Mountain Vista is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 5A poll. (Paul DiSalvo/MaxPreps)
Mountain Vista, off to its best start in seven seasons, has joined CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings this week.
The Golden Eagles are now 6-0 following a 34-7 win over Rock Canyon on Friday. The six wins are the most since Mountain Vista went 7-4 in 2009, and the unbeaten start is the best since the Golden Eagles began 7-0 in 2007. Mountain Vista also started 6-0 in 2006, when it went 10-2.
Mountain Vista is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 5A poll.
Valor Christian continued to lead the 5A ranking after beating Eaglecrest last week, as the Eagles got 12 of the 17 first-place votes and amassed 165 total points. Pomona remained in the No. 2 spot following its fifth-straight win, while Grandview jumped Ralston Valley for No. 3.
Broomfield is ranked No. 10 in this week’s 4A poll. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Cherry Creek reamined in the No. 6 spot, and Regis Jesuit stayed at No. 7. Doherty bumped up two places to No. 8, while Rocky Mountain is again No. 9 this week.
The six other No. 1 teams in the rankings also stayed put: Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
Broomfield joined the 4A poll at No. 10, while 3A added Glenwood Springs, also at No. 10.
New to the 2A ranking is Montezuma-Cortez (No. 10), and 6-man added Mountain Valley (No. 10).
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.
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.
[divider]
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.”
[divider]
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.”
[divider]
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.
[divider]
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.”
[divider]
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.
[divider]
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.
[divider]
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.
Discovery Canyon has taken over the top spot in the 3A football rankings. (Pam Wagner)
Discovery Canyon has perhaps the best combinations of wins to date in Class 3A football this season. As a result, the Thunder now own the No. 1 spot in CHSAANow.com’s ranking.
Voting in 3A remained split again this week, continuing a season-long trend, but the Thunder received seven of the 13 first-place votes, and had 122 total points. Lutheran, No. 1 since the preseason, dropped to No. 2 with six first-place votes and 114 points.
Elsewhere in the classificatoin, Rifle moved up to No. 3, while Holy Family is now No. 4. The 3A poll added Conifer (No. 10) this week.
Ralston Valley moved up to No. 3 in the 5A poll this week. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Cherry Creek is up to No. 6 after shutting out then-No. 9 Cherokee Trail. Regis Jesuit is No. 7, Overland No. 8 and Rocky Mountain is No. 9. Doherty rejoins the poll this week at No. 10.
In 4A, Pine Creek extended its stay at No. 1. The Eagles beat then-No. 5 Vista Ridge last week. That ranking didn’t add any teams this week, though Fort Collins moved up to No. 2 from No. 4.
Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man) each stayed atop their respective polls this week.
Newcomers included Gunnision (No. 9) and Bayfield (No. 10) in 2A; Rye (No. 10) in 1A; Sangre de Cristo (No. 10) in 8-man; and Pawnee (No. 7) in 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.
Ranked football teams had an outstanding weekend last week, and as a result, there wasn’t a whole lot of movement in the latest CHSAANow.com rankings on Monday.
Top-10 teams went a combined 54-11 last week, and only two of those losses came to unranked foes.
So it follows that all seven No. 1 teams remained the same this week. Leading their respective rankings are Valor Christian (Class 5A), Pine Creek (4A), Lutheran (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
There wasn’t a whole lot of change elsewhere.
In 5A, the teams ranked Nos. 1-6 — Valor, Pomona, Grandview, Ralston Valley, Fairview and Regis Jesuit — didn’t budge.
The classification did add at Rocky Mountain at No. 10, and Overland jumped Cherry Creek for the No. 7 spot, but it was a quiet week otherwise. Regis Jesuit remains No. 9.
Pomona remained ranked No. 2 in 5A this week. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
The 4A poll added Greeley West at No. 8. The biggest mover there was Fort Collins bumping up to No. 4 this week.
Palisade rejoined the 3A poll at No. 10, while 2A added No. 10 Montezuma-Cortez. Platte Canyon (also No. 10) was 1A’s newcomer, and Flagler (another No. 10) joined the 6-man ranks.
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.
Arickaree/Woodlin is the new No. 1 team in the 6-man football poll this week. More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Turns out a win over a No. 1 team does help you move up to the top spot.
Arickaree/Woodlin, No. 2 in CHSAANow’s 6-man football poll last week, moved up to No. 1 this week following its 60-30 win over Stratton/Liberty on Friday night.
Coach David Saffer was expecting the move after the game on Friday.
Saffer’s squad was the only new No. 1 team this week. Valor Christian (5A), Pine Creek (4A), Lutheran (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A) and Dayspring Christian (8-man) all held firm atop their respective rankings.
Ralston Valley is up to No. 4 in this week’s 5A football poll. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Valor held on to the top spot despite its loss to Chandler (Ariz.). But the Eagles are no longer a unanimous selection: they received 13 of the 18 first-place votes this week.
No. 2 Pomona, No. 3 Grandview and No. 4 Ralston Valley — which got three — also received first-place votes in 5A this week. Fairview rounds out the top five after bumping up one spot.
Regis Jesuit is sixth, Cherry Creek fell to seventh following its loss to Jordan (Utah), Overland moved up to eighth and Cherokee Trail fell to No. 9 after losing to Regis Jesuit. Doherty is the lone newcomer in 5A this week, and joins at No. 10.
Among the biggest movers this week was Fort Collins, which jumped up from No. 9 to No. 5 in the 4A poll following its win over Windsor last week.
The 4A ranking added Pueblo Centennial (No. 10), 3A added Berthoud (also No. 10) and St. Mary’s joined 2A (No. 9). In 1A, newcomer Rye is No. 10, and 6-man has two new teams this week: No. 9 Hanover and No. 10 Weldon Valley.
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.
