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.
Kent Denver is No. 1 in 2A. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Six of the seven defending champions lead CHSAANow.com’s preseason football rankings.
The lone non-champion to head a classification’s poll is Kent Denver, which is No. 1 in Class 2A.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday during the regular season.
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.
There’s a new top dog in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com girls basketball rankings.
Undefeated Evergreen, the 4A state runner-up last season assumes the No. 1 spot this week.
Pueblo South is right behind the Cougars at No. 2 and D’Evelyn climbed three spots to land at No. 3.
At No. 5 Golden also jumped three spots this week.
Pueblo East is the lone newcomer to the 4A poll at No. 8.
In 5A, Grandview holds its spot at No. 1.
Overall, the top five teams from a week ago went unchanged.
Doherty (No. 8) and Fruita Monument (No. 10) are the two new teams in the 5A rankings.
Like 5A, the top five teams from last week’s 3A poll remain the same, including Sterling at No. 1.
Moffat County breaks into the 3A poll at No. 9.
Paonia stays at No. 1 in 2A with a unanimous vote.
Soroco (No. 4) and Lyons (No. 7) each jumped a spot from a week ago.
Evangelical Christian is the only new team in 2A, coming in at No. 8.
Kit Carson holds its spot at No. 1 in the 1A poll with Kit Carson also holding firm at No. 2.
Three new teams broke into the rankings this week with De Beque (No. 7), Arickaree/Woodlin (No. 8) and South Baca (No. 9) all playing their way in.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Pueblo West 24, Palisade 18, Windsor 13, Falcon 9, George Washington 9, Littleton 3, Montrose 3, Battle Mountain 2, The Classical Academy 2, Thomas Jefferson 2, Kennedy 1, Lewis-Palmer 1, Skyview 1.
Dropped out
Pueblo West (9).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sterling (8)
6-0
124
1
0-0
2
St. Mary’s (5)
5-0
120
2
1-0
3
Lamar
5-0
88
3
1-0
4
Pagosa Springs
4-1
70
4
2-0
5
Centauri
6-1
68
5
1-0
6
Colorado Springs Christian
5-0
57
7
2-0
7
Liberty Common
5-0
50
6
2-0
8
Eaton
6-1
39
9
2-0
9
Moffat County
6-1
25
–
1-0
10
Manitou Springs
2-3
16
8
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Olathe 13, Trinidad 13, Faith Christian 12, Brush 8, Kent Denver 4, Delta 3, Grand Valley 3, St. Mary’s Academy 2.
Dropped out
Faith Christian (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Paonia (11)
6-0
110
1
2-0
2
Wray
5-0
96
2
1-0
3
Yuma
5-2
68
3
1-1
4
Soroco
5-1
60
5
0-0
5
Del Norte
5-2
59
4
1-0
6
Haxtun
5-1
41
6
2-1
7
Lyons
6-1
35
8
2-0
8
Evangelical Christian
5-0
34
–
1-0
9
Swink
3-2
22
7
1-0
10
Highland
5-2
20
10
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Peyton 13, Calhan 9, West Grand 8, Akron 7, Ellicott 5, South Park 5, Hoehne 4, Sargent 4, Center 3, Clear Creek 1, Simla 1.
Dropped out
West Grand (9).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Kit Carson (7)
5-0
95
1
3-0
2
Fleming (2)
4-0
85
2
2-0
3
Antonito (1)
5-0
76
3
0-0
4
Kim/Branson
5-0
70
4
1-0
5
Heritage Christian
4-0
54
5
1-0
6
Kiowa
4-1
24
8
2-0
7
De Beque
4-0
21
–
1-0
8
Arickaree/Woodlin
3-1
19
–
0-0
9
South Baca
4-2
17
–
3-0
10
Idalia
4-2
16
6
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Holly 13, Cheraw 12, Belleview Christian 8, Briggsdale 7, La Veta 7, McClave 7, Sierra Grande 7, Sangre de Cristo 4, Creede/Lake City 3, Springfield 3, Deer Trail 1, Wiley 1.
The 2016 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.
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Class 5A
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Player of the year: Dylan McCaffrey, Valor Christian
Chatfield, the second-ranked team in Class 4A football, pulled off a late rally to avoid an upset at the hands of Dakota Ridge on Friday.
The Chargers — who trailed 12-10 at halftime, and 29-24 after the third quarter — got a big 10-point swing early in the fourth quarter to change the game.
“We had to kick a field goal where we wanted to score a touchdown, and the ensuing kickoff, they fumbled it,” Chatfield coach Bret McGatlin told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “We were able to put it in the end zone. Those 10 points right there just changed the complexion for us. After that, it just got us going.”
“It was a little scary there for a while,” McGatlin said. “Dakota Ridge came out and played really well. I have a lot of respect for that team.”
“We were shell-shocked in the first, second and most of the third quarter, because they came out and they smashed us in the mouth early,” the coach added later. “All of a sudden, we started playing our game. It was fun.”
No. 2 Fleming beat No. 15 Otis 62-14 on Thursday. The remaining six games are all on Saturday.
Arickaree/Woodlin has reached the championship game each of the past two seasons, winning the title in 2014.
[divider]
1A: (8) Burlington 7, (10) Limon 6
Burlington scored the winning touchdown with six minutes to play to seal a league title.
“It was definitely defensive-minded,” Burlington coach Glynn Higgs told the Scoreboard Show. “I think when you play eachother as long as we have, and we’ve both had some pretty good teams in the past, you kind of know each other. And it was a very physical game, as we expected.
“We made one more play,” Higgs added. “We kicked our extra point, and they weren’t able to” convert a two-point conversion.
The win clinched the 1A North Central for the Cougars (7-2, 5-0 in league).
[divider]
2A: (9) Weld Central 17, Platte Valley 14
Weld Central got a late touchdown to secure a huge win and improved to 8-1 this season.
“Our kids played absolutely phenomenal tonight,” coach James Canaday told the Scoreboard Show. “They were very composed.”
The Rebels called a timeout just prior to the winning score.
“It was do-or-die, so we started talking about what we needed to call,” Canaday said. “Our offensive coordinator came up with a great play, and one of our better players, Alex Ries, was wide open and he caught it. … It was absolutely incredible. It was one of the neatest things I’ve ever been through.”
[divider]
Notables
In 8-man, No. 5 Merino and No. 10 Haxtun had about an half-hour delay because a power outage took out the lights at the field. Merino went on to win 41-13.
Basalt won its first league championship since 1984 with a 46-22 win over Roaring Fork. The Longhorns finished 5-0 in the 2A Western Slope League, and is 7-2 overall. “They knew it was a way to keep playing next week,” coach Carl Frerichs told the Scoreboard Show, acknowledging the automatic postseason berth that comes along with the title.
1A No. 9 Crowley County beat Rocky Ford 47-26 to win the Santa Fe League at 4-0. It is the Chargers’ third-straight league title. “We were able to come through again this year,” coach Brandon Roe told the Scoreboard Show.
Boulder got its first win under new coach Vincent Smith, beating Smoky Hill 45-26.
3A No. 10 Conifer got a good win over Lutheran, 34-27. “Our defense came through for us against a really good team,” coach Larry Fitzmaurice told the Scoreboard Show. With the win, Conifer seized control of the West Metro League at 4-0.
2A No. 2 Resurrection Christian beat Eaton 38-6 to secure the Patriot West League championship. The Cougars are now 9-0 and will turn their attention to the playoffs, which begin next week. “At this point of the season, anybody we play is going to be a good football team,” coach Mark Roggy told the Scoreboard Show.
Stratton/Liberty pulled off one of the biggest comebacks of the 2016 football season on Friday night.
The Knighted Eagles trailed Cheyenne Wells 41-8 at one point in the second quarter, but scored the game’s final 41 points to rally and get a huge top-5 win in 6-man, 49-41.
“A win like this could carry a team a long way,” Stratton/Liberty coach Toby Kechter told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “It’s just the belief that they can do anything. They stay together as a team, don’t doubt each other or get mad at each other.”
The Knighted Eagles scored just before halftime to cut it to 41-16, and then really came out firing in the third quarter.
“They had the momentum the whole first half, and we got it back and our guys started believing and it just snowballed after that,” Kechter said. “There wasn’t no stopping us.”
The game, Kechter said, was a “tail of two halves. I mean, we couldn’t do anything right the first half, and they couldn’t do nothing wrong. Then it switched the other way in the second half.”
Stratton/Liberty tied the game up at 41 with a safety in the fourth quarter. It then held Cheyenne Wells and got the ball back.
“We were just going to try and kick a field goal to win, but we snuck her in on a fullback dive, and we got the win,” Kechter said. “It was pretty exciting.”
Pueblo East led 10-0 at halftime, and pushed it to 17-0 with 6:56 to play in the third quarter.
Durango then went on a tear and rallied to take the 20-17 lead by scoring 20 unanswered points. Its last score came with 3:02 to play, but then Pueblo East had a clutch drive to go take the lead and secure the win.
[divider]
4A: Monarch 24, (10) Skyline 13
(Josh Watt/CHSAANow.com)
The Coyotes handed the Falcons their first loss of the season after jumping out to a 17-0 halftime lead.
“We had quite a few offensive snaps,” Monarch coach Phil Bravo told the Scoreboard Show. “When we know we can do that, we’re going to keep someone’s offense frustrated and off the field.”
Monarch moved to 3-3 with the win, while Skyline is now 5-1.
“We’ve been talking about it all week long, about … playing a team that just doesn’t know how to lose. They really haven’t,” Bravo said. “At 5-0, I mean, they just don’t understand what that loss column is all about. And a team that doesn’t know how to lose refuses to lose.
“All in all, we played really well against a good football team,” Bravo said.
[divider]
5A: (7) Regis Jesuit 36, Legacy 8
Regis Jesuit scored the game’s final 29 points en route to a 36-9 win over Legacy.
The seventh-ranked Raiders, now 5-1, had a monster second half to come back to beat the Lightning, who dropped to 4-2.
Legacy had leads of 3-0 and 9-7 in the first half, with the second lead holding up at halftime.
But Regis Jesuit came out firing in the second half, including an early TD which game the Raiders a 15-9 lead, as well as a long interception return that pushed it to 22-9.
With the win, Regis moved to 1-0 in the new Mt. Antero Conference.
The Patriots ran out to a hot start, and never really looked back in an upset performance that made a few dents in the record book.
Hi-Plains/Flagler led 48-16 after the first quarter. The 48 points were the fourth-most in a single quarter, and the 64 combined points were the second-most in a quarter by two teams.
At halftime, it was 64-16. The 64 points were tied for the sixth-most in a half by one team.
In the end, the Patriots cruised to the 82-16 win.
[divider]
Notables
After an 0-3 start, 2A No. 10 Sterling won its third game in a row, beating Platte Valley 27-18. “They bounced back nice off the bye and we were able to take that week to get back to the basics, get back to some fundamentals, and just back to believing in ball again,” coach Rob Busmente told the Scoreboard Show. “The kids have responded really well.”
Holyoke upset 1A No. 6 Limon, 21-14.
In 8-man, No. 2 Sedgwick County rolled past No. 8 Haxtun, 56-6.
Another top-10 showdown in 8-man turned out to be pretty one-sided as No. 6 Akron beat No. 4 Merino 45-0.
In 3A, Evergreen is now 4-2 after beating Skyview 33-7. “I was very happy with the defense. We played physical,” coach Rob Molholm told the Scoreboard Show. “The defense played very consistent tonight, and very aggressive.”
Defending 1A champion Buena Vista has responded to a two-game losing streak with two straight wins. The Demons beat Colorado Springs Christian 34-29. “We gave away a few games, and now that should be far away from them,” Buena Vista coach Matt Flavin told the Scoreboard Show. “With this younger team, they just need to go out there and play and enjoy it and have fun. That’s kind of what we pushed this week.”
West Grand beat Plateau Valley 30-6, giving Chris Brown his state-leading 311th career win.
Kent Denver and coach Scott Yates (308 wins) play Ridge View Academy on Saturday.
5A’s Cherry Creek, now 3-3, answered a few doubters about their No. 10 ranking with a dominant 42-7 win over Fossil Ridge (now 4-2).
