Pine Creek is the No. 1 seed in Class 4A. Falcon also made the field. (Photo: District 49)
AURORA — Pine Creek and Discovery Canyon were selected as the top seeds when the Class 4A and 3A playoff football brackets were announced on Sunday morning.
Both teams went unbeaten at 10-0 during the regular season, and were atop the final Wild Card points standings for their respective classifications.
Pine Creek is the defending 4A champion. The Eagles are riding a 21-game winning streak, the largest of any 11-man team. Their last loss came to 5A Columbine on Sept. 12 of last season. Pine Creek hasn’t lost to a 4A team since dropping a game to Ponderosa in Oct. 2012 — a span of 23 games.
The Eagles went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in CHSAANow.com’s rankings during the regular season. They own wins over five teams which made the playoff field.
Other top seeds, and those hosting first-round games, include: No. 2 Fort Collins, No. 3 Montrose, No. 4 Denver South, No. 5 Pueblo South, No. 6 Dakota Ridge, No. 7 Longmont and No. 8 Windsor.
Montrose was the runner-up in last year’s 4A title game. The Indians (9-1) have yet to lose to a 4A team this season, with the lone loss coming to 5A Lakewood.
Discovery Canyon, meanwhile, has been No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com poll and the Wild Card points for a few weeks now. The Thunder have a number of key wins, including on the road at Holy Family and over Pueblo East. They also beat Rampart, a 4A playoff team.
On Friday, Discovery Canyon held off an upset attempt by beating Canon City in overtime.
Other first-round hosts in 3A are No. 2 Evergreen, No. 3 Roosevelt, No. 4 Pueblo East, No. 5 Lutheran, No. 6 Rifle, No. 7 Holy Family and No. 8 Conifer.
One thing’s for sure: There will be a new champion in 3A. Coronado, which won last year’s title, moved up to 4A (and made the playoffs). Likewise, last year’s runner-up Silver Creek also moved up.
Longmont is ranked No. 8 in 4A this week. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Longmont and Windsor have joined CHSAANow.com’s Class 4A football rankings this week.
The Trojans beat then-No. 7 Greeley West 23-14 last week. They are ranked No. 8 in the 4A poll.
Windsor, meanwhile, handled Thompson Valley 50-7. The Wizards are No. 9.
Pine Creek remained in the No. 1 spot, has it has since the preseason. In fact, the top six teams all stayed put — including No. 2 Montrose, No. 3 Fort Collins, No. 4 Denver South, No. 5 Pueblo South and No. 6 Vista Ridge.
Dakota Ridge moved up to No. 7, while Greeley West fell to No. 10
Canon City was the lone newcomer in the 3A poll, which continued to be led by Discovery Canyon.
It’s the final week of the regular season in 4A and 3A, meaning these will also be the final rankings of the season. Classes 5A, 2A, 1A, 8-man and 6-man all released playoff brackets on Sunday.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Quarterback Cody Summers and Grandview are now the top-ranked team in Class 5A football. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Grandview, now 8-0, is the new No. 1 team in CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings this week.
The Wolves took over the top spot previously occupied by Valor Christian, which lost an in-state game for the first time in 28 outings on Friday when then-No. 9 Cherry Creek upset the Eagles 33-17.
Led by senior Andrew Wingard, Ralston Valley is No. 2 in the 5A poll. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Ralston Valley also had a good claim to the top ranking. The Mustangs are 8-0, too, and won a monster game over then-No. 3 Pomona on Friday. They settled into the No. 2 spot this week, just 10 overall points behind Grandview.
Grandview received 10 first-place votes; Ralston Valley got five.
Meanwhile, Fairview moved up two places to No. 3 after escaping an upset bid from Fossil Ridge.
Pomona dropped one spot to fourth, Cherry Creek rocketed up from No. 9 to No. 5, and Valor fell all the way to sixth. Regis Jesuit is seventh, dropping one place despite a good win over then-No. 7 Mountain Vista.
Rocky Mountain remained at No. 8, Mountain Vista fell to No. 9 and Doherty rejoined the 5A poll at No. 10.
Speaking to the uncertainty in the 5A ranking at the moment, spots Nos. 4-7 are separated by a mere five points. Things could get much more clouded â Valor Christian and Grandview play in their regular season finale on Friday.
In the other six classificatoins, none of the top-ranked teams were displaced. It means Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man) stayed on top.
There were no newcomers in the 4A ranking this week, though 3A added Palisade (No. 10), and St. Mary’s (No. 9). Eaton (No. 10) joined the 2A poll. 1A added Crowley County (No. 10), and North Park joined 6-man’s ranking at No. 9.
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.
Fountain-Fort Carson is ranked No. 10 in 5A this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
Buoyed by its four-overtime win against Doherty on Friday night, Fountain-Fort Carson cracked CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A football rankings on Monday.
The Trojans, now 6-1, entered the poll at No. 10. They have won their last five games.
Elsewhere in 5A, Valor Christian stayed atop the ranking after receiving ten of the 16 first-place votes. Grandview, which got four first-place votes after its big win against Cherry Creek, returned to the No. 2 spot this week.
Pomona is third, and Ralston Valley is fourth. Those two cross-town rivals play one another on Friday night.
Fairview rounds out 5A’s top five, Regis Jesuit is sixth, Mountain Vista moved up to No. 7 and Rock Mountain is No. 8. Cherry Creek fell three places to No. 9.
The other No. 1 teams also remained put, including Pine Creek (4A), Discovery Canyon (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
Newcomers (or returners to the rankings) this week include Dakota Ridge (No. 9 in 4A); Berthoud (No. 9, 3A); Fort Morgan (No. 10, 3A); Sterling (No. 9, 2A); and Cheyenne Wells (No. 10, 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.
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.
