Below is a list of high school football games available on TV and live streams in Colorado this season. This is in addition to games on the NFHS Network, which will have extensive coverage every week.
Valor Christian is the preseason No. 1 in 5A. (Kevin Keyser/KeyserImages.com)
Defending champions head six of football’s seven preseason CHSAANow.com rankings, which were unveiled Monday morning.
The lone exception is Lutheran in Class 3A — which saw both its champion (Coronado) and runner-up (Silver Creek) move up to 4A this cycle.
In fact, that ranking was also the most split of any other, with both Lutheran and preseason No. 2 Delta both getting three first-place votes. Lutheran got the No. 1 nod with 65 total points. Delta had 53 points.
Lutheran was eliminated in the first round of the 3A playoffs last season, while Delta made the semifinals. Lutheran is entering its first season under new coach Blair Hubbard, formerly of Faith Christian.
Other preseason No. 1 teams are Platte Valley (2A), Paonia (1A), Dayspring Christian (8-man) and Stratton/Liberty (6-man).
The rankings are voted upon by coaches and select media members, and are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, rankings will be released each Monday.
ThunderRidge 31, Overland 16, Monarch 7, Legend 5, Douglas County 3, Grand Junction 3, Mullen 2, Doherty 1, Fountain-Fort Carson 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Pine Creek (11)
110
2
Montrose
81
3
Pueblo South
75
4
Longmont
67
5
Denver South
53
6
Broomfield
43
7
Standley Lake
36
8
Dakota Ridge
28
9
Pueblo Centennial
26
10
Windsor
25
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo West 18, Vista Ridge 17, Loveland 13, Fort Collins 5, Coronado 3, Palmer Ridge 2, Wheat Ridge 2, Falcon 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Lutheran (3)
65
2
Delta (3)
53
3
Holy Family
52
4
Rifle (1)
40
5
Roosevelt
33
6
Evergreen
25
7
The Classical Academy
19
8
Palisade
16
9
Lewis-Palmer (1)
15
10
Vista PEAK
11
Others receiving votes:
Fort Morgan 9, Northridge 9, Pueblo East 7, Mead 4, Conifer 3, Discovery Canyon 3, Erie 3, Frederick 3, Woodland Park 2, Eagle Valley 1, Pueblo Central 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Platte Valley (5)
66
2
Faith Christian (1)
64
3
Brush (1)
54
4
Manitou Springs
41
5
Kent Denver
38
6
Florence
31
7
Strasburg
24
8
Bennett
23
9
Lamar
16
10
Olathe
9
Others receiving votes:
Gunnison 7, La Junta 4, Sterling 4, Eaton 2, Middle Park 1, Moffat County 1.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Paonia (4)
63
2
Centauri (2)
58
3
Limon (1)
53
4
Buena Vista
49
5
Resurrection Christian
40
6
Burlington
36
7
Monte Vista
30
8
Yuma
13
9
Wray
10
10
Cedaredge
8
Others receiving votes:
Platte Canyon 6, Colorado Springs Christian 5, Meeker 4, Holyoke 3, Hotchkiss 3, Rye 2, Front Range Christian 1, Wiggins 1.
The 2014 all-state girls lacrosse teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches.
Player of the year was also selected by a vote of the coaches.
The 2014 all-state baseball teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and coaches, and then a vote of coaches.
Players of the year were also selected by a vote of the coaches.
Cherry Creek junior Cody Wood pitched into the seventh inning for the Bruins against Chatfield on Friday morning. (Dennis Pleuss)
DENVER — Chatfield’s pitching trio of Nick Chamberlain, Travis Schnoor and Sean O’Dell pieced together a victory for the Chargers in the Class 5A state tournament opener Friday afternoon at All-City Field.
Chatfield outlasted Cherry Creek for an 8-4 victory to start the eight-team, double-elimination tournament.
“It was definitely a big game. Coach (Brandon Stone) told me I was on the mound. I knew I had to bring my ‘A’ game today,” said Chamberlain, who pitched the first four innings to pick up the victory. “This game against Cherry Creek we pieced it together. It worked out really good.”
Chamberlain gave up three runs on sevens hits before Schnoor took the hill in the bottom of the fifth inning. O’Dell replaced Schnoor with one out in the sixth inning. O’Dell finished the game to get the save.
The key for Chamberlain, Schnoor and O’Dell was they were all able to get out of jams. The Bruins (17-5) left 12 runners on base in the loss.
Chatfield senior Nick Chamberlain picked up the victory on the mound against Cherry Creek and also hit a solo home run in the seventh inning in the Chargers’ 8-4 victory Friday morning. (Dennis Pleuss)
“It’s double-elimination, but you do everything you can to win each and every one. We did what we had to do,” Stone said about throwing three pitchers. “Nick threw well. Schnoor gave us a chance to stay in it and O’Dell closed the door. It was a great pitching staff effort today for sure.”
Since the double-elimination format began in 2003, 9-of-11 5A state title winners started off the championship series with a 3-0 record. Regis Jesuit (2011) and Cherry Creek (2012) bucked the trend recently getting off to a 2-1 records in the first week of the tournament before going 3-0 in the second week to claim state titles.
Chatfield (20-2) got the important win Friday morning thanks to 15 hits off Cherry Creek pitching. Senior starter Cody Wood pitched into the seventh inning. The Chargers’ big innings came with a four-run third inning and three-run seventh.
Seniors Matt Jarecki and Chamberlain both had solo home runs for Chatfield.
Despite throwing four innings Friday, Chamberlain said he would be game to take the hill either Friday or Saturday.
“Some teams might run out of arms with the double-elimination format, but I think we’ll be fine,” Chamberlain said. “I could throw next game if they need me.”
Longtime Cherry Creek coach Marc Johnson is in his 42nd season coaching the Bruins. Cherry Creek has won eight state baseball titles under Johnson, including one in the double-elimination format.
“I try not to outguess myself,” Johnson said of how he decides to start on the mound in the tournament. “We feel like we threw our best available. We’ll throw our best available tomorrow. My philosophy has always been if you are going to get beat in the state tournament make them beat the best guy (pitcher) you’ve got. Chatfield beat the best guy we got today.”
Johnson is counting on Cherry Creek’s depth carry the Bruins to a pair of must-win elimination games Saturday. No 5A team has ever lost their first game of the state championship series and gone on to win a state title.
“I think we’ve got the depth. I think there are a lot of teams in here that have talent. I think we have the depth,” Johnson said. “I’m looking forward to playing tomorrow. Our season is based on tomorrow. We win two or we are done.”
Cherry Creek will face Chaparral at 10 a.m. Saturday at Machebeuf High School.
Mountain Vista received a pitching gem from junior Will Dix against Chaparral in the second game of the day at All-City. Dix nearly went the distance in a 4-0 victory for the Golden Eagles. The junior gave up just four hits before junior Marc Mumper came in with two outs in the top of the seventh to get the final out.
Chaparral senior Jacob Hernandez took the loss on the hill for the Wolverines. Home runs by Dylan Formby and Cale Sparks was all Mountain Vista needed offensively to stay in the winner’s side of the bracket.
Mountain Vista then beat Chatfield in the final game at All-City, 7-1. That puts the Golden Eagles in the all-important 3 p.m. game Saturday at All-City against Rocky Mountain. The winner of that will be in control of the 5A tournament.
Chatfield moved to the semifinals for the first time on Wednesday. (Brian Miller)
LAKEWOOD — Having already snapped one unlucky streak last weekend, Chatfield’s girls lacrosse team took an even bigger step forward Wednesday evening.
The Chargers used a quick-fire approach to keep Denver East on its heels in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state tournament. Junior Kendra Lanuza added to her state-leading tally with five goals and Rachael Walker added three goals and five assists as Chatfield moved into the state semis for the first time in school history with a 15-10 victory over the Angels at Trailblazer Stadium.
“It’s just an incredible feeling,” said Lanuza, who now has 98 goals this season. “We really have come together as a team this year and we’re just doing the impossible.”
Chatfield also got three goals from Summer Stafford, and two each from Jen Lanuza and Shelby Piper.
The Chargers (17-0) draw Air Academy at the University of Denver on Saturday. Centaurus and Cherry Creek meet in the other semifinal, with the state title game slated for May 21, also at DU.
Denver East (14-3) was led by senior Julia Dudley’s five goals and Sarah Nick added three more.
“We had eight seniors who did a great job and we’ve built a program that now has 60 girls and eight coaches,“ said Angels coach Chris Romer, who took over the program earlier this year along with co-coach Mallory Cleveland. “Mallory and I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve pulled together in basically three months.”
Chatfield had seen its season come to an end in the second round of the playoffs in each of the three previous seasons. That skid ended with a hard-fought 14-12 victory over Rampart on May 9, setting up the showdown with Denver East.
“We hadn’t played in two weeks. We came out a little bit rusty, a little bit slow,” Chargers coach Adam Everett said of the playoff opener. “I think getting that game in and then coming in here against East, a very good opponent, we were able to just play our game.”
The momentum shifted back and forth in the first half. Chatfield scored four consecutive goals early to take a 4-1 lead, but the Angels had an answer every time. Nick’s third goal of the half cut the lead to 8-6 at halftime.
In the second half though, Chatfield’s offensive rhythm took over, with quick passes leading to even quicker shots. Three of the team’s first four goals came on one-timers, and the Angels never seemed able to catch up to the team’s speedy attack.
“It’s that chemistry, knowing where people are going to be so they can just dump that ball off – that one-timer into the back of the net,” Everett said. “We’ve got the skill to do it. They stepped up tonight and they showed that they deserve to be in the Final Four.”
Walker, who had three assists in the first half, added two goals and two more assists in the second half. The Oregon-bound senior leads the state with 70 assists. Lanuza, who has verbally committed to DU, scored three goals in the second half.
“She’s an incredible player. She and Rachael Walker and Shelby Piper have all been just putting it into the back of the net for us all season,” Everett said. “We’ve been really fortunate to have those three. They all have the chemistry that has carried them through it.”
Denver East managed only four goals in the second half thanks to the combination of double- and triple-teams and five big saves from Chatfield goalie Emily McMinimee.
“We definitely really learned to step in front of the girls, especially the fast ones like Julia and Shelby Parks,” Lanuza said. “Just stop them and crash as a team.”
East had a few chances but couldn’t quite catch back up.
“Their goalie played outstanding and Chatfield is a good team,” Romer said. “They scored when they needed to score and we missed a few shots.”
Everett said with four great teams in the semifinals, Chatfield will need to be confident but not cocky. The Chargers have come this far, and they aren’t ready to see their run come to an end.
“We’re extremely fired up, especially with all the seniors on our team,” Lanuza said. “It’s their last shot. I think we definitely want it bad.”
