After Keenan Goodwin found Cauy Bouldin for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, Montrose used four second-quarter touchdowns to help build their lead. Two came from Chris Eckerman, one from Riley Barnhill, and another from Elijah Evans.
Then, to start the third quarter, Josh Kasamis returned the kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown.
“I thought we started off a little slow, but got it going in the second quarter,” Montrose coach Brett Mertens said. “I was proud how we played as a team. It was fun to get some of the younger kids in during the second half. We have a big game next week and the kids are excited for the chance to play Ponderosa.”
“We play for each other,” Barnhill said. “We go out and get it done. We want to make the town proud.”
Kit Carson controlled the game from start to finish in moving to 2-0 this season.
“We ran the ball really well,” coach Curt Connelley told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “Our special teams really got us on the board quickly.”
Joe Bryan returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and his brother, Chris Bryan, returned a punt for a score.
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8-man: Fowler 28, (4) Akron 20
Fowler knocked off the previously-unbeaten Rams with a late score. The Grizzlies recovered a kickoff after a fortunate bounce to set up the touchdown.
“It was a lot of smashmouth football. Akron had a couple of big plays on us. They did a great job defensively,” coach Mark Van Sickle told the Scoreboard Show. “We were three- to four-yards and a cloud of dust. It was great to get back to what I think Fowler football is.”
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Notables
Ponderosa got a huge win by upsetting No. 3 Windsor in 4A, 17-13. Nick Hoff and Ethan Waite each rushed for a touchdown.
Hinkley is off to its first 2-0 start since 2014 following a 7-0 win over Gateway. The Thunderbirds have opened the season with consecutive shutouts.
Pagosa Springs knocked off 1A No. 3 Centauri 31-12.
Smoky Hill is now 3-0 for the first time since 2007. The Buffs beat Northglenn 21-6.
Quite the stat line for Bryson Long of No. 6 Peetz in 6-man: He rushed for 270 yards and had five touchdowns in a 67-22 win over No. 9 Fleming.
It’s always a big rivalry game, and even though they’re now in different classes, this matchup was no different as 1A No. 1 Strasburg beat 2A No. 8 Bennett 32-8.
In a game that featured six lead changes, 4A No. 4 Chatfield held off Brighton 39-30.
In 8-man, No. 4 Prairie beat No. 10 Briggsdale 56-40. “We had a little bit more offensively efficiency. Our offense clicked a lot more tonight,” coach Justin Kerns told the Scoreboard Show of the difference from his team’s first game to its second. Photos from the game are here.
5A Castle View won a wild back-and-forth game on the final play of the game against Wasatch (Utah), 36-35. The Sabercats are now 2-1 under Todd Casebier in his first year — doubling their win total from last season.
Evergreen blocked a last-second field goal to upset Mead.
Denver North QB Erik Flores threw for 370 yards and five touchdowns in his team’s 56-40 win over Englewood. Four of those TDs went to Keon Brickens.
In 5A, Highlands Ranch beat Regis Jesuit in overtime, 20-17.
Eagle Valley snapped a 12-game losing streak with a 57-12 victory against Alameda.
2A No. 7 Basalt cruised to a 47-6 win over Battle Mountain. “The offensive line really played well tonight,” coach Carl Frerichs told the Scoreboard Show.
8-man No. 1 Sedgwick County has now won 25 games in a row after beating Gilpin County 60-0.
LAKEWOOD — Chatfield senior Hunter Barnes matched is rushing touchdown total from last year in the first half Saturday night at Jeffco Stadium.
Barnes scored a trio of touchdowns on the ground (6, 21 and 18 yards) before halftime as Chatfield cruised to a 42-0 victory over Gateway in its Week 1 football opener.
“I knew he (Barnes) had a future,” Chatfield coach Bret McGatlin said. “He finally got his time to shine. Talk about a great kid. I’m proud of him.”
Barnes played in six games last season. He had 19 carries for 168 yards with three touchdowns. Ben Frenette was the workhorse in the backfield last year with more than 1,500 yards rushing for the Chargers.
Chatfield senior Chris Lucas (77) celebrates with Hunter Barnes after a Charger touchdown Saturday night. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“Sitting was a setback for me, but working hard everyday was the motivation for me,” Barnes said. “You want to get better everyday. That was my goal.”
The Chargers, ranked No. 5 in the Class 4A football CHSAANow.com preseason poll, showed off just how good their rushing attack will be early and often against Gateway. Chatfield rushed its way to five first-half touchdowns. Barnes had his fourth touchdown run with 5:53 left in the third quarter to induce a running clock with a 40-point lead for the Chargers.
Chatfield wasn’t able to get its passing game going and then there were the typical rash of first-game penalties.
“What I loved was when we ran our tempo offense we overcame all the drops and penalties to find ways to score. That was awesome,” McGatlin said. “Super proud of our offensive line. They were dominate tonight.”
Junior Malcolm Boyd and senior Derian Smith both bounced in a 1-yard touchdown runs for Chatfield before halftime. Gateway simply had no answer against the stout offensive line of the Chargers and their bevy of running backs.
“I love those guys,” Barnes said of the Chargers’ offensive line. “A lot of them are my best friends. To have that relationship is really big for us.”
Chatfield’s defense held up its end of the bargain. The Olympians didn’t get a first down offensively until the second quarter. Senior Graham Metzler — despite playing with a cast on his right hand because of a broken knuckle suffered on the first day of contact during practice — intercepted Gateway sophomore quarterback Antwaun Smith in the second quarter to set up the Chargers’ fourth touchdown.
Chatfield senior Graham Metzler (81) returns an interception during the second quarter. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“I didn’t even think about this on my hand,” Metzler said. “It was really great to get that early in our game.”
Gateway did threaten to score just before halftime, but Chatfield junior Santi Ramirez intercepted Smith on the Chargers’ 1-yard line late in the second quarter to keep the shutout going for Chatfield’s defense.
Metzler is the lone returning starter on defense for the Chargers.
“To show up and get a zero on the board, I’m pretty proud of that,” McGatlin said. “If we want to go a long way this year we have to play tough defense.”
Chatfield is coming off a successful 2017 season where the Chargers finished 10-2. They cruised through undefeated in conference play and had a 10-game winning streak after losing to Braden River (FL) in Chatfield’s opener, but were tripped up in the 4A quarterfinals by Pueblo West at Cyclone Stadium.
“I think that will always be in the back of my mind,” Metzler said of the Chargers’ state quarterfinal loss. “It’s a new season. It’s a new year and we’re confident in what we can do.”
The Chargers are on the road for the next two weeks. Chatfield faces Rampart (1-0) at District 20 Stadium in Colorado Springs next week. The Rams actually defeated one of the Chargers’ chief rivals Friday night in their opener. Rampart defeated Dakota Ridge 45-17 at Trailblazer Stadium in Lakewood.
“Rampart is tough and physical,” McGatlin said. “They will test us up front.”
The conference schedule for Chatfield has a new look. The new two-year alignment has the Chargers in the newly formed Class 4A Jeffco League. Bear Creek (0-1), Dakota Ridge (0-1), Golden, Grand Junction and Wheat Ridge will join Chatfield in the league.
“Our league is going to be tougher with Bear Creek and Dakota Ridge in there,” McGatlin said.
Chatfield senior Hunter Barnes (1) had a huge season opener for the Chargers. Barnes rushed for four touchdowns in Chatfield’s 42-0 victory over Gateway. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Gateway High School and the Gateway Basketball Family is please to announce the hiring of Coach Ian Calvert @Coach3cal as our next Head Boys Basketball 🏀 Coach Welcome to the Oly Family #olynation#olypride
Calvert led Aurora Central for nine seasons, from 2007-08 through 2015-16. His teams were 150-71, including a trip to the Class 5A Final 4 in 2009-10.
Gateway boys basketball went 9-14 last season, including 5-5 in 5A’s East Metro Athletic Conference. Calvert will take over for Jason Dixon, who was 25-44 in three seasons.
The 2017 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
AURORA — Nathan Mitchell, Dimitri Stanley and Darius Price all scored in double figures as Cherry Creek boys basketball opened its season with a 79-47 win over Gateway.
Grand Junction Central had jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, but Jacob Burns returned a kickoff 89 yards for a score to make it 12-7 at the end of that frame, according to the Daily Sentinel.
Braeden Graham’s 2-yard rushing touchdown gave Fruita Monument lead at 14-12 just prior to the half.
Early in the fourth quarter, Grand Junction Central retook the lead on the second of two rushing scores from Joey Estep.
Ultimately, Brown’s interception with six minutes left proved to be the difference.
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Notables
(Marlee Smith/CHSAANow.com)
4A No. 6 Loveland cruised to 4-0 with a 41-7 win over Fort Collins.
3A No. 1 Holy Family looked as strong as ever, beating Thompson Valley 49-2.
4A No. 4 Windsor jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter, and went on to beat a tough Greeley West squad 17-7. The Wizards are now 3-1.
Alec Lewis threw two touchdowns as Legacy topped Horizon 16-7 to move to 3-1.
