway. But there’s definitely excitement and through the week there’s always something going on at the school. So there’s a lot of excitement for sure.
Wilkerson: They’re really locked in and focused. They, they tend to forget about the last week a little bit quicker than normal weeks. Our student body does a great job of celebrating that game, but as far as their mood they’re absolutely locked in and focused.
From an administrative standpoint, what’s the biggest challenge you face that week?
Kovac: The scheduling of the week, because there are so many different things going on. And then you get wrapped in with our regular school day and other sports going on, we’re just trying to make sure that we’re doing things right and making it accessible to as many kids as possible during the week.
Ward: It’s always really great at the beginning of that week. Everybody’s excited in a good mood and so on. So we typically have hardly any issues with (student behavior). It’s all about trying to meet everybody’s needs because everybody has something that they’re trying to get or want or how can I help them get their table? How can I help someone who wants you to donate tickets for a gift basket? Everybody’s got something that I need to help them with. So I guess my biggest challenge is just finding the time to give everybody adequate time and, and listen and be able to help them out as best as I possibly can.
How much of a difference do you see in the seniors playing in their last one to the freshmen playing in their first?
Wilkerson: I think it depends on if you won it or lost it for the seniors. If you get that taste of winning the bell you want to keep winning it and winning it and winning it. You want to do it in front of the 15,000 people. I think the younger kids are taking in the whole aspect of it, the whole atmosphere of it, as they’re coming through at that age, but once they get to be a senior they want to win it as many times as possible and especially their last year.
Cotterman: It’s a big difference. We always suit up our entire team, freshmen through seniors, for the Bell Game, just to get them used to it. I can always tell around the freshmen when they see everyone in the crowd and their eyes are as big as can be. By the time they’re seniors, especially this senior class since it will be my fourth year, a lot of these kids will be in their third year starting in it. They’re determined to win it.
What’s happening in your building that week that’s different from anything else going on in Colorado high school football?
Ward: The biggest thing is the huge focus on the game itself and everything that goes into making it successful. For example, we have a 10- or 12-page script that goes through all the times of which team is going to come out of the tunnel and which team is going to have warm ups at this time. It’s so choreographed. I can only imagine what it’s like when you’re doing a Big 10 or an SEC football game. There is all this stuff going on and that you have to prepare for. The preparation level has to be by far probably something that the average high school and or AD doesn’t experience. People say that there’s probably more going on with this game than even the state playoffs.
Kovac: It has to be the traditions and the community support and just how much the community is so involved whether it’s attendance at the assembly or something after school, the Bell Bash as we call it, that is usually the night before the game. If there is a big event here at the school, the community is welcome to attend. There’s a lot of energy and it’s crazy and fun.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
How much does emotion come into play for the players during this game?
Cotterman: Just from the crowd alone and the noise it makes, it definitely provides a lot of ups and downs and that’s not lost on us. How big this rivalry is and how big it is for our community and how much fun it is. We definitely feel the emotions before the game and even after the game win or lose.
Wilkerson: We tend to say let it build. That’s our motto. We start out calm and cool. I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily having a good time on Monday, but we’re more relaxed. And then as the week builds, our intensity builds a lot more as we go. And then Friday you just let it loose.
When you get to gameday is there a sense that all the work and intensity of the week pays off?
Kovac: For me personally, I don’t think I get to experience it like the crowd does because there’s so much stuff going on and a lot of it is so scripted in terms of how that game is going to be run and all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding it. So if it’s the coin toss and we’ve invited alumni back to be part of that, having little things like having them down on the field, ready to do their thing. I don’t get to enjoy like the crowd that everybody else does because you know, whether it’s me or (John), we are in the midst of just trying to make sure that it’s going off, so it’s smooth and everybody can enjoy what it’s all about.
Ward: I really start to feel a great sense of relief. I usually get to the stadium about 4:30, about two and a half hours before kickoff. At that point everything’s done and you can really kind of take it in and visit with people. I would say really it kind of it’s all in place by then. There’s a thing or two going on or a question about when are we going to announce the 50/50 raffle. But other than that, I think right when I get to the stadium at 4:30, I know everything is done.
Neither of you guys have experienced it both ways, but what do you think is better, winning to take possession of the Bell or successfully defending it?
Wilkerson: That’s kind of tough for me because next year will be the first year that I have to went back. It swings our school atmosphere for sure, whether you have the bell or not.
Cotterman: And I’ve never defended it. Winning it was pretty special. I do have a unique experience just from the fact that when I took over the team there we were 0-10, and if you look at the point differential from before, they’ve been three pretty good games. We’ve been lucky enough to win one, but I do look forward to defending it.
Where does the Bell Game stand with other notable rivalries in Colorado?
Cotterman: It’s the biggest rivalry In the state of Colorado, no question. It’s probably the best venue in the state of Colorado to play at. The fans pack it out and the community supports it. It’s funny, last year I had to go get some license plates and I walked in the courthouse and it’s stacked with signs for Central and Centennial. That whole week the community gets around it. I don’t think there’s anywhere close to a bigger rivalry than Centennial and Central.
Wilkerson: It doesn’t. I don’t see 15,000 people going to other stadiums on a given night like they do to watch these two teams play. And there’s such a rich history behind it with all the bad blood and good blood and all that kind of stuff. I don’t see anything like it anywhere else.
[dropcap size=big]F[/dropcap]ollowing the fall season in 1921, high school basketball squads began preparing for the upcoming season which was slated to be a special one. It was the first basketball season to be played under the umbrella of the Colorado High School Athletic Conference — or the Colorado High School Activities Association, as it is known today.
There was an aura of confusion and uncertainty surrounding the initial season of organized scholastic football.
The structure of the basketball season as it had previously been played allowed for more certainty and fewer chances out of an outside team claiming the rights to a state champion. After all, four previous unsanctioned championship tournaments had been played with no debate looming over the winners.
So the 1922 boys basketball season, the first season to be sanctioned by a statewide organization, should’ve gone off with little to no controversy.
But that’s not what happened.
A major rule was broken by a dominant team and the ensuing fallout greatly changed the landscape.
This is the story of that season.
• • •
Sanctioning the tournament
Fort Collins Courier | Feb. 17, 1922
[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he idea of a state basketball tournament first arose in 1918. After Boulder Prep High School had soundly beaten all of the teams in its area, it craved tougher opponents.
As CHSAA assistant commissioner Bert Borgmann wrote in Rocky Mountain Basketball, a collection of historical Colorado basketball stories, “Boosters from the University of Colorado rounded up ten teams from across the state for a round-robin tournament.”
Colorado Springs (now Palmer High School) claimed the first three championships, and Greeley won the fourth.
The format was working well in its time, but it was missing something in the way of official recognition. The development of the Colorado High School Athletic Conference in the spring of 1921 brought high schools throughout the state under one athletic umbrella.
Although the format for crowning the state basketball champion was in place, there was still the formality of making the tournament official in the eyes of the new state conference.
Basketball season had already started, but on Feb. 16, 1922, the executive committee of the Colorado High School Athletic Conference gathered on an unseasonably warm, 58-degree day in Colorado Springs.
The purpose of the meeting was to “support the state basketball tournament as conducted by the Boosters club of the University of Colorado,” the Fort Collins Courier the following day.
Getting to the tournament was a relatively simple concept: The winners of six leagues throughout the state would all convene in Boulder, where they would play five games in a matter of three days. At the time, the leagues were the Arkansas Valley, Northern, Northeastern, South Central, Southern, and the Western Slope.
The state championship would be awarded to the team with the best record after those five games.
The executive committee consisted of four divisional representatives that spoke on behalf of the six leagues made up throughout the state.
Professor R.W. Truscott of Loveland High School represented the northern district, which consisted of the northern and northeastern leagues. Truscott had been the temporary president of the Colorado High School Athletic Conference from May-October 1921, was a member of the initial board of control, and later the organization’s commissioner from 1926-48. He also officiated the first football championship game on Nov. 24, 1921.
Rocky Ford’s C.M. Wilson attended the meeting on behalf of the southern district. Professor J.J. Coy out of South Denver was the rep for the central district, and Grand Junction’s J.C. Maley attended for the western district.
Also on the agenda for the meeting was a “remodeling” of the football constitution, which had been first used the previous fall. That issue was to be taken up at the principals conference the following spring.
But the primary objective had been set. The state tournament for the season that had already begun play was now an official event and was to be recognized by the state league.
• • •
The regular season
Pueblo Chieftain | Jan. 5, 1922
[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he athletic rivalry between Pueblo Central and Pueblo Centennial was just beginning to heat up heading into the 1922 basketball season.
It had started in 1892 when the two teams met on the football field for the first time. In what is now known as the “Bell Game,” the rivalry between Central and Centennial is nearly as old as American sports as a whole.
Heading into the basketball season in 1922, it was widely believed that the South Central League title would be won by one of these two teams.
Central had advanced to the 1921 tournament. Vernon Cochran, the center and captain for the Wildcats, was the team’s lone selection to the All-State team that year.
Across town, the Centennial Bulldogs were also gearing up to start the year as they, too, played their first game on the road. They traveled to neighboring Canon City, which was in the South Central League along with Central, Centennial, Trinidad and Florence.
In a Chieftain article dated Jan. 5, the team was “rounding into midseason form thru their strenuous workouts under the directions of Coaches Doubenmier and [Williard Stanley] Kettering and the team is confident they will defeat Canon City Friday night in the opening game of the conference schedule.”
Both the Bulldogs and Wildcats entered the year confident that they could be the South Central representative at the state tournament, but it was Centennial proving their dominance as they took the first of two games against its crosstown rival.
The headline of the Jan. 18 Chieftain proclaimed it to be an “exciting basketball game” as Centennial got a 22-17 win. Central’s Hughes led all scorers with eight points while Hatfield Chilson led the Bulldogs with six.
They met again on Feb. 17, with the Bulldogs getting a more decisive 29-14 win to all but lock up the league title. Centennial actually dropped its first game of the year to Canon City but won every game from there on out and led the South Central league in scoring with 331 points. They also held their opponents to just 156 on the year, and finished the regular season 7-1.
It was this level of play that gave the Bulldogs confidence that they were coming back from Boulder with a state championship.
That confidence radiated throughout the city. In a Chieftain article dated March 8, reporter Harry Kletzky identified Colorado Springs as the most formidable foe. Kletzky then pointed out the high level of play that Centennial displayed in a practice game against the Steel Works “Y” team.
“If Centennial plays as good a game as they did when they defeated the Steel Works ‘Y,’ which they will, it will be practically impossible for the Terrors to defeat the South Central champions,” Kletzky wrote.
The Bulldogs took that confidence and boarded a 5:45 a.m. train to Boulder on March 8 to battle for a state title as the South Central champions.
Also set to take part in the inaugural state tournament:
Lamar Register | March 15, 1922
Gunnison, champions of the Western Slope, who had stormed through their conference. On March 1, the Top O’ The World in Gunnison reported on two regular season wins the team had by using this lede: “The week-end rampage of the Gunnison Cowboys over the Western Slope proved disastrous for the villages in that locality.” They cruised through the league tournament with wins over Delta (55-16), Paonia (65-19) and Telluride (51-25), before beating Montrose 33-27 in the finals in front of 1,200 fans on March 4.
Arkansas Valley champion Fowler, which entered its league tournament an impressive 15-0. They beat Holly in the final to win the league.
Southern league champion Colorado Springs, who were widely regarded as the best all-around athletic department in the state, and who had just won the first football championship in the fall.
Northeastern champion Yuma, described as “fine, clean young athletes” by the Wray Rattler on Jan. 12, won its league tournament with a 23-15 win over Holyoke, a 25-24 win over Merino and a 15-9 win over Fort Morgan. Despite winning the tournament, Yuma didn’t have a single player named to the all-conference team.
The final participant was an unidentified Northern champion.
Events were unfolding in the up north that would have significant implications on the state tournament.
• • •
Chaos in the Northern league
[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he archives at Greeley Central High School did not paint an optimistic picture of the 1922 season for the Greeley Wildcats.
The unsanctioned 1921 state title had been won by Greeley and the team afterwards played the Wyoming state champions, winning the battle of Rocky Mountain championship teams.
But according to the Greeley Central archives, “All of the members of the team that had won the 1921 state championship and defeated the champions of Wyoming, had been graduated from school.”
The Greeley High School gym in 1921. (Greeley Museums)
Greeley was starting from scratch.
But at the bare minimum, they had a solid example to build off. The 1921 Wildcats had played their way to the final unsanctioned state championship just a year earlier. While the 1922 version of the team was seen as a bit of an underdog, the 1921 Greeley squad ventured to Boulder as the heavy favorite.
The Wildcats knocked off Wheat Ridge in the first game of the 1921 tournament before coming back the next day to beat Pueblo Central and Simla. They then knocked off Fort Morgan and Steamboat Springs to become just the second team to win a state title since the inception of the tournament three years earlier. They also sent three players to the All-State team giving the Wildcats the most representation of any team in the tournament.
The Wildcats were loaded with seniors who would depart the school leaving the basketball program with an inexperienced group of kids coming back the next season.
What Greeley lacked in experience, it made up for with a pool of athletes from which they could pull. Joe Enright had just come off a football season where he had earned a varsity letter, as had Ruel Heck and Sidney Smith.
From a league standpoint, the Wildcats were going to be challenged by Boulder Prep High School, a team that had proven to be dangerous on an annual basis despite not being able to claim a state championship since the inception of the tournament.
The Wildcats had quite the task ahead of them for the year. They were one of four Colorado schools to face off against East Salt Lake out of Utah through the course of the season. A Jan. 25 Courier article says the Wildcats downed the out of state visitors 30-23. East Salt Lake also lost to Colorado Springs on its trip.
Through the course of the season, the Wildcats played a successful brand of basketball and was every bit in contention for the Northern league championship. They had to somehow get through a tough Boulder team, but the hand of fate was about hand Greeley a big assist.
On Jan. 24, the Courier published its first recorded score of a Greeley High game as the Wildcats downed Eaton 33-9. But just a few column inches below this report, the first signs of trouble for Boulder were published.
When the idea of a state basketball championship first arose in Colorado, the city of Boulder was the unofficial hub. As Borgmann documented in Rocky Mountain Basketball, the Boulder Prep High School team had beaten all of its area opponents and needed something more to validate its status as a basketball powerhouse.
That wish was granted and Boulder made it to the championship game before getting beat by Colorado Springs. The Terrors claimed the first three unofficial state titles in 1918, 1919 and 1920 before Boulder’s northern league foe Greeley took the fourth in 1921.
Boulder went into the 1922 season with expectations of winning a state championship. They dominated the Northern conference at the midway point of the season. The league standings were published in the Fort Collins Courier on Feb. 18, noting that Boulder was “the only team to finish the first circle with a perfect percentage.”
The “Preps,” as they were known, were sitting at 5-0 with Greeley right below them at 4-1. The Wildcats dropped a Feb. 14 meeting with Colorado Springs, but that game did not count in the league standings. The Wildcats’ lone league loss was to Boulder.
Boulder sitting at the top of the standings was especially impressive considering the news that had broken less than a month earlier. Team captain Dale Berkhimer had run into some academic issues and was deemed ineligible.
Berkhimer had failed to “pass the required number of hours” according to a story out of the Boulder Camera. But Boulder had powered through and remained undefeated nonetheless.
But the team’s struggles were only beginning. For those that were following the high school basketball contests at the time, it felt like Boulder had a legitimate shot to capture the first sanctioned state basketball title in Colorado history.
Then everything changed on March 2, 1922.
Fort Collins Courier | March 2, 1922
The Fort Collins Courier published a story in its sports section that day that revealed that Robert Will, the “center and premier shooter of the conference” was born on May 4, 1899. The paper cited a birth notice in the Longmont Ledger dated May 5, 1899.
A search of the Ledger archives did in fact confirm that a birth notice was printed announcing that Mr. and Mrs. Burns Will had a son on Thursday, May 4, 1899.
At the time, it was a Northern conference rule that anyone over the age of 21 cannot participate in interscholastic athletic contests. It was also a founding principle and rule of the new statewide athletic conference.
Will was on the verge of turning 23.
Boulder coach Howard Breseford announced Will’s confession of the matter in a telephone message. The Express noted that it was unlikely that any authority at Boulder knew of Will’s age and it was suggested that Will was unaware of the age rule that was in place.
As a result of the discovery, the Greeley Wildcats ultimately became the Northern conference champions, giving them a berth in the state basketball tournament to be held the next week.
But the process in which Greeley actually won the championship is a little murky.
A story in the Fort Collins Courier on March 7 gives very different details of how Boulder was punished for Will’s ineligibility.
Fort Collins coach Geo W. Scott makes the bold claim that “a mistake was made. Boulder should have forfeited each game in which an ineligible man played and should have been willing to have voluntarily made the forfeit.”
The story claims that the Northern league coaches penalized the Boulder Preps only the points that Will had scored during the season.
But the original story in the Courier stated that once authorities at Boulder were made aware of Will’s situation, they contacted the other schools in the league and forfeited the games. The Express even published the adjusted league standings which listed Boulder with an 0-7 record, and Greeley at 9-0.
To further fuel the confusion, the Courier then published an editorial on March 8 that once again stated that Boulder’s only punishment was the invalidation of Will’s points: “The coaches set a bad example Saturday when the Boulder high school basketball team was penalized only the number of points actually scored by Robert Will,” the paper wrote.
Had Boulder not forfeited its games in which Will played, they would’ve maintained a record good enough to win the Northern league title and earn a spot in the state basketball tournament. But it was Greeley, not Boulder, which represented the league — which suggests that the forfeits were indeed made despite the two Courier stories that suggested otherwise.
• • •
The first sanctioned state tournament
The Armory Building at CU. (Carnegie Library for Local History/Museum of Boulder Collection)
[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he state basketball tournament of 1922 looked much different than the tournament that is played today. There was no Selection Sunday, no bracket laying out a visual road map to get to a championship venue.
The event was held in the Armory Building at the University of Colorado, a three-story stone building with hardwood floors that had been built in December 1915.
Outside of the northern part of the state, the controversy surrounding Boulder had gone mostly unreported.
The Pueblo Chieftain focused mainly on Centennial’s preparation for the tournament and promoted the support the Bulldogs were getting from the community and even from their rivals over at Pueblo Central.
“Centennial has a good team this year and they have a good chance for the state championship,” Central coach Fred Huling told the paper on March 7. “Nothing would please me more than to hear Centennial win first place in Boulder.”
But the Bulldogs would have their work cut out for them. Greeley, Fowler, Colorado Springs, Yuma and Gunnison were all making their way toward the Armory with the hopes of returning home as champions. From March 9, a Thursday, to March 11, a Saturday, six teams would each play five games for the honor of claiming the first official state basketball championship.
• • •
March 9
Pueblo Chieftain | March 9, 1922
[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he first day of the tournament was the only day in which each team would play just a single game. Getting a win to start the tournament was going to be essential in determining who had a legitimate shot at claiming the championship.
The schedule had been set as Greeley met Gunnison in the first game of the day with Pueblo Centennial and Yuma to follow and Colorado Springs and Fowler slated as the nightcap.
Ernest Ogle got right to work in the opening game of the tournament as he poured in 14 points to give Greeley a 44-21 win over Gunnison, the Western Slope champion.
Pueblo Centennial followed up that performance with an impressive 58-12 game over Yuma. Per the March 10 Chieftain, Withers was a “star” at center for the Bulldogs and scored 24 points, doubling Yuma’s entire scoring effort.
Colorado Springs beat Fowler 36-16 thanks to a 16-point game from Broils. After the first day Greeley, Centennial and Colorado Springs had put themselves in control. The big test would be Friday’s slate of games as Greeley and Colorado Springs would meet, giving the winner of that game a definitive edge.
• • •
March 10
Pueblo Chieftain | March 10, 1922
[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap]ction at the Armory began at 11 a.m. as Gunnison grabbed its first win of the tournament, beating Yuma 44-29.
Centennial then took the floor hoping to move to 2-0, but an unexpected illness made a win over Fowler less of a sure thing than the faithful back in Pueblo were hoping for. Chilson played in the first half of the Bulldogs win over Yuma, but sat the second half of the game.
He had come down with a case of tonsillitis and was trying to battle his way through it, but couldn’t get on the floor at all on Friday. Kettering held out hope that he’d make his return on Saturday.
Enter Johnnie Elbeck.
He took over in Centennial’s first game of the day, a 26-21 win over Fowler. Elbeck totaled 14 points and added 10 in the Bulldogs’ 42-34 win over Gunnison later that day. But his place in history had already been set.
Already a standout baseball player, Elbeck was the first African-American high school basketball player in Pueblo history. He wasn’t even allowed to step on the court at Centennial until Kettering took over as coach.
He played a vital role in Centennial remaining undefeated through the second day of play, but would soon further cement his place in Colorado basketball history.
The 3 p.m. game provided perhaps the biggest shock of the entire tournament as Greeley beat Colorado Springs, the team that was supposed to be the biggest threat to Centennial. The Wildcats got a 33-20 win behind Edward James’ brilliant 25-point performance. It avenged an earlier 38-17 loss to Colorado Springs back in Feburary.
Greeley carried that momentum into the final game of the day, where they topped Fowler 26-10.
Through Friday’s slate of games, Centennial and Greeley were both unbeaten and went to bed knowing they had a 4 p.m. showdown with each other. The stakes, however, had not yet been determined as Centennial had a morning matchup with Colorado Springs. A Centennial win over the Terrors and a Greeley win over Yuma would put the Bulldogs and Wildcats on a championship collision course.
• • •
March 11
Pueblo Chieftain | March 11, 1922
[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]here was still plenty of work to be done for the two unbeaten teams. As daylight broke and the Flatirons became visible across the Boulder landscape, one team was set to leave the University of Colorado with the first sanctioned basketball championship in state history.
Play began at 11 a.m. with Centennial taking on Colorado Springs, a matchup that the Chieftain had hyped a week earlier as a crucial one for the Bulldogs. Had the Terrors beaten Greeley on Friday, the first tilt of the day likely would have been the state championship game, but it was not to be.
As the Chieftain believed, the Bulldogs dispatched Colorado Springs 34-17 to claim their fourth straight win at the state tournament, setting up a likely championship game with Greeley.
All the Wildcats had to do was handle Yuma, the only team entering Saturday without a single win in the tournament. Greeley rolled to a 29-16 win, officially making the 4 p.m. showdown with Pueblo Centennial a true, winner-take-all state championship game.
The big setback for the Bulldogs was the departure of Kettering, who had to return to Pueblo to deal with a family illness. That left Doubenmier in charge. But Centennial also got a bit of good news: Chilson had returned to the floor despite missing both games on Friday.
In the penultimate game of the tournament, the Bulldogs and Wildcats took the floor in what remains one of the greatest championship games of all time.
Greeley opened the game making a fast run and taking the early lead. They went into halftime with a 12-4 lead and had effectively shut down Elbeck, who had been the standout player for the Bulldogs all tournament.
Desperately needing to get back in the game, Centennial greatly improved on both ends of the floor in the second half. They closed out on a 16-8 run as regulation ended with the teams locked in a 20-20 tie, forcing a five-minute overtime period.
Although the game followed the same overtime length and rule that remains in place today, it turned out to be a case of next basket wins.
Ogle, who had been subbed in for James, hit the game-winning shot with under a minute to play in the game, giving the Wildcats a 22-20 win. James led the Wildcats with 10 points and it was Chilson who matched that total to lead Centennial. The Chieftain‘s write-up of the game remarked that the game was exciting and fast-paced.
The Wildcats’ five-game stretch at CU was a major historical landmark on the timeline of Colorado high school basketball.
There are several teams that can point to recent titles or total titles. But Greeley is the only team that can point to the first title which played a major role in launching organized scholastic basketball in the state and advancing it to where it is today.
[dropcap size=big]D[/dropcap]espite winning its fifth game of the tournament and officially claiming the state championship, Greeley had some waiting around to do. There was still a 6 p.m. game between Yuma and Fowler that had to be played before awards were handed out and the All-State team was named.
At the conclusion of the final game — which ended with a Fowler win — Greeley was officially presented with a “silver Loving Cup,” which was the standard trophy to be awarded at sporting events at this time. Joe Enright and Edward James were named to the All-State team for the Wildcats.
James was a unanimous selection as was Elbeck for Centennial. His selection was significant as he became the first African-American player selected to an All-State team in Colorado history. He later served in World War II and was elected to the Great Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame in 1984.
Relics from the 1922 championship team can be found in what is now Greeley Central High School. In a recent search for the Loving Cup or any trophy associated with the 1922 title, current Greeley Central athletic director Sean Scribbick discovered that it was misplaced during the 1924 move from the old Greeley High School to the current building.
But the championship banner still hangs in the gym as a constant reminder of the team’s historic run to the title. Unofficially it was the team’s second in a row. Officially it was their first. It wasn’t the last.
Greeley proved to be a basketball powerhouse for the first half of the 20th century as it won a total of nine state titles between 1922 and 1962.
They are tied for third-most titles in Colorado history with Denver Christian. Only Manual and Denver East have more.
The 1922 basketball season stands out in the historic fabric of CHSAA for so many reasons. Although it was the first sanctioned season in state Association history, it provided historical landmarks in regard to both the advancement of social rights and the upholding of the values of the Association.
And it was the conclusion of the tournament on March 11, 1922 that marked a major milestone for Colorado high school basketball.
The values and operations of CHSAA have evolved greatly since the spring of that year, but the very seeds of those values were planted at that time.
The growth of those values has coincided with the growth of basketball in the state to the point where now 10 teams each season get to experience the championship journey that the Greeley basketball team embarked on so long ago.
The 1922 Greeley basketball team. (Greeley Central HS)Pueblo Chieftain | March 12, 1922The 1922 state basketball championship banner, hanging in Greeley Central’s gym.
The preseason girls soccer rankings were released on Monday, and leading the charge are preseason No. 1 teams Grandview, Evergreen, Colorado Academy and Denver Christian.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association.
New polls are released each Monday during the regular season.
Salida 14, Manitou Springs 13, Stargate School 9, Lutheran 8, The Academy 8, Colorado Springs Christian 7, Roaring Fork 6, Eagle Ridge Academy 5, St. Mary’s Academy 5, Faith Christian 3, Basalt 2, Frontier Academy 2, Delta 1, DSST: Montview 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Denver Christian (5)
0-0
77
2
Dawson School (3)
0-0
73
3
Fountain Valley
0-0
50
4
Flatirons Academy
0-0
47
5
Crested Butte
0-0
42
6
Telluride
0-0
41
7
Colorado Rocky Mountain
0-0
30
8
Loveland Classical
0-0
22
9
Rye
0-0
15
10
Front Range Christian
0-0
12
Others receiving votes:
Ridgway 10, Del Norte 7, Belleview Christian 5, Vail Christian 5, Rocky Mountain Lutheran 2, Thomas MacLaren School 2.
MONUMENT — Prior to 2019, Lewis-Palmer boys soccer coach Brian Barkey had only seen his team advance past the first round of the Class 4A boys soccer tournament once.
With a win in over Mesa Ridge last week, Barkey happy to see the Rangers’ second trip into the second round under his watch. Tuesday against Pueblo Centennial, he was looking for a first-time achievement.
His boys delivered with a 2-0 win over the Bulldogs. Their reward is a trip to the mountains on Saturday to face No. 1 Battle Mountain to face No. 1 Battle Mountain.
“We challenged them in April,” Barkey said. “We asked them what they wanted to talk about in 10 years about this team. And they said that they wanted to make history.”
But in order to make history, they had to follow through with that goal on the field. Centennial had been ranked as the No. 1 team in the 4A CHSAANow.com coaches poll at one point, meaning that even as the No. 9 seed, it was common knowledge that the team was capable of coming away with a win.
That’s why it was so important for the Rangers (14-3) to strike first. An L-P corner kick in the 21st minute yielded no result, but it was the Bulldogs (12-5) who knocked the ball out past the goal line, giving the Rangers another shot.
And they saw something. The second chance ricocheted off the post and several feet before it shot past Centennial keeper Jesse Chavez and into the net. It was Tanner Kilgore taking the bow when all was said and done.
“we hit it high (on the first one) and the keeper kept punching it,” Kilgore said. “So we line drived it lower and then it hit the post and then (we) hit it.”
On the opposite end of the field, it was a welcome sight to see for keeper Aidan McGonagle. But he didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy it. The Bulldogs pressed offensively and tried to create their own scoring opportunities.
A free kick from about 35 yards out didn’t amount to anything, but a shot shortly after forced McGonagle to dive to his left side, fearful that the shot was good.
It sailed wide right, but it was an indication that Centennial was going to stay aggressive in the offensive end.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
But the defenders held their ground and each time the Bulldogs looked to be on the verge of firing off a shot, the Rangers knocked it away or deflected it from its intended target.
“Our back line is a straight brotherhood,” McGonagle “We don’t fall apart. We always come together to secure a win. Even when our offense isn’t coming into play, we always know we have each other’s backs.”
He quickly noted that after the first goal, he knew the Rangers all but had the game in the bag.
“All we need is one goal,” he said. “One goal secures a win.”
He believes that can be the case on Saturday as well. Battle Mountain beat Montrose 1-0 earlier in the day so any hope of getting to semifinals at Legacy Stadium in Aurora means a successful trip to Vail has to come first.
But if there is one thing that the Rangers are not, it’s afraid of the number one that precedes the Huskies on the bracket.
“I know them very well and it’s not a problem,” Barkey said. “We’re confident.”
Pueblo South scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 14 seconds left in a top-10 matchup against Durango on Friday night.
Trailing 34-28, Class 3A’s third-ranked Colts (7-1) scored on a 10-yard pass, then converted the all-important extra point to beat the No. 7 Demons 35-34.
“It was a wild finish,” Pueblo South coach Ryan Goddard told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “Our kids, they kept fighting, they kept playing hard. We were fortunate enough to make a couple of plays down the stretch and find a way, and keep fighting and scratching, and clawing for everything we got.”
South quarterback Logan Petit threw three touchdowns, including the winner to Jackson Dickerson in the fourth.
“Those two have been making those catches for a long time. We wanted to put our best guys in our best situation that we could,” Goddard said. “Logan made an excellent throw. Everett Howland for them make an excellent play for them, too, but Jackson Dickerson, he found a way to get across the goal line. It was just a tremendous effort play, and the kid didn’t want to lose. He gave it everything he had to put his team in the best position.”
Pueblo South built a 20-6 lead into the second quarter following a 40-yard fumble return for a score from Dylan Atencio-Lujan. But Durango cut that lead to 20-12 at halftime. The Demons made it a one-point game less than two minutes into the third quarter on Everett Howland’s 41-yard score.
Durango took its first lead of the game at 27-20 when Jordan Woolverton threw a touchdown pass to Gage Mestas, his second of the game, with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth.
But South, which hadn’t scored since that fumble return, responded in the form of a 20-yard rushing touchdown by Petit to regain the lead after a two-point conversion at 28-27 with four minutes left.
“It was just that type of game where I didn’t know if we were going to get another possession,” Goddard said. “I figured we’d put a little pressure on them to drive the field, and they did.”
Again, Durango drove down and scored. Again, it was Woolverton, this time on a 45-yard rush. And it was 34-28 Demons with one minute remaining.
“I wasn’t real comfortable because I knew the type of player (Woolverton) was, and he made a run on 4th-and-4 that went for about (45) yards, and he bounced off about six guys trying to make a tackle on him,” Goddard said. “At that point, there was 1:05 left. We just had a huge kickoff return at that point.”
South’s Luke Guarienti set his team with with a big return on the ensuing kickoff.
“It was a big play at a big time,” Goddard said. “This was a big-time game, and big-time guys make big-time plays. And he’s one of them. He put us in a good spot.”
The Colts marched down the field and finished the drive on Petit’s 10-yard pass to Dickerson, along with the extra point, was the difference.
Woolverton finished with four total touchdowns for Durango (5-3).
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3A: Pueblo Central 23, Pueblo Centennial 0
In the 119th Bell Game, the oldest rivalry matchup west of the Mississippi, the Wildcats ensured the Bell would ring blue.
Christian Romero opened the scoring for Central with a 41-yard fumble recovery for a score. Jeromey Baros and Brandon Martin each had a rushing touchdown.
Check out this kickoff to start the second half:
Central's kickoff team with a HUGE play to start the second half, Central recovers an amazing bounce at the 1 yd line, and scores right away. 2 pt conversion is good, score is 23-0 Central with 10:00 left in the 3rd. #DutchClark#CoPreps#ESPNTop10#BellGame@espnpic.twitter.com/3LXjMliUDo
The Bruins (9-0), newly anointed as the No. 1 team in 5A, started fast and held a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter as they cruised to the win.
Julian Hammond III rushed for a touchdown and passed for another, and Jayle Stacks and James Walker II both rushed for a score. Myles Purchase had a 94-yard punt return for a TD.
Cherokee Trail is now 6-3 this season.
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2A: (1) Rifle 21, (8) Basalt 9
Rifle trailed 9-7 early in the fourth quarter, but rallied with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to remain unbeaten at 8-0.
“Quite frankly, I felt like our kids rose to the occasion,” Rifle coach Damon Wells to the Scoreboard Show. “They played really physical football. It was a really neat environment. It was great to get out of there with a win.”
The Bears clung to a 7-6 halftime lead, and then Basalt kicked a field goal to go up 9-7 in the fourth.
But Rifle marched right down to take a 14-9 lead with just under eight minutes to play, and then added another one to seal with two two minutes left.
The win clinched a league title for Rifle.
“This experience is going to be invaluable,” Wells said. “We have some areas we have to get better with.”
It was Basalt’s first loss, and the Longhorns are now 6-1.
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1A: (6) Centauri 28, (4) Florence 20
Centauri (7-1) built a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, only to see Florence cut it to a 21-20 lead after three quarters.
But the Falcons got a two-yard rushing score from Mason Claunch, his second of the game, with nine minutes to play to help secure the upset.
“I was really impressed with my kids,” Centauri coach Kyle Forster told the Scoreboard Show. “They came out and they didn’t put their heads down. They continued to fight and we ended up grinding out the win.”
Eric Maez had a rushing and passing score for Centauri, and Baron Holman had a receiving touchdown.
Owen Busetti and Josh Martinez each had a rushing touchdown for previously unbeaten Florence (7-1), and Jian Aguilar had a pick-six.
“We knew that they were a very physical team and physical up front with great backs,” Forster said. “I thought our kids did a really good job of containing them. Those kids that they have, you can’t stop them, and they battled all night.”
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1A: (3) Limon 40, (10) Wray 9
Limon (7-1) led 20-9 at the break, then scored 20 more points in the second half in the win.
Kory Tacha had two rushing touchdowns for the Badgers — runs of 31 and 67 yards — and Jeremiah Leeper also had a rushing TD.
“We did a nice job of running the ball,” coach Mike O’Dwyer told the Scoreboard Show. “Both Kory Tacha and Jeremiah Leeper did a great job of running the ball, and our offensive line continues to improve and get a little bit better and they opened up some good holes.”
Tyler Collins had a passing touchdown for Wray (5-3).
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8-man: (1) Sedgwick County 50, (9) Caliche 0
The Cougars had six rushing touchdowns in the big win. Now 8-0, Sedgwick County led 38-0 at halftime and it was 50-0 after three.
Caliche is now 5-3 this season.
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Notables:
No. 3 Stratton/Liberty beat No. 5 Flagler/Hi-Plains in a 6-man showdown. “It was a fun win, and we’re excited about going forward,” Knighted Eagles coach Toby Kechter told the Scoreboard Show.
Quite a notable upset in 5A, where Doherty (2-7) knocked off No. 10 Legend (7-2) 36-34. Tight all game long, Brandon Becker had two second-half touchdowns to help secure the win for Doherty.
Longmont knocked off No. 10 Brighton in 4A, 20-14.
Highlands Ranch started the season 0-5, but has now won four in a row — all in league play — following its 35-28 win over Mountain Vista, and has a shot to claim the Metro South league title against Valor Christian next week.
Horizon beat Rocky Mountain 20-10 in an important 5A Front Range League matchup. The Hawks are now 3-1 in league play, and 4-5 overall. “We knew we had a tough non-league schedule,” Horizon coach Frank Ybarra told the Scoreboard Show. “We knew we might take some losses because we’re a pretty young football team, and we just hoped it would help us come league. And so far, so good.”
Golden beat Wheat Ridge 21-14. It is the first time in more than 25 years that the Demons have beat their rivals in consecutive years.
A 27-point second quarter sparked the win as Rifle won the battle of the top two teams in Class 2A football.
The top-ranked Bears (6-0) beat No. 2 Delta, 47-29.
“It was a really neat environment, and I couldn’t be more proud of our kids,” Rifle coach Damon Wells told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “It was a close football game, and that’s what you would expect with a team like Delta. Their kids are tough, and I know Ben Johnson is going to have them prepared.”
Rifle trailed 3-0 early, but then scored 21 unanswered points to go up 21-3 late in the second quarter. The Bears led 27-9 at halftime.
Delta narrowed the lead to 27-17 with five minutes to play in the third quarter, but Rifle had an answer, going up 33-17 a minute into the fourth.
Rifle had six rushing touchdowns in the win.
“We ran the football, but we were able to throw it in some pretty high-leverage situations,” Wells said. “I was pretty happy with how our kids responded throughout the night.”
The Bears held a high-scoring Delta offense well below its average of 45.6 points.
“Our kids played hard, and our defensive staff really put together a great plan,” Wells said. “We were a little more exotic with our blitzes than we had been, and I think that paid off.”
The Raiders flexed their muscles in a big top-10 win.
David Dody rushed for five touchdowns for Regis Jesuit in the game, and the Raiders are now 7-0. Nicco Marichiol also had a 35 yard TD pass to Bryce Sloan in the first quarter.
The game was tied at 7 midway through the second quarter before Dody scored two rushing touchdowns in the final five minutes of that quarter to go up 19-7 at halftime.
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3A: (1) Palmer Ridge 42, (7) Lutheran 20
Palmer Ridge (5-1) picked up yet another big win, this time in league play, as it improved to 5-1 this season.
Raef Ruel had three rushing touchdowns to lead the Bears, Noah Brom also rushed for a score, and Luke McAllister threw a TD pass to Anthony Roberson II.
The game was tied 14-14 following a 95-yard kickoff return from Lutheran’s Brandon Belgrave with three minutes to play in the half. But Palmer Ridge, after punting away the ensuing possession, took the lead when Roberson II scored on a 50-yard fumble recovery.
It was 21-14 at halftime.
The Bears extended their lead with a 49-yard rushing score from Ruel in the third quarter, and then pushed that lead to 35-14 with a 42-yard touchdown by Ruel.
[divider]
1A: (1) Strasburg 35, (9) Highland 14
Strasburg (6-0) jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter, fought off a Highland rally, and then secured another top-10 win.
“It was a pretty hard-fought win,” Strasburg coach Brian Brown told the Scoreboard Show. “That’s a very good football team we played tonight, and a very good football team, and we were fortunate to come out on top.”
With the game tied at 14, Collin Russell found Jayden Zacher for a 5-yard touchdown pass to give his team a 21-14 lead just before halftime.
Strasburg extended its lead to 27-14 on a 15-yard rushing score by Zacher late in the third quarter, and Russell put it out of reach with a 30-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Hemphell with eight minutes left.
Russell had three touchdown passes, and another on the ground. Jack Swanson had a receiving touchdown.
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8-man: (7) Sanford 52, (3) Mancos 24
Kelton Gartrell was a human highlight reel for Sanford (6-0), accounting for four total touchdowns, including three rushing.
Included in Gartrell’s haul was an 87-yard rushing score, a 93-yard rushing score and a 78-yard punt return for a score.
“Our kids did a super job. They got off an they got their blocks,” Sanford coach Joe Cary told the Scoreboard Show. “We had a big run game from Kelton Gartrell. He just lit up the field tonight. I just can’t say enough about our boys. They came out and played a really good game tonight.”
Mancos led 6-0 and 12-6 in the first quarter, but Sanford took the lead as the first quarter closed, and never looked back. It was 26-12 at halftime.
Chase Moore had three rushing touchdowns in the loss for Mancos, and he now has 22 this season.
Sanford’s defense played really well in the win.
“Every time we had a tackle, we had 5, 6, 7 guys in the ball,” Cary said.
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8-man: (1) Sedgwick County 56, (4) Dayspring Christian 16
With the game tied 8-8 in the first quarter, Sedgwick County (7-0) scored twice in the second to built a 22-8 halftime lead, and then put up 20 points in the third quarter to take a 42-16 lead going to the fourth quarter.
The Cougars, four-time defending champions, scored twice more in the fourth to roll in the win.
Sedgwick County had six rushing touchdowns, and two passing.
“Early on, that game is a lot closer than that score shows,” Sedgwick County coach Chris Michel told the Scoreboard Show. “They’re always tough.”
Of breaking open a tight game, Michel said, “We managed to find some seams later in the second quarter, and then in the second half.”
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Notables
Merino vs. Caliche. More photos. (Dustin Price/dustinpricephotography.com)
8-man No. 5 Merino built a 21-6 halftime lead en route to a 28-6 win over No. 6 Caliche.
An important upset for Cherokee Trail, which knocked off 5A No. 4 Grandview 26-7. CT is now 5-2, while Grandview is 6-1.
In a big matchup that may decide a playoff berth in the 5A Metro 10 conference, Smoky Hill beat Denver East 49-26. With the win, the Buffaloes are 6-0 in league. Every other team has at least two losses. “(Obasanjo Sanni) returned the opening kickoff, which kind of just kicked the wheels in motion,” coach Tom Thenell told the Scoreboard Show. Full highlights of the game are available here.
Quarterback Jordan Woolverton had seven total touchdowns, and kicked a field goal, as 3A No. 9 Durango rolled past Pueblo Centennial 52-10.
In 2A, Elizabeth upset No. 8 La Junta 7-6.
Fort Morgan beat Roosevelt in overtime, 28-27.
5A No. 5 Ralston Valley beat Mullen 58-17 and is 7-0. “We scored a lot of points, but there were three defensive touchdowns,” coach Matt Loyd told the Scoreboard Show.
In a game played on Thursday, Chris Hile of 6-man No. 5 Flagler/Hi-Plains rushed for 286 yards and eight touchdowns on just 16 carries as his team beat Peetz 72-27.
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More coverage
Conifer vs. Green Mountain. More photos. (Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
