The preseason football rankings were released on Monday for all seven classifications. Leading their respective polls are: Stratton/Liberty (6-man), Sedgwick County (8-man), Limon (1A), Delta (2A), Pueblo South (3A), Pine Creek (4A), and Cherry Creek (5A).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches, 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.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Cherry Creek (3)
0-0
86
2
Regis Jesuit (4)
0-0
80
3
Heritage (2)
0-0
79
4
Rocky Mountain
0-0
61
5
Mountain Vista (1)
0-0
57
6
Valor Christian
0-0
36
7
Grandview
0-0
30
8
Rock Canyon
0-0
29
9
Douglas County
0-0
28
10
Legacy
0-0
20
Others receiving votes:
Chaparral 16, Pine Creek 16, Legend 14, Ralston Valley 14, ThunderRidge 11, Fort Collins 10, Boulder 5, Poudre 4, Windsor 3, Lakewood 2, Vista PEAK Prep 2, Arapahoe 1, Broomfield 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Cheyenne Mountain (4)
0-0
95
2
Pueblo West (5)
0-0
87
3
Silver Creek (1)
0-0
69
4
Holy Family
0-0
45
5
Fort Morgan
0-0
36
6
Golden
0-0
34
7
Longmont
0-0
28
8
Ponderosa
0-0
22
9
Wheat Ridge
0-0
21
10
Montrose
0-0
20
Others receiving votes:
Erie 18, Palmer Ridge 17, Lewis-Palmer 14, Roosevelt 12, Skyview 11, Air Academy 10, Canon City 10, Discovery Canyon 8, Falcon 8, Pueblo Central 8, Denver West 7, The Classical Academy 6, Palisade 5, Pueblo South 5, Evergreen 4, Centaurus 3, Sierra 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
University (5)
0-0
89
2
Eaton (2)
0-0
84
3
Resurrection Christian (3)
0-0
81
4
Lutheran
0-0
67
5
Sterling
0-0
43
6
Colorado Academy
0-0
34
7
Delta
0-0
31
8
La Junta
0-0
21
9
Alamosa
0-0
20
10
Peak to Peak
0-0
19
Others receiving votes:
Faith Christian 14, St. Mary’s 14, Brush 11, Bennett 4, Kent Denver 4, Manitou Springs 4, Jefferson Academy 2, Lamar 2.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Peyton (6)
0-0
74
2
Rye
0-0
59
3
Fowler
0-0
55
4
Yuma
0-0
53
5
Holly (3)
0-0
50
6
Limon
0-0
39
7
Wiggins
0-0
37
8
Dayspring Christian Academy
0-0
19
9
Dawson School
0-0
16
10
Calhan
0-0
14
Others receiving votes:
Sargent 13, Front Range Christian 11, Hotchkiss 10, Burlington 9, Dolores 8, Wray 8, Holyoke 6, Paonia 4, Denver Christian 3, Highland 3, Clear Creek 2, Rocky Ford 2.
The 2019 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 from the results of the coaches’ vote.
North Park raced out to a 20-6 lead, weathered a second-quarter comeback from Granada, and then scored three third-quarter touchdowns in pulling off the upset.
According to Colorado Preps, it is just the second postseason victory in program history as No. 11 North Park advanced in the 6-man playoffs over the No. 6 Bobcats.
“It’s huge for us — we’ve just got to keep taking steps forward,” coach Chad Carlstrom told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “I think the program’s in the right spot. The kids are excited. The young kids are excited. That’s just building a little bit of a tradition. I hope I’ve done that.”
North Park had six rushing touchdowns in the game, including three from Destry Schmidt, two from Cordell Garriott and one from Brock Follett.
“We just overpowered them on our running game,” Carlstrom said. “We’ve got three dynamic running backs that they all provide something different, that change of pace, and our blocking up front has been solid. It makes it tough to figure out who’s going to get the ball and which way we’re going to go.”
Dominic Coleman, just a sophomore, led the way for Granada with four total touchdowns, two rushing and two passing.
In other 6-man playoff games on Friday:
No. 1 Kit Carson beat No. 16 Peetz 73-7.
No. 4 Fleming beat No. 13 Deer Trail 72-27.
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Playoff brackets
The 8-man, 1A, 2A, and 5A state playoff brackets will be seeded and released on Sunday. The 3A and 4A brackets are due out on Nov. 9.
Ponderosa (6-3) got the only score of the game midway through the fourth quarter, and set up a showdown for the 4A Metro League title with Heritage next week.
“It was just a total team effort,” Ponderosa coach Jaron Cohen told the Scoreboard Show. “When we needed it, our offense got a drive to score, and they got a couple of first downs to ice it.”
Mustangs quarterback Jack Hanenburg scored on a three-yard rush with eight minutes remaining to provide the game’s only points. It was set up by a great scramble and throw on third down from Hanenburg, Cohen said.
“Jack got behind our big boys and got it in,” Cohen said.
Montrose nearly responded but a Ponderosa defender tracked down a Montrose player at the five, and then the Mustangs’ defense held firm on 4th-and-goal from the 1.
Montrose is now 8-1 this season.
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1A: (2) Holyoke 14, (3) Limon 12
Holyoke (9-0) scored twice in the first half for a 14-0 lead, then held off a fourth-quarter rally from Limon (7-2) to secure the North Central League title.
“It was a very exciting game,” Holyoke coach Dustin Sprague told the Scoreboard Show. “It was a championship game, and our kids came up with some big plays.”
Blake Mosenteen opened the scoring with a 6-yard rush in the second quarter, and then Miles Sprague added a 61-yard dash for a two-score Holyoke lead.
Things stayed 14-0 until the fourth quarter, when the Badgers scored with nine minutes remaining. A two-point conversation attempt was no good, making the score 14-6.
Kory Tacha then added a rushing touchdown for Limon with three minutes left, but the Badgers couldn’t convert a two-point attempt to tie the game.
“This is what we set out to do,” Sprague said. “But we didn’t come this far just to come this far.”
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5A: (10) Cherokee Trail 36, (9) Eaglecrest 32
In a wild game, Cherokee Trail (7-3) rallied from a huge 29-0 hole in the third quarter to pick up a big win over the Raptors (7-3).
The Cougars scored 21 unanswered points in the later part of the third to cut the Eaglecrest lead to 29-21 going to the fourth. The Raptors added a field goal, and went up 32-21 with nine minutes left in the fourth.
Then Jayden Lavigne hit Samuel Hart for a 45-yard touchdown pass, and the Cougars converted a two-point attempt to make it 32-29.
Lavigne then found Donovan Swift with three minutes remaining on a 34-yard TD to give CT its first lead of the game — and it proved to be the winning score.
Lavigne finished with three touchdown passes.
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5A: (1) Cherry Creek 44, (7) Grandview 21
Cherry Creek built a quick 17-0 lead, and the Bruins were up 20-7 at halftime en route to the win.
Grandview did cut it to 20-14 early in the third quarter following a blocked punt, but Cherry Creek reeled off 24 unanswered points into the fourth to make it 44-14.
The Bruins finish the regular season 10-0. Grandview is 8-2.
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1A: (7) Florence 13, (5) Colorado Springs Christian 10
Florence (8-1) stormed back from a 10-0 halftime deficit to secure the win, and the Tri-Peaks League title.
“That’s a dang good football team, and we were just able to grind it out,” coach Jeremy Nix told the Scoreboard Show.
The Huskies tied the game in the third quarter with a passing score and a field goal, and then took the lead with a 27-yard field goal from Jenkins Phillips with less than a minute to play to win.
Here’s video of the winning kick, from KOAA:
HS FOOTBALL GAME WINNER: Florence sophomore Jenkins Phillips nails the biggest kick of his football life, a 27-yard GW FG. This gave the Huskies a 13-10 win over @CSCSLIONS to win the Tri-Peaks title. @KOAA#coprepspic.twitter.com/kR5v0Nj1GS
Peyton Brones had a rushing touchdown for CSCS (7-2).
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8-man: (1) Sedgwick County 60, (9) Merino 0
Sedgwick County (9-0) cruised to an unbeaten regular season.
The Cougars led 32-0 at halftime, and had six rushing scores and two passing in the win.
Merino ends the regular season 6-3.
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Notables:
In a top-10 1A matchup, No. 6 Meeker beat No. 8 Hotchkiss 42-26 to win the 1A Western Slope League. “We’re excited about having the opportunity to get out there and compete next week,” coach Shane Phelan told the Scoreboard Show. “We’ll see where it goes from there.”
Yuma upset 1A No. 10 Wray 27-7 in their rivalry game, the Harvest Cup.
In another rivalry contest, No. 9 Basalt got a last-second stop on fourth down to preserve a 17-14 win over Aspen.
The 6-man football state playoff bracket was released on Sunday, and Kit Carson is the top overall seed.
The unbeaten Wildcats are 8-0, and are the champions of the South East League. They were No. 1 in the final RPI standings of the regular season, which is the primary seeding consideration for the 6-man bracket.
