Eaglecrest is No. 2 in this week’s 5A volleyball rankings. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
There was some upheaval in the Class 5A volleyball rankings this week as both Eaglecrest and Cherokee Trail moved into the top five.
The Raptors (10-2) jumped from No. 5 to No. 2 in CHSAANow.com’s poll, while Cherokee Trail went from No. 6 to No. 3.
Rampart received 11 first-place votes and remained atop the 5A poll. The ranking added Denver East at No. 10 this week.
Each of the other No. 1 teams remained the same this week, as well, including Lewis-Palmer (4A), Eaton (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A).
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 media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
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.
Grandview is No. 2 in this week’s 5A volleyball rankings. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Grandview, a winner last week over then-No. 2 Eaglecrest, has made a big jump in CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A volleyball poll this week.
The Wolves moved from No. 5 to No. 2 following the sweep of Eaglecrest, and another of Arapahoe.
Meanwhile, Castle View joined the 5A ranking at No. 10 following a win over No. 3 Chaparral. Chaparral remained at No. 3, just behind consistent No. 1 Rampart and Grandview.
Rampart remained at No. 1 despite its loss to 4A No. 1 Lewis-Palmer, which owns the claim to the best team in the state at the moment.
Each of the three other No. 1 teams also stayed put. Those are Eaton, Resurrection Christian and Fleming.
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 media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Discovery Canyon has taken over the top spot in the 3A football rankings. (Pam Wagner)
Discovery Canyon has perhaps the best combinations of wins to date in Class 3A football this season. As a result, the Thunder now own the No. 1 spot in CHSAANow.com’s ranking.
Voting in 3A remained split again this week, continuing a season-long trend, but the Thunder received seven of the 13 first-place votes, and had 122 total points. Lutheran, No. 1 since the preseason, dropped to No. 2 with six first-place votes and 114 points.
Elsewhere in the classificatoin, Rifle moved up to No. 3, while Holy Family is now No. 4. The 3A poll added Conifer (No. 10) this week.
Ralston Valley moved up to No. 3 in the 5A poll this week. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Cherry Creek is up to No. 6 after shutting out then-No. 9 Cherokee Trail. Regis Jesuit is No. 7, Overland No. 8 and Rocky Mountain is No. 9. Doherty rejoins the poll this week at No. 10.
In 4A, Pine Creek extended its stay at No. 1. The Eagles beat then-No. 5 Vista Ridge last week. That ranking didn’t add any teams this week, though Fort Collins moved up to No. 2 from No. 4.
Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man) each stayed atop their respective polls this week.
Newcomers included Gunnision (No. 9) and Bayfield (No. 10) in 2A; Rye (No. 10) in 1A; Sangre de Cristo (No. 10) in 8-man; and Pawnee (No. 7) in 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.
Fairview moved up to No. 4 in this week’s 5A volleyball rankings. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Ralston Valley has joined this week’s Class 5A volleyball rankings as released by CHSAANow.com.
The Mustangs, now 7-1, entered at No. 8 this week.
Elsewhere in 5A, Eaglecrest made a big jump in going from No. 6 to No. 2. Unbeaten Fairview also had a big move as the Knights went from No. 8 to No. 4.
All five No. 1 teams remained the same this week: Rampart (5A), Lewis-Palmer (4A), Eaton (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A).
There are two new teams in the 3A ranking this week: Peak to Peak (No. 8) and Eagle Ridge (No. 9).
In 2A, Simla joined at No. 7.
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 media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Ranked football teams had an outstanding weekend last week, and as a result, there wasn’t a whole lot of movement in the latest CHSAANow.com rankings on Monday.
Top-10 teams went a combined 54-11 last week, and only two of those losses came to unranked foes.
So it follows that all seven No. 1 teams remained the same this week. Leading their respective rankings are Valor Christian (Class 5A), Pine Creek (4A), Lutheran (3A), Brush (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Arickaree/Woodlin (6-man).
There wasn’t a whole lot of change elsewhere.
In 5A, the teams ranked Nos. 1-6 — Valor, Pomona, Grandview, Ralston Valley, Fairview and Regis Jesuit — didn’t budge.
The classification did add at Rocky Mountain at No. 10, and Overland jumped Cherry Creek for the No. 7 spot, but it was a quiet week otherwise. Regis Jesuit remains No. 9.
Pomona remained ranked No. 2 in 5A this week. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
The 4A poll added Greeley West at No. 8. The biggest mover there was Fort Collins bumping up to No. 4 this week.
Palisade rejoined the 3A poll at No. 10, while 2A added No. 10 Montezuma-Cortez. Platte Canyon (also No. 10) was 1A’s newcomer, and Flagler (another No. 10) joined the 6-man ranks.
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.
Chaparral volleyball remained at No. 2 in 5A this week after it’s big win over No. 2 Grandview last week. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Fairview, which went an astounding 7-0 last week, has jumped into CHSAANow’s Class 5A volleyball rankings this week. The Knights are No. 8.
The Knights won the Cherry Creek Bruin classic over the weekend. Included was a 2-1 win over No. 4 Cherry Creek in the title game.
Rampart continued to lead the 5A poll, a spot the Rams have occupied since the preseason. The other No. 1s also stayed put: Lewis-Palmer (4A), Eaton (3A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A).
Other newcomers this week include Mead (No. 10 in 4A), Pagosa Springs (No. 10 in 3A), Cedaredge (No. 10 in 2A) and La Veta (No. 9 in 1A).
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 media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Ralston Valley 20, Highlands Ranch 17, Chatfield 14, Arapahoe 12, Castle View 12, ThunderRidge 10, Legend 8, Regis Jesuit 7, Coronado 6, Denver East 2, Rock Canyon 2.
Dropped out
Arapahoe (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Lewis-Palmer (13)
8-0
130
1
2-0
2
Cheyenne Mountain
7-1
115
2
4-1
3
Ponderosa
4-1
92
3
2-1
4
Valor Christian
4-3
62
7
1-1
5
Mullen
6-2
58
6
2-1
6
Elizabeth
5-2
54
8
2-0
7
Air Academy
5-4
51
4
0-0
8
Montrose
6-3
43
5
1-2
9
Mead
7-1
28
–
2-0
10
Pueblo West
5-3
26
9
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Longmont 17, Steamboat Springs 14, Discovery Canyon 13, Eagle Valley 3, Windsor 3, Woodland Park 3, Battle Mountain 2, Holy Family 2, Thomas Jefferson 1.
Dropped out
Longmont (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Eaton (7)
10-1
124
1
5-1
2
Valley (3)
11-1
112
2
3-0
3
Manitou Springs (3)
9-1
100
3
3-0
4
Bayfield
6-2
85
5
1-0
5
Platte Valley
10-1
83
4
2-1
6
University
6-3
57
6
4-2
7
Colorado Springs Christian
6-0
51
7
2-0
8
Sterling
4-6
22
8
3-1
9
Lutheran
3-5
16
9
1-0
10
Pagosa Springs
5-4
15
–
0-1
Others receiving votes:
Olathe 11, Coal Ridge 10, Faith Christian 8, Alamosa 4, Peak to Peak 4, St. Mary’s 4, Eagle Ridge 2, Machebeuf 2, Salida 2, The Academy 2, Buena Vista 1, Gunnison 1.
Nine minutes remained in the fourth quarter on Friday night, and Columbine led Bear Creek 28-7. The Rebels would win 43-42 an hour and five minutes later.
Wait, what?
Despite nearly letting the game slip through its fingers, Columbine battled through double overtime to outlast Bear Creek.
Columbine quarterback Jake Lowry. (Dennis Pleuss)
“I was proud of how our kids stepped up and did fight, and made plays at the end, just enough to win it,” Columbine coach Andy Lowry told ColoradoPreps.com’s Scoreboard Show after the game. “Our kids just never gave up and our offense just made plays at the end in overtime, and we squeaked one out.”
Bear Creek was shut out until five minutes remained in the third quarter, and actually trailed 21-0 at that point. But the Bears’ rally really didn’t start until six minutes remained in regulation, when they cut it to 28-14. After an onside kick recovery, and two more scores, it was suddenly tied up and heading to overtime.
“I give Bear Creek a lot of credit for just fighting and playing hard,” Lowry said. “Their coaches did a good job, and they made a lot of plays. We just couldn’t finish in that fourth quarter.”
After blowing the late lead, “We were down a little bit,” Lowry said, “but we just talked to (the team) about how this is a good challenge for us to be able to grow up and face some adversity and have to fight for something.”
Both teams scored in the first overtime, and then Bear Creek converted on its offensive possession in the second. So did Columbine — but the Rebels opted to go for two, and Columbine’s junior quarterback, Jake Lowry, kept the ball to convert for the win.
“My coaches were calling for it, saying, ‘Go for two! Go for two!’” Andy Lowry said. “We just hadn’t stopped them for quite a few possessions in a row. The offense was doing well, and they were over-loading one side, and we just decided to put it in Jake’s hands.
“He made a great play and got in the end zone. You just hate to miss an extra point or something like that and end something that way, so we kept it in our offense’s hands.”
[divider]
4A: (9) Fort Collins 13, (8) Windsor 12
Windsor led 6-0 at halftime and later 12-7 in the fourth, but Fort Collins quarterback Kyler Sigsbee found Dawson Johnson for the winning 5-yard score with six minutes remaining.
The Lambkins’ defense recovered a Windsor fumble on the ensuing drive, and Fort Collins was able to run the clock out.
“We we kind of using this as a barometer to find out where we rank among the 4A elite, because we definitely consider Windsor an elite 4A team,” Fort Collins coach Eric Rice told the Scoreboard Show. “I’m really glad our kids passed the test tonight.”
Later, he added, “When you hold a team like Windsor, which has a potent offense and is good at what they do, to 12 points, you’ve got to be happy about that.”
Not only did Arickaree/Woodlin position itself to take over the top spot in the poll on Monday, the squad also knocked off the defending 6-man champions.
“This is probably the biggest win since we restarted the program four years ago,” Arickaree/Woodlin coach David Saffer told the Scoreboard Show. “The seniors this year have come from the bottom and worked their way up, so it was a very good win for us.
“We also understand that we’ve got a long season ahead of us, and we’ve got to keep going week-by-week here.”
On the presumptive No. 1 ranking, Saffer said, “We’ve got a target on our backs. We’ve just got to stay focused and keep working.”
[divider]
5A: (6) Fairvew 35, Horizon 28
Horizon nearly pulled off its second-straight upset.
Nearly.
A week after knocking off then-No. 6 Chatfield, Horizon battled with Fairview all night on Friday. Ultimately, though, the Knights secured the win.
Horizon actually led 21-7 early in the second quarter, but Fairview rallied to tie things with 3:56 to play before the half. Then, quarterback Johnny Feauto found Tim Ryan for a 20-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left in the half to give the Knights the lead.
“Yeah, he’s our version of Johnny Football,” Fairview coach Tom McCartney joked on the Scoreboard Show. “He’s a tremendous player, he’s the point guard on the basketball team, he was on the baseball team that was in the Elite 8. He loves the center of attention, he loves competition. He just makes a ton of plays for us, and we’re fortunate to have Johnny Football.”
Oh, but Horizon wasn’t done. The Hawks tied it up early in the fourth on a touchdown pass of their own.
Jason Harvey then provided the heroics. His 14-yard run with 1:39 to play proved to be the difference — but only after the Knights’ defense stopped Horizon on fourth-and-2 from near midfield.
“It was a good stop there to try to get that thing secure,” McCartney said.
“The second half was just hard-fought, two teams going at it. … We just found a way.”
[divider]
1A/2A: (2) Buena Vista 21, (10) Manitou Springs 0
Buena Vista, a 1A school, held serve at home against 2A Manitou Springs.
“What got us going, I would say, is our defense and how they stayed disciplined,” Buena Vista coach Matt Flavin told the Scoreboard Show. “I told them we needed to stay disciplined, and they responded and stayed with the gameplan even though they came out and started running the ball on us.
“That kind of got a spark in us to keep going. They got the offense going, as well.”
[divider]
Notes
In a rematch of last year’s 1A championship game, No. 1 Paonia handled No. 4 Centauri 44-0.
Mountain View beat Loveland 24-21 on Jayce Melby’s 24-yard field goal with six seconds left.
Falcon also got a late field goal to beat Pueblo West 16-14. Falcon’s 16 points were actually unanswered after trailing 14-0.
With Valor Christian’s loss, Dayspring Christian now solely owns the longest winning streak in the state at 15 games. The defending 8-man champions play Soroco on Saturday.
Poudre took down Monarch, 7-2. Monarch actually had a chance from the 9-yard-line with 0.4 seconds to play, but couldn’t score.
Eaglecrest, a 5A program, upset 4A No. 3 Denver South 12-6.
Overland rolled Legend, 54-0. The Trailblazers are now 4-0. As recently as 2011, they opened 0-4.
Boulder running back T.J. Jones rushed for 300 yards in his team’s 42-22 win over Thornton, according to BoCoPreps.com.
5A No. 4 Grandview rushed for six touchdowns in its 49-27 win over Arapahoe.
4A No. 4 Montrose rebounded from its first loss with a 55-0 win over Fruita Monument.
In a top-10 4A matchup, No. 9 Holy Family took care of No. 7 Palisade. Said coach Mike Gabriel to the Scoreboard Show: “We really needed it after last week. We played a little less than what we were capabale of last week, so this is a big win for us.”
There were three other top-10 games in 6-man this week besides the 1-2 showdown: No. 3 Eads 52, No. 8 Cheyenne Wells 6; No. 6 Peetz 53, No. 7 Prairie 0; No. 9 Flagler 46, No. 10 Kit Carson 22.
