Cherokee Trail is the No. 1 team in 5A volleyball this week. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
Cherokee Trail has regained the top spot of the Class 5A CHSAANow.com volleyball rankings. The Cougars were voted as the preseason No. 1, but early losses knocked them down in the polls.
Chatfield had held onto the No. 1 ranking since Sept. 14, but a surprising loss to Ralston Valley last week was enough to knock them off their perch. Grandview and Rocky Mountain were this week’s newcomers to the 5A rankings at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.
Lewis-Palmer remains the top team in 4A. Holy Family jumped two spots, landing at No. 5 this week and Steamboat Springs comes in as the lone newcomer to the 4A poll.
The Eaton Reds are continuing their impressive season and still hold a firm grasp on the No. 1 spot in 3A. Despite going 0-1 last week, Colorado Springs Christian School jumped one spot this week to land at No. 3 this week.
SkyView Academy breaks into the 3A rankings at No. 9 this week. The Hawks are winners of six of their last seven matches.
Ridgway and Limon break into the 2A rankings at No. 8 and No. 10 respectively this week. Resurrection Christian holds on the top spot in 2A despite their 70-match winning streak coming to an end.
Still-undefeated Idalia remains the top team in 1A. They’re joined in the rankings this week by La Veta (No. 8) and Community Christian (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 media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Legend 19, Cherry Creek 12, Ralston Valley 12, Rangeview 10, Columbine 8, Fossil Ridge 8, Arapahoe 6, Legacy 6, Highlands Ranch 5, Castle View 4, Regis Jesuit 2, Fairview 1.
Dropped out
Cherry Creek (8), Legend (9).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Lewis-Palmer (12)
16-2
128
1
2-0
2
Cheyenne Mountain (1)
12-1
115
2
2-0
3
Ponderosa
9-6
98
4
2-0
4
Montrose
13-2
94
3
3-0
5
Holy Family
15-2
60
7
2-0
6
Longmont
14-1
52
6
2-0
7
Windsor
11-3
50
5
0-1
8
Delta
14-2
20
9
2-0
9
Steamboat Springs
14-2
17
–
2-0
10
Valor Christian
6-6
14
8
2-0
Others receiving votes:
The Classical Academy 13, Pueblo West 10, Elizabeth 9, Air Academy 7, Berthoud 7, Roosevelt 7, Thomas Jefferson 7, Battle Mountain 4, Discovery Canyon 2, Durango 1, Erie 1, Evergreen 1.
Dropped out
The Classical Academy (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Eaton (11)
17-0
110
1
2-0
2
University
10-1
98
3
1-0
3
Colorado Springs Christian
10-2
71
4
0-1
4
Manitou Springs
10-3
70
5
2-0
5
Valley
11-6
58
2
1-1
6
Platte Valley
13-4
55
6
2-0
7
Alamosa
15-2
51
7
4-1
8
Lutheran
9-4
37
8
1-0
9
SkyView Academy
12-4
15
–
2-0
10
Pagosa Springs
12-5
11
10
0-1
Others receiving votes:
Faith Christian 8, Peak to Peak 7, Coal Ridge 4, La Junta 4, St. Mary’s 4, Sterling 2.
No. 10 Cherokee Trail faced No. 9 Grandview in a big 5A matchup on Friday. (Matt Minton/JacksActionShots.com)
A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Week 6 in the 2015 season.
Ponderosa has rejoined the 4A football poll this week at No. 9. (Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)
There was some shakeup to the Class 4A football rankings on Monday, with Ponderosa and Aurora Central joining the poll.
The Mustangs (4-1) are back in CHSAANow.com’s 4A ranking at No. 9, while Aurora Central (5-0) joined for the first time at No. 10.
Pine Creek continued to lead the 4A poll following its big win over then-No. 2 Vista Ridge, and is now a unanimous pick with all 17 first-place votes. The Eagles, two-time defending champions, have won 30 games in a row.
Longmont returned to its No. 2 spot after dropping to No. 3 last week, and Windsor is up to third. Vista Ridge fell to fourth, and Greeley West remained in the top 5.
Also this week, there is a new No. 1 team in 8-man, where Sedgwick County has ascended to the top despite having fewer first-place votes than former No. 1 Dayspring Christian. Both teams are 5-0.
The 8-man ranking added Holly (No. 7) and Dove Creek (No. 8) this week.
The other top-ranked teams around the classes include Cherry Creek (5A), Pueblo East (3A), Kent Denver (2A), Buena Vista (1A) and Fleming (6-man).
There were no new teams added to the 5A poll, though Pomona did return to the top 5 at No. 5. Regis Jesuit also jumped Valor Christian for the No. 3 spot.
In 3A, Lewis Palmer (No. 9) was the lone newcomer, but the 2A and 1A polls did not add any new teams. The 6-man ranking added Cheyenne Wells (No. 10).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Columbine and Mullen football played in a big matchup on Friday. Columbine won, thanks to a big second half. (Photos: Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com; Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
A complete schedule and scoreboard for football’s top-10 teams during Week 5 in the 2015 season.
Buena Vista has taken over the top spot of the CHSAANow.com Class 1A football rankings following their 53-12 win over Centauri and former No. 1 Paonia’s 35-0 loss against Bayfield.
The Demons are the only new No. 1 seed after a week filled with few upsets.
Cherry Creek remains in the top spot of 5A as the Bruins had a bye this week. They traveled to Utah two weeks ago where they beat Jordan 38-35. They return to the field Friday night to take on Cherokee Trail.
After dropping out of the 5A rankings last week, Grandview is back in the poll at No. 9. Columbine remains at No. 2 after beating Ralston Valley 21-7 Thursday night. The Mustangs, ranked No. 3 last week, fell four slots following their loss.
In 4A, Pine Creek remains No. 1 after drubbing Pueblo West 47-7 Saturday. But the first time this season, they were not voted there unanimously.
The Vista Ridge Wolves gained two first-place votes after an impressive 40-28 win over Palmer Ridge, who stays in this week’s poll at No. 10. Vista Ridge is now No. 2, and faces Pine Creek on Friday.
There were no new teams that joined the 4A rankings.
Pueblo East is still the top team in 3A, although half the first-place votes went to other teams. The Eagles needed plenty of offense to get by Discovery Canyon Friday night. They took the game 47-36.
D’Evelyn returned to the 3A poll after falling out two weeks ago. They got a much-needed 49-30 win over Pueblo County Friday night.
Kent Denver remains the team to beat in 2A after they shut out Ridgeview Academy 40-0. Bayfield leapt over La Junta for the No. 2 slot after its big win over Paonia.
A 28-7 win over Roaring Fork got Gunnison back in the rankings at No. 10. The Cowboys are the only 2A newcomers this week.
In 1A, Buena Vista takes over the top spot with Resurrection Christian coming in at No. 2 and only trail the Demons by a single point in the voting.
Previously unranked Limon made the biggest jump this week as they land at No. 7.
There wasn’t a lot of movement in the 8-man rankings, but Hoehne does join the poll this week at No. 10.
There were no newcomers to 6-man, although Hanover (No. 6) and Peetz (No. 7) each moved up one slot from last week.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Horizon was stuffed on fourth down with less than three minutes to play, and it looked like Legacy might escape with a big win in Class 5A football. But then the Hawks got a game-changing, go-ahead safety and walked away with a 22-21 win on Friday night.
The game was a wild one.
Legacy jumped out 14-0 in the second quarter, but Horizon battled back to tie it at 14 in the third quarter.
Legacy took the lead when quarterback Matt Lynch, a UCLA commit, threw a touchdown pass later in that quarter. Horizon answered with a Cade Verkler rushing score, but the extra point missed, making it a 21-20 Legacy lead in the fourth quarter.
Late in the fourth quarter, Horizon had a 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard-line. The Hawks were stuffed. But two plays later, Horizon got the key safety. It was 22-21, and the Hawks would hold on to win.
[divider]
2A/1A: (3) Bayfield 35, (1) Paonia 0
Bayfield ended Paonia’s 26-game winning streak in stunning fashion.
“We had to be physical up front, and we had to stop them,” coach Gary Heide told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “The plan worked to perfection.”
Paonia’s 26-game streak was the second-longest in the state.
“I’m kind of a low-key, one-game-at-a-time, and, ‘No game is no more important than the other’ guy, but this morning, I just realized the opportunity that Bayfield had, along with getting a win,” Heide said. “A game like this, you end up gaining a lot of confidence.”
“We don’t pass a whole lot, but when we do, we try to do it at optimal times. Tonight, it really worked out,” Heide said. “Kelton McCoy threw some really nice passes.”
[divider]
3A: (1) Pueblo East 47, Discovery Canyon 36
Discovery Canyon nearly pulled off a major upset, but Pueblo East was able to pull out a win.
“It was a fun night,” Pueblo East coach Lee Meisner told the Scoreboard Show. “We knew we were going to get everything they had. … We had a heck of a game.”
This game featured 10 ties or lead changes, including a number in the final quarter. It also had a 99-yard kickoff return.
Discovery Canyon led 28-27 going to the fourth. Pueblo East soon went ahead 33-28, and Discovery Canyon answered to retake the lead at 36-33.
Then, with 2:45 to go, Pueblo East took the lead for good at 40-36. The Eagles added a late touchdown to ice the game.
Said Meisner: “We just kept preaching to our kids: ‘We have to play four quarters of football. No matter what the score is, just at the end of it, do your job, and then worry about the score.’”
[divider]
5A: Doherty 24, Fruita Monument 21 (OT)
Doherty jumped out to an 18-0 lead at halftime, but then Fruita Monument started to chip away.
Limon pulled off the upset of its rival, and improved to 4-0 this season.
“Our kids really stepped up tonight,” Limon coach Mike O’Dwyer told the Scoreboard Show. “I thought they played really well. By far, the best game we’ve played all year.”
Of the shutout, O’Dwyer said, “Anytime you play Burlington, they’re so disciplined and so well-coached, you have to play assignment defense and everybody has to do their job and not worry about what everybody else is doing. You just have to take care of your job. I thought tonight, our assignment defense really played very, very well.”
[divider]
1A: (5) Cedaredge 40, (10) Center 13
It was 14-13 at halftime, but Cedaredge pulled away to notch a huge top-10 win to move to 4-0.
“They had some turnovers and we capitalized on those turnovers,” coach Brandon Milholland told the Scoreboard Show. “Another important piece that I realized late in the fourth quarter is we’re starting to get out of our own way and kind of believe in what we’ve going on.”
Cedaredge pulled away to 25-13 after the third quarter, then put the game away in the fourth.
“We got a lucky bounce,” coach Brandon Alexander told the Scoreboard Show. “We scored quick, and turned the ball over, and scored again. Two scores early in the third quarter, that was really huge for us.
“Sargent was a great team, they were very athletic and fast, so it was exactly what we had to have.”
There were a number of games decided by wide margins on Friday. By the time the night was over, there were 22 total shutouts, 11 of which were decided by 40 or more points. In all, the average margin of victory for all games was 27.8 points.
Ranked teams are 39-9 so far in Week 4, but only two of those losses have come to unranked teams.
In 5A, TJ Jones had six touchdowns, including the game winner, to help Boulder beat Prairie View in overtime, 41-35.
8-man’s West Grand beat Elbert 46-0, and gave head coach Chris Brown career win No. 302. He’s four shy of the all-time mark of 306 held by longtime Denver East and Machebeuf coach Pat Panek. The Mustangs are 4-0 this season.
Alameda moved to 4-0 for the first time in more than a decade following a 38-0 win over Denver North in 2A. The Pirates are ranked No. 10.
In 8-man, No. 8 Granada escaped an upset with a 28-26 win over Kiowa.
A bit of a surprise, also in 8-man: No. 2 Sedgwick County handled No. 10 Holly 64-7.
Cheyenne Mountain picked up its first win of the season in 4A, beating Mitchell 36-35 on a 28-yard field goal with 7.2 seconds remaining.
In 6-man, No. 4 Arickaree/Woodlin beat No. 6 Otis 53-14.
3A No. 4 Rifle shutout Eagle Valley 26-0. “That’s a pretty tough place to go play, but ultimately we’re very happy with the way our kids played,” Bears coach Damon Wells told the Scoreboard Show. “We’ve been around long enough to know that any time you win a game in our league, it’s worth cherishing.”
Bayfield has a big game against Paonia this week. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)
Colorado Preps‘ Kevin Shaffer looks at Week 4’s big football matchups around the state.
This week, the show includes comments from Alameda vs. Denver North, Vista Ridge vs. Palmer Ridge, Mountain View vs. Greeley West, and previews of many others in all classes.
We’ll be following Week 4 action on Friday night, including our live coverage.
Brush head coach Reid Kahl chats with his assistants during football practice. (Photo courtesy of Scott Hodgson/Brush High School)
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]eid Kahl is no stranger to defending state championships. Kahl was able to secure Class 4A titles in 2006 and 2008 while he was the head coach at Wheat Ridge.
Now he has the task of defending a 2A championship. Only, unlike those at Wheat Ridge, this is not a state championship that he won. This offseason, Kahl was hired by Brush to take over for Randy Dreitz. Dreitz left the team in March after leading the Beetdiggers to the 2A state championship.
“After the season was over last year, everybody pretty much knew that Randy was going to retire,” Kahl said. “I didn’t think much about it until later in the spring when the job opened up. I had a lot of people from the community reach out to me and show a lot of interest in me doing it.”
The start of Brush’s title defense is a more interesting story for Kahl himself rather than the team. The Beetdiggers kick their season off by traveling to Fort Morgan on Sept. 4. Kahl was a standout football player for the Mustangs, who happen to be the Beetdiggers’ rivals.
“I’m going to be completely honest with you, and I’m not just saying this, it’s been a much bigger deal for everyone else than it has been for me,” Kahl said. “It’s been since 2001, which was my last season in Fort Morgan.”
Karl left the Farmers after the 2013 season and took last year off before taking the job at Brush. It was a summer of turnover at the school as a new principal and athletic director were named at the same meeting.
To echo the sentiment of Kahl, it was really the community support that brought his name into the coaching search since there wasn’t an athletic director to include him in it.
“None of us that hired Reid were here,” said athletic director Scott Hodgson, who is also in his first year at the school after coming over from Holly. “Once we found out that was the choice, we were really happy. He’s had great success everywhere he’s been.”
Karl comes in this season with the task of defending a state championship that he was not a part of. The Beetdiggers also lost a big senior class, including 2A player of the year Kyle Rosenbrock.
Fair or not, this young Brush team comes into the season, not only with a new coach, but also with a target on its back.
“It’s a different situation and it’s not an easy situation,” Kahl said. “They graduated a ton of seniors last year and I have a really inexperienced team. We all know that there’s a big target on our back and I talked to the kids about it when I first met with them.”
But that won’t matter to the teams on the opposite sideline. They’ll only see “Brush” on the jerseys and they’ll know that was the last team to walk away as state champions.
Karl knows the expectations are high and that he is walking into a program that will expect him to win. His track record at Wheat Ridge indicates that he can find success. His plan is to just run the systems that he’s comfortable running and hope that it translates into wins for the Beetdiggers.
“I’ve installed a lot of the same offense that I run wherever I’m (coaching),” Kahl said. “We spent a lot time on it over the summer and the kids have done a nice job picking it up.”
He gets his chance to see just how well they’ve picked it up when Brush travels to Fort Morgan on Sept. 4. Kahl has plenty of good memories from when he was with the Mustangs but knows once the ball kicked-off, it’s time to focus on his job as the coach of the Beetdiggers.
“After 26 years of coaching, it’s not like I was there yesterday,” Kahl said. “I think it seems to be a big to people on the outside and not so much for me.”
2A: Cole Bryant (Sr.) La Junta, Connor Dooley (Sr.) Kent Denver, Anthony Ibarra (Sr.) Platte Valley, Parker Joens (Sr.) Platte Valley, Brett Loyd, (Sr.) Moffat County, Mitchell Martin, (Sr.) Strasburg, Will McKissick (Sr.) Kent Denver, Ty Percival (Sr.) Gunnison, Victor Perez (Sr.) Montezuma-Cortez, Zane Phelps (Sr.) Bayfield, Carl Schmidt (Sr.) Kent Denver, Clay Shaver (Sr.) Brush, Joao Thives (Sr.) Denver North, Brady Wilson (Sr.) Gunnison, Luke Wilson (Sr.) Kent Denver, Zeke Zuelke (Sr.) Bennett
1A: Beau Beckman (Sr.) Wray, Hank Bode (Sr.) Platte Canyon, Bryce Buhr (Sr.) Crowley County, Devin Christian (Sr.) Limon, Luke Cross (Sr.) Resurrection Christian, Sabyn Diamond (Sr.) Buena Vista, Austin Dinis (Sr.) Wiggins, Cooper Eggleston (Sr.) Buena Vista, Jayden Hilferty (Sr.) Limon, TJ Shelton (Sr.) Meeker, Taylor Walters (Sr.) Paonia, Cooper Ward (Sr.) Resurrection Christian, Trey Zupancic (Sr.) Rye
8-man: Alex Davis (Sr.) Vail Christian, Spencer Gatlin (Sr.) Dove Creek, Jason George (Sr.) Simla, Rafe Hutches (Sr.) Springfield, Tre Jensen (Sr.) Granada, Anthony Payne (Jr.) Hoehne, Mitch Sides (Sr.) Dayspring Schristian Academy, Bruce Taylor (Sr.) Caliche, Matt Thieman (Sr.) Simla, Joey Younkerman (Sr.) Sargent
6-man: Jaxon Crawford (Jr.) Kit Carson, Dylan Dixon (Sr.) Eads, Luke Duggan (Sr.) Pawnee, Caine Farmer (Sr.) Kit Carson, Chase Flynn (Jr.) Stratton/Liberty, Tristan Headrick (Sr.) Cheraw, Ben Lambrecht (Sr.) Fleming, Reagan Lane (Sr.) Eads, Trent Leoffler (Sr.) Arickaree/Woodlin, Jordan Nelson (Sr.) Peetz, Tanner Patterson (Jr.) Otis, Marco Solis (Sr.) Kit Carson, Joesph Stahley (Sr.) Fleming, Alex Vandenbark (Jr.) Fleming, Cody Wilson (Jr.) Peetz
Regular season begins: Sept. 3
Postseason begins: Nov. 7
State championship: Nov. 21 (6-man), Nov. 28 (8-man, 1A and 2A)
The 2015 baseball players of the year. From left: Jordan Ernst, Dove Creek (1A); Trent Hughes, Rye (2A); Ryan Madden, Fairview (5A); Cole Shetterly, Green Mountain (4A); Lane Greiman, Eaton (3A). (Photos: Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com; Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com; Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com; Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)
The 2015 all-state baseball teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches. Players had to be first-team all-league in order to be on the all-state ballot.
Players and coaches of the year were also selected by a vote of the coaches.
Grandview’s four girls championships were the most in the state for that gender, while Creek’s four boys championships led the way.
Eaton, Colorado Academy, Lyons and Valor Christian all won three total team championships.
In all, 65 teams won at least one team title in 2014-15, with 17 winning at least two.
Rank
School
Girls
Boys
Total
1
Cherry Creek
1
4
5
2
Grandview
4
0
4
2
Cheyenne Mountain
3
1
4
4
Eaton
2
1
3
4
Colorado Academy
3
0
3
4
Lyons
0
3
3
4
Valor Christian
2
1
3
8
Rock Canyon
1
1
2
8
Mountain Vista
1
1
2
8
Fossil Ridge
1
1
2
8
Palmer Ridge
0
2
2
8
Paonia
1
1
2
8
Overland
1
1
2
8
Air Academy
0
2
2
8
Broomfield
1
1
2
8
Kent Denver
0
2
2
8
Alamosa
0
2
2
18
Cheyenne Wells
1
0
1
18
Vail Christian
1
0
1
18
Bishop Machebeuf
1
0
1
18
Manitou Springs
1
0
1
18
Bennett
1
0
1
18
Glenwood Springs
1
0
1
18
Ponderosa
1
0
1
18
Castle View
1
0
1
18
Chaparral
1
0
1
18
Green Mountain
0
1
1
18
Rye
0
1
1
18
Dove Creek
0
1
1
18
Regis Jesuit
1
0
1
18
Aspen
0
1
1
18
Vail Mountain
1
0
1
18
Fountain-Fort Carson
0
1
1
18
Lutheran
0
1
1
18
Springfield
0
1
1
18
Cherokee Trail
1
0
1
18
Niwot
1
0
1
18
Heritage Christian
1
0
1
18
Colorado Springs Christian
0
1
1
18
Sanford
0
1
1
18
Holly
0
1
1
18
Pagosa Springs
1
0
1
18
Akron
1
0
1
18
Idalia
1
0
1
18
Arvada West
0
1
1
18
Thompson Valley
0
1
1
18
Valley
0
1
1
18
Rocky Ford
0
1
1
18
Battle Mountain
0
1
1
18
Summit
1
0
1
18
Evergreen
1
0
1
18
Pine Creek
0
1
1
18
Pueblo East
0
1
1
18
Brush
0
1
1
18
Caliche
0
1
1
18
Arickaree/Woodlin
0
1
1
18
Lewis-Palmer
1
0
1
18
Resurrection Christian
1
0
1
18
Fleming
1
0
1
18
Standley Lake
1
0
1
18
Mountain View
0
1
1
18
Fort Collins
0
1
1
18
Coronado
0
1
1
18
Sterling
0
1
1
18
La Junta
1
0
1
[divider]
Individual titles
Thompson Valley totaled 14 individual championships in 2014-15, including five wrestlers. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Thompson Valley had eight boys and six girls win individual championships in 2014-15 to account for its state-best total of 14.
Cherry Creek was second with 13, and Pomona was third with 10. Lyons won eight, while Air Academy and Cheyenne Mountain each captured seven individual crowns.
A total of 131 schools had at least one individual win a championship. Of those, 73 schools had at least two champions, and 10 had as many as five.
Below is a complete breakdown of individual championships this season.
