Seven new teams have joined the football rankings this week: Cherokee Trail (5A), Conifer (3A), Valley (2A), Simla (8-man), Swink (8-man), North Park (6-man), and Mountain Valley (6-man).
The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
These are the final polls of the regular season. The next poll will come ahead of the seeding meeting.
The 2020 all-state softball teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These team were created following a process where the coaches voted upon a list of nominees. Players who were named first-team all-league are eligible for the all-state ballot.
Coaches also voted specifically for player and coach of the year.
Legend picked up a major top-10 win on Friday night.
The Titans, ranked No. 10 in Class 5A, built on a hot start en route to a 31-7 road upset of No. 7 Regis Jesuit.
The win was led by seniors Kalen Shoemaker and Connor Eise, who each had two touchdowns: Shoemaker with one throwing and one rushing, and Eise with two on the ground.
Legend is now off to a 3-0 start for the second consecutive season, and the win marked a program first for the Titans, who had yet to beat Regis Jesuit. The schools met each of the past two seasons.
Five minutes in, Legend took a 7-0 lead when Eise snuck in on the left side from 1-yard out.
Then early in the second quarter, on third down, Shoemaker rolled to his right and threw back left, finding Carter Helfrich on a 10-yard score that made it 14-0.
A few minutes after that, Shoemaker dashed 90 yards on the ground to make it 21-0.
Regis scored just before halftime to cut the lead to 21-7 when Dervin Taylor scored up the middle from 10 yards out.
Legend added a 25-yard field goal from Caden Smith, and it was 24-7.
In the fourth, Eise capped the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown.
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6-man: (1) Fleming 32, (5) Prairie 8
Scoreless at halftime, and a one-score game after three quarters, Fleming broke things open to come up with a major top-5 win on Friday night.
“We did some things well, and there’s some things we definitely have to work on, but I guess we did enough well,” Fleming coach John King told the Scoreboard Show.
A defensive struggle through the first two quarters, Fleming scored two touchdowns in the first minute of the third quarter to go up 16-0.
“We finally kind of settled down and started executing better offensively, and then really had all the momentum in the world,” King said. “The next two possessions in a row, we turned the ball over. We could have really taken the game over, but we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and let them hang around.”
Prairie scored two minutes after that, making it 16-8 heading to the final frame.
Fleming scored on the third play of that fourth quarter, pushing their lead to 24-8, and added a final score with 4:31 to play on fourth down.
“It was a really nice battle for us,” King said. “We had some kids who are starting for us the first time this year.”
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2A: (3) Sterling 31, (5) Platte Valley 21
Kaeden Sheets threw four touchdowns as Sterling held off a rally from Platte Valley to win the top-5 battle.
Sheets’ big night started off with three first-quarter touchdowns, two to Tucker Myers, as the Tigers built an 18-0 lead.
Platte Valley rallied. McDaniel had a 2-yard run with 4:35 left in the third, and two minutes after that, McDaniel hit Lauer for a 12-yard score to make it 24-21.
In the fourth quarter, Peyton Rose sealed the game with an 8-yard run.
Gunnison won its first varsity game since 2016, 20-7, over Cedaredge.
In double overtime, Windsor beat Erie 38-32. “Different players stepped up at different times and made big plays,” Windsor coach Chris Jones told the Scoreboard Show. “It was a wonderful team effort on defense.” The Wizards are now 3-0.
8-man No. 1 Sedgwick County won its 20th consecutive game, the longest streak in the state, with a 60-14 win over No. 10 Haxtun.
In their first game of 2020 following a two-week quarantine, 4A No. 3 Pine Creek beat 5A Chaparral 17-7.
In the annual Whistle Game, 2A No. 4 Lamar beat rival La Junta 43-14 after building a 28-0 lead. “We started out pretty fast. We were able to grab some pretty big chunks there,” coach Jason Tice told the Scoreboard Show.
3A No. 4 Lutheran was impressive in a top-10 game for the second consecutive week, this time beating No. 7 Palisade 54-24.
After moving up to No. 1 this week, Roosevelt beat Thompson Valley 42-0 in 3A.
In 5A, Douglas County beat Doherty 27-24 on a last-second field goal.
There were quite a few changes to this week’s football rankings, with Dakota Ridge (4A), Roosevelt (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A), and Fleming (6-man) taking over atop their respective classifications.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Roosevelt defense stepped up in a monster moment on Friday night.
The fifth-ranked Roughriders, who had battled with Mead all night, held firm on a two-point conversion attempt to knock off the No. 1 team in Class 3A, 21-20.
Roosevelt got the ball first in overtime, and took just one play to score: Quarterback Brig Hartson found Keaton Kaiser for the score. The extra point was good, and then Mead’s offense took the field.
Likewise, the Mavericks needed just one play to score, when Brayden Keys dashed in for six. Mead coach Jason Klatt opted to go for the two-point conversion.
That’s when Roosevelt’s defense stuffed a run up the middle, setting off a celebration in Johnstown.
Roosevelt opened the game with a touchdown on its first drive, finished off when Brig Hartson found Tucker Peterson for a 19-yard touchdown pass.
The game stayed 7-0 until the third quarter, when Evan Morris tied the game up for Mead with a 1-yard rushing score.
Hartson, who ended the game with three touchdown passes, put Roosevelt up 14-7 with a 4-yard touchdown to Jadyn Herrera early in the fourth. But Mead responded quickly with a 74-yard pass from Porter Eastin to Corby Tecu, and the game eventually found its way to overtime.
Roosevelt is now 2-0, while Mead moves to 1-1.
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2A: (3) Sterling 14, (5) Eaton 10
The defending champions built a 14-3 lead at the break, and went on to win.
The Tigers’ defense had an outstanding game, and even scored a touchdown.
“It was a tough game, a hard-fought contest,” Sterling coach Rob Busmente told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “It kind of went back and forth there for a while. Teams were battling and putting together some drives. It was back-and-forth, back-and-forth, and fortunately we were able to make a couple of stops and get a couple of takeaways.”
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8-man: Haxtun 38, (3) Dayspring Christian 36
Michael Gerk had four touchdowns, Owen Knode added three, according to KPMX Sports, and Haxtun came away with a monster win for its program.
The Fightin’ Bulldogs established themselves with a scoring drive right out of the gate.
“We jumped out pretty quick on a nice, long drive, and our offensive line kind of set the tone,” coach J.D. Stone told the Scoreboard Show.
Haxtun rebounded from an opening-week loss.
“We were really disappointed last week,” Stone said. “I think we grew a lot from that loss. The team really came together … and had a great week of practice.”
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3A: (10) Lutheran 57, (4) Discovery Canyon 17
The Lions jumped all over the Thunder early and often, leading 28-0 after the first quarter en route to the big win.
“Putting up the points early got us a lot of confidence,” Lutheran coach Stephen Robbins told the Scoreboard Show. “We just pounded it with tempo, and kept going at it. And our linemen up front. I’ll tell you: It’s one of the best O-line groups I’ve had in a decade. They got hungry and they kept going, and that just kind of propelled us.
“I think that was the difference-maker, was how we came out of the gate.”
Robbins said that the win could be “a program-changer.”
“We felt like last year, we left quite a bit on the field, especially against Discovery Canyon,” Robbins said. “So like I said, it’s a program-changer. Kids believe a little bit more, and it gets the community excited as well.”
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6-man: (1) Stratton/Liberty 66, (7) Eads 27
The Knighted Eagles came away with a big top-10 win, but coach Toby Kechter said they lost returning first-team all-state running back Jarret Lichty to an arm injury.
“We got up 16-0, and our best player, and in my opinion, the best player in the state, Jarret Lichty, he dislocated his elbow and broke his arm. Our young kids stepped up and played awesome the rest of the game. Eads is a high-quality team. Our kids, they played for him. They stepped up and played with all their hearts. It was great to see.”
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Notables:
In a top-10 5A matchup, No. 1 Cherry Creek cruised past No. 10 Cherokee Trail 49-7.
In 2A, No. 1 Delta beat No. University 31-21. The game was scheduled at the last minute following COVID-related cancellations.
A rare score here: In 4A, Standley Lake beat Golden 3-0.
In overtime, Riverdale Ridge beat Niwot 14-7 to pick up the program’s first 3A win.
Pueblo Central beat Pueblo Centennial 17-9 to win the 72nd Bell Game.
Montrose stopped a two-point conversion attempt in OT to beat Fruita Monument 28-27.
With smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire blowing in, the game between Erie and Silver Creek experienced a nearly 40-minute “smoke delay.” Erie went on to win 54-27.
In its first varsity season, Severance is now 2-0 following its 54-0 win over Alameda.
With its win over Otis on Friday, Weldon Valley put an end to a 15-game losing streak.
