LITTLETON — Moments after Loveland scored a touchdown to push their lead to two touchdowns early in the second half of their top-10 matchup with Heritage on Thursday night, an assistant coach gave the team a directive: “Now,” he said, “is the time to dominate.”
The boys delivered.
Loveland, ranked No. 9 in the preseason Class 4A rankings, rolled to a road win over No. 8 Heritage thanks to a stifling defense which forced four turnovers, and a relentless ground attack which put up six touchdowns. The final: 49-23.
Senior Zack Rakowsky accounted for three of the rushing scores, including a 63-yard burst which opened the scoring less than two minutes after the opening whistle. Rakowsky was the team’s quarterback last season, though he did lead Loveland in rushing.
On Thursday, he spent much of the night lined up as running back, but he did also have a passing touchdown — a key 17-yard throw to Ian Loomis with 40 seconds left in the second quarter which gave Loveland a 21-14 lead at halftime.
Loveland sophomore Garrett Harstad had a solid night at quarterback, and had two rushing touchdowns himself. His first, from just outside the goal line, made it 28-14 midway through the third quarter — and sparked a fire within Loveland, aided by that assistant coach’s directive.
Two minutes later, after another interception, Tyson Williams scored on a short fly sweep. Suddenly, it was 35-14, and Loveland was in complete control of the top-10 matchup.
Heritage battled, and quickly cut the score to 35-21 when quarterback Skydon Carrasco found 6-foot-5, 240-pound CU commit Erik Olsen.
But the night belonged to Loveland, and to Rakowsky. The senior added his third rushing score with 9:27 to play, which made it 42-21.
Following a Heritage safety, Harstad capped the scoring with a 21-yard dash with 2:42 left.
Heritage’s Landon Kaiser had two touchdowns, one rushing and another receiving.
Loveland hosts Greeley Central next week, while Heritage is at Windsor.
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.
When the CHSAA boys basketball record book got updated two weeks ago, it provided a reminder of some memorable performances that fans saw throughout the year. It also provided fitting ends for some of the best basketball players to come through the state.
There were top performances from both individual players and overall teams that stand out for years down the road.
There were standout defensive numbers combined with plenty of offensive output that makes the last boys basketball season one to remember.
[divider]
Mancos’ Caden Showalter ended his career as one of the most efficient players in state history. At the conclusion of this last year, he totaled 58 career double-doubles, besting Colorado Springs Christian’s Sam Howard by five.
A few other players broke into the top 10 of the same category. Pomona’s Trevor Baskin ended with 38 to finish 10th with Mile High Academy’s Blake Essex coming in for a tie at eighth with 40.
Vanguard’s Dominique Clifford finished fifth in career double-doubles with 43. He had 24 this last season which is second most in a single season. The University of Colorado commit’s career was capped with several notable spots in the record book.
He finished third in career rebounds in the state tournament (109), fifth in career triple-doubles (3), sixth in rebounds in a single state tournament (51) and second in triple-doubles for a year (2).
[divider]
From a percentage standpoint, no one had a better free throw shooting year than DSST: Byers’ Kyrie Thomas. He made his way to the line 84 times and sank 79 shots to shoot 94.048 percent, the best season for anyone with at least 50 attempts.
He also knocked down 30 consecutive free throws during the season, the fourth longest streak in state history.
[divider]
(Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Conifer’s Landon Wallace will always hold a place in state history as one of the top all-time assists men. He cracked the top five in career assists with 697 and dished out 239 in 2019-20 alone, fifth most in a single year.
In 2018-19, he dished out 256 which is the second most in state history.
From a team standpoint, Resurrection Christian made its mark as one of the most unselfish teams on record. The Cougars recorded 569 assists this year, No. 3 on the all-time list. Denver East (550) and Highland (533) also cracked into the top 10 of the category.
Peaking of Highland, Tate Bessire had another season in which he finished top 10 in a single season in steals with 128. He finished his career with 392, which is second most all-time.
Sterling and Mead turned in some of the best long-range shooting seasons on record. The Tigers set a state record for most 3-pointers made by a team in a single season at 272. That tops Eagle Calley’s 2017-18 mark of 268. Mead ended the season with a respectable 237 made 3-pointers, fifth most all-time.
[divider]
Notables
Loveland’s Austin Bierhaus recorded 13 blocks in a Dec. 20 win over Northridge. It’s tied for fifth most in a game by a single player. He finished with 162 for the season which is No. 4 in the category. The team overall had 201 blocks, eighth most all-time for a team.
Lutheran’s Baye Fall scored 456 points last season which is seventh most for a freshman.
Longmont Christian’s Kyle Saunders recorded 144 steals, fourth most in a single season for any player.
Sheridan’s David Marquez III ended his career as one of the most efficient 3-point shooters in state history. His 48.052 career percentage from behind the arc is No. 9 in the category. He shot 56.923 percent from long range last year for the seventh best season on record.
Chaparral guard Kobe Sanders was never shy about firing up shots. His 613 career 3-point attempts are 10th most in state history.
Dawson’s Riley Burridge and Peak to Peak’s Garrett Shriver each attempted 21 3-pointers in a game this last year, tied for third most. In all, Burridge fired up 265 shots from long range, the sixth most in a single season. He made 97 of them, tying him for No. 8 in a single season with Rye’s Bryan Ribaudo and Fossil Ridge’s Braxton Bertolette.
Sedgwick County ended the years as the toughest team to ever score against in Colorado history. The Cougars gave up just 34 points per game, the best points against average of all-time.
Highland attempted 1,804 field goals last year, more than any other team in state history. It made 852 of them which is also more than any team before it. The Huskies scored a total of 2,155 points, seventh most for a single team, and averaged 86.2 per game, second most all-time.
