The memory of how it all unraveled still lingers for the Pueblo West baseball team.
And, naturally, it stung for a long time.
The Cyclones had done just about everything to put themselves in position to take home the Class 4A crown coming down the closing stretch of the 2016 season.
They began clicking at the right moment, rattling off 16 wins over the 17 games leading up to the state championship finale against a Valor Christian squad that needed to win not once, but twice, to flip the script on what appeared to be inevitable.
That’s why it’s not easily forgotten, as Pueblo West is still searching for its first baseball title in school history.
“It left a bitter taste in our mouth,” senior pitcher RJ Dabovich said. “We were that close, one win away from a (championship) ring. That’s been our main motivation throughout the offseason.”
Rather than letting themselves dwell on what almost was, this year’s team has turned it into firing power entering their 2017 campaign, which begins Saturday at Lewis-Palmer.
“It’s definitely something that has stuck with us, and we’re using that to work harder and get better,” senior outfielder Ian Garcia said. “Everyone that was there is just that much hungrier to get back there and try to win it this year.”
Seven players from last year’s team were lost to graduation. The Cyclones did, however, retain much of their offensive production that led to their success a year ago.
Ian Garcia and his twin brother, Alan, are expected to play key offensive roles on this year’s sophomore-heavy team, according to 13th-year coach Dan Sanchez. They combined for 65 hits and 34 RBIs in 2016.
“We’ve been working to improve our fundamentals, really focusing on the little things that lost us that last game,” said Alan Garcia, a Dodge City Community College signee along with his brother. “We’re ready to redeem ourselves.”
Dabovich, who signed to Central Arizona College in January, is expected to lead the Cyclones on the pitching mound. The right-hander recorded 27 strikeouts and had two saves among a senior-led rotation last season.
“I’m excited because we’re about as athletic as we’ve ever been,” Sanchez said. “We were able to do some really good things last year and I fully expect us to be in the hunt again this year.”
The Eagles graduated 14 players while the Mountain Lions had only three seniors. Valor Christian will also be in its first season under new coach Brian Bonn.
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Class 5A
Cherokee Trail is also one of three defending champions to come in at No. 1 of their respective classes in the preseason poll. Returning seniors Conner Nantkes, Nick Perez, Eric Cox and Michael Morris accounted for more than half of the Cougars’ 283 hits in 2016.
Cherry Creek came in at No. 2 and will face Cherokee Trail on April 6. Headlining the Bruins’ list of returners is junior Tanner O’Tremba, who received All-American honors last season. No. 3 Rocky Mountain, the 2016 runner-up, will meet Cherokee Trail in a title-game rematch on March 24 during the regular season.
Class 3A
Knocked out in the semifinals last season, University is now back as the top-ranked team in 3A. The Bulldogs return seniors Paul Medina and Beau Hawley, who led the team in hits in 2016, as well as leading pitcher Cameron Multer, now a junior.
Defending champion Faith Christian is No. 2 in the season’s first rankings. The Eagles graduated seven seniors from a year ago, including top hitter and 3A player of the year Austin Stone, who was named to the MaxPreps small schools All-American team.
Class 2A
Top-ranked Paonia suffered only one defeat throughout the 2016 regular season. Despite being upset in the semifinals, the Eagles will return nearly their entire stately team from a year ago with the exception of two players.
Defending champion Dawson is ranked No. 2. The Mustangs lost six seniors from their title-winning squad.
Class 1A
Defending champion Holly was the only team in the preseason rankings to receive a unanimous vote for No. 1, while Eads and runner-up Fleming were voted Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
The Wildcats, who return all but one player from their championship team, will play the Eagles on the road April 28 in the regular-season finale.
Three defending state baseball champions are starting the season right where they left off. In the initial CHSAANow.com baseball rankings, Cherokee Trail, Valor Christian and Holly come in at No. 1 in their respective classes.
The Cougars claim the top spot of the 5A rankings with six first-place votes. Centennial League foe, Cherry Creek, sits right behind them at No. 2. The Bruins are looking to end a four-year championship drought in 2017.
Last year’s runner-up, Rocky Mountain, starts the season at No. 3.
Outside of the top three teams, only Rock Canyon (No. 7) and Pine Creek (No. 10) received first-place votes to start the season.
(Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)
In 4A, Valor Christian, led by new coach Brian Bonn, claimed nine first-place votes to start the season with No. 3 Pueblo West being the only other ranked team to receive one.
Mountain View will start the year at No. 2 with Windsor and Longmont rounding out the top five.
Erie takes the No. 8 spot, meaning that the final four teams that remained in the 4A state tournament on the final weekend will come into the season ranked and carrying high expectations.
University will start the season as the No. 1 team in 3A. The Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals last year before losing 3-2 to Manitou Springs, who finished as the state runner-up.
The Mustangs enter the season at No. 7.
Delta, a 4A team a year ago, sits right behind Manitou at No. 8. Defending champion, Fatih Christian sits high in the rankings at No. 2 as they hope to defend their title.
Paonia enters the season as the No. 1 team in 2A. It’s the same seed the Eagles took into last year’s state tournament where they were upset by Limon in the semifinals.
Heritage 21, Broomfield 14, Mountain Vista 14, Dakota Ridge 12, Legend 11, Grand Junction Central 9, Chaparral 4, Legacy 4, Castle View 3, Chatfield 2, Douglas County 2, Denver East 1, Fairview 1, Grand Junction 1, Monarch 1, Prairie View 1.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Valor Christian (9)
0-0
99
2
Mountain View
0-0
78
3
Pueblo West (1)
0-0
67
4
Windsor
0-0
57
5
Longmont
0-0
42
6
Silver Creek
0-0
35
7
Canon City
0-0
32
8
Erie
0-0
28
9
Air Academy
0-0
24
10
Denver North
0-0
19
Others receiving votes:
Northridge 18, Evergreen 8, D’Evelyn 6, Lewis-Palmer 6, Wheat Ridge 6, Green Mountain 5, Pueblo South 4, The Classical Academy 4, Palmer Ridge 3, Discovery Canyon 2, Fort Morgan 2, Roosevelt 2, Thompson Valley 2, Pueblo Centennial 1, Pueblo County 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
University (6)
0-0
101
2
Faith Christian (2)
0-0
91
3
Lamar (1)
0-0
90
4
La Junta (1)
0-0
61
5
Valley
0-0
54
6
Eaton
0-0
51
7
Manitou Springs
0-0
49
8
Delta (1)
0-0
33
9
St. Mary’s
0-0
31
10
Bayfield
0-0
27
Others receiving votes:
Kent Denver 25, Colorado Springs Christian 16, Peak to Peak 10, Brush 6, Gunnison 6, Colorado Academy 5, Buena Vista 2, Lutheran 1, Resurrection Christian 1.
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
1
Paonia (5)
0-0
81
2
Dawson (2)
0-0
65
3
Dayspring Christian
0-0
49
4
Sedgwick County
0-0
46
5
Hotchkiss
0-0
37
6
Limon
0-0
35
7
Rocky Ford
0-0
31
8
Akron (2)
0-0
30
9
County Line
0-0
29
10
Sargent
0-0
18
Others receiving votes:
Crowley County 15, Swink 12, Peyton 10, Front Range Christian 9, Haxtun 9, Del Norte 5, Center 4, Denver Christian 3, Yuma 3, Clear Creek 2, Burlington 1, Gilpin County 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.
[divider]
Class 5A
(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Player of the year: Dylan McCaffrey, Valor Christian
It’s still early in the 2016-17 boys basketball season, but George Washington has already made some impressive moves.
The Patriots come in as the new No. 1 team in the Class 5A CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings. In the two weeks since the release of the preseason rankings, they have gone 5-0 which included a three-point win over No. 2 Rock Canyon and a 13-point win over defending state champion Overland.
With a five-point loss to Rock Canyon, preseason No. 1 Eaglecrest falls to No. 5.
Grandview jumped two spots to land at No. 7 while Smoky Hill (No. 8) and Chatfield (No. 10) are the two new teams in the 5A poll.
A 3-0 record over the first week and a half of the season has kept Pueblo West as the No. 1 team in 4A.
Valor Christian also holds tight at N0. 2, despite a season-opening loss to 5A No. 9 Doherty.
Vista PEAK has looked good early in the year, starting with a 6-0 run to start the season. The Bison made a five-spot jump to come in at No. 4 this week.
Lewis-Palmer is the only new team to the 4A rankings, coming in at No. 10.
Colorado Springs Christian holds its spot as the No. 1 team in 3A. Resurrection Christian jumped five spots to come in at No. 2. Manitou Springs (No. 3) and Alamosa (No. 4) each moved up two spots from the preseason rankings.
At No. 7 and No. 10 respectively, Frontier Academy and Kent Denver are the two new teams to the 3A rankings.
Sedgwick County takes over as the No. 1 team in the 2A poll after Sanford’s 74-game winning streak came to an end last week.
The Indians now sit at No. 6.
There was a high turnover rate in the 2A rankings as four new teams broke into the poll this week.
Akron comes in at No. 4, Del Norte lands at No. 5, Dayspring Christian sits at No. 7 and Peyton breaks in at No. 9.
Starting 5-0 has meant good things for Holly, the No. 1 team in 1A this week.
The Wildcats snagged six firs-place votes in the process.
Like the 2A poll, there was significant turnover in 1A this week.
Weldon Valley (No. 3), Eads (No. 7), Peetz (No. 9) and Sangre de Cristo (No. 10) are all newcomers to the rankings.
Fleming, who came in as the preseason No. 1 comes in at No. 6 this week.
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.
Lakewood 34, Regis Jesuit 22, Overland 10, Mountain Vista 8, Far Northeast 1, Fort Collins 1, Legend 1, Rampart 1, Rangeview 1.
Dropped out
Regis Jesuit (5), Mountain Vista (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Pueblo West (13)
3-0
157
1
3-0
2
Valor Christian (2)
2-1
114
2
2-1
3
Golden
5-1
102
4
5-1
4
Vista PEAK (1)
6-0
88
9
6-0
5
Holy Family
3-1
82
5
3-1
6
Sand Creek
5-1
81
3
5-1
7
Mead
3-1
71
7
3-1
8
D’Evelyn
5-1
50
8
5-1
9
Sierra
3-1
45
6
3-1
10
Lewis-Palmer
3-1
31
–
3-1
Others receiving votes:
Silver Creek 18, Green Mountain 10, Northridge 6, Widefield 6, Ponderosa 5, Evergreen 4, Thompson Valley 3, Mountain View 2, Palmer Ridge 2, Erie 1, Longmont 1, Pueblo South 1.
Dropped out
Evergreen (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Colorado Springs Christian (9)
3-0
140
1
3-0
2
Resurrection Christian (1)
5-0
107
7
5-0
3
Manitou Springs (2)
5-0
93
5
5-0
4
Alamosa (2)
5-1
81
6
5-1
5
Faith Christian
3-1
65
2
3-1
6
Sterling (1)
5-1
48
9
5-1
7
Frontier Academy
5-0
42
–
5-0
8
DSST-Stapleton
4-1
41
8
4-1
9
Kent Denver
5-0
41
–
5-0
10
Manual
2-2
33
4
2-2
Others receiving votes:
Lutheran 26, The Pinnacle 23, Colorado Academy 20, Machebeuf 18, DSST-Green Valley Ranch 13, Weld Central 8, Bayfield 5, Jefferson Academy 4, Monte Vista 4, Basalt 3, Ridge View Academy 3, The Vanguard 3, Roaring Fork 2, Coal Ridge 1, Strasburg 1.
Dropped out
Lutheran (3), Colorado Academy (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sedgwick County (4)
3-0
79
4
3-0
2
Highland (2)
4-0
74
5
4-0
3
Paonia (3)
3-1
72
2
3-1
4
Akron
3-0
53
–
3-0
5
Del Norte
5-1
44
–
5-1
6
Sanford
2-2
40
1
2-2
7
Dayspring Christian (1)
3-0
38
–
3-0
8
Holyoke
1-1
37
3
1-1
9
Peyton
4-0
30
–
4-0
10
Ignacio
1-0
23
7
1-0
Others receiving votes:
Colorado Springs School 11, Sargent 11, Burlington 7, Dawson 5, Hotchkiss 5, Byers 4, Fowler 4, Yuma 4, Haxtun 3, Center 2, Crowley County 2, Dolores Huerta 1, Meeker 1.
Dropped out
Ellicott (6), Byers (8), Crowley County (9), Burlington (10).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Holly (6)
5-0
81
2
5-0
2
Sierra Grande (1)
5-0
67
6
5-0
3
Weldon Valley (1)
4-0
64
–
4-0
4
Cheyenne Wells
3-0
60
5
3-0
5
Kit Carson (1)
2-0
50
3
2-0
6
Fleming
1-1
38
1
1-1
7
Eads
3-0
28
–
3-0
8
Flagler
3-1
22
8
3-1
9
Peetz
4-0
18
–
4-0
10
Sangre de Cristo
3-1
14
–
3-1
Others receiving votes:
Wiley 12, Front Range Baptist 9, Shining Mountain 8, Creede/Lake City 7, Rocky Mountain Lutheran 7, ThornCreek Christian 6, Heritage Christian 3, Primero 1.
Marcus McElroy had three touchdowns for the Mustangs.
[divider]
(9) Holy Family 43, (8) Mead 35
Holy Family picked up a big top-10 win this season that moved the Tigers into sole possession of first place in the Tri-Valley League.
“We talked about what it would take to put ourselves in a situation to win a league championship, and they responded really well,” Holy Family coach Mike Gabriel told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “It was a great battle.”
In fact, Mead had one final drive that Holy Family had to turn away.
“With a few seconds left, they still had a shot,” Gabriel said. “Our kids responded to put it away.”
[divider]
3A: (9) Sterling 27, (6) Weld Central 13
Not only did Sterling hand Weld Central its first loss this season, the Tigers also snapped their 12-game winning streak, which was the longest in the state.
“It was good battle across the board, two teams that kind of wanted it pretty bad,” coach Rob Busmente told the Scoreboard Show. “It came down to two plays that we were fortunate enough to be able to capitalize on.”
Sterling is now 5-3 following an 0-3 start, and sits in first place in its league, the Patriot East, at 4-0.
“It’s been good, it’s been fun,” Busmente said. “The kids have been showing a lot of resiliency and a lot of perseverance to go through some of those things. We ran a pretty tough gauntlet there at the beginning with some of those top teams.
“We were able to come back and regroup and put a pretty good push here toward the end,” he added. “Hopefully we can keep riding this momentum as we’re riding out the season.”
[divider]
2A: (7) Bayfield 23, (5) Delta 7
Bayfield broke open a close game on a pick-six early in the fourth quarter, and is now 6-2.
The game was tied at 7 at halftime.
“I thought our team came prepared to play,” coach Gary Heide told the Scoreboard Show. “We just felt that if we stayed with it play by play by play, that we would be the one to make the plays in the second half.”
“They are one tough team,” Heide added of Delta. “They are going to be reckoned with in the playoffs.”
[divider]
Notables
Longmont Christian beat Mountain Valley 71-20, snapping an 18-game losing streak that dated to the 2013 season. (Longmont Christian didn’t field a team last season.) Stay turned here as QB Luke Puchino broke the state passing record last week.
3A No. 1 Discovery Canyon very narrowly avoided a massive upset with a 35-34 win against Canon City. The Thunder got a 99-yard kickoff return for a score from Josh Tomjack in the game, but had to rally from down 31-21 in the third quarter to win.
Lakewood’s Brock Miller also had a 99-yard kickoff return for a score against Poudre. Lakewood edged Poudre 35-33.
No. 3 Meeker won a big clash in 1A by topping No. 2 Paonia 12-7. “It was a defensive struggle most of the night,” Cowboys coach Shane Phelan told the Scoreboard Show. “It’s been a long drought against Paonia. … Our kids just played hard. We’ve got a bunch of good, tough hard-nosed kids.”
Pueblo West recently dropped from the 4A football rankings, but the Cyclones may soon be back: They upset No. 8 Mesa Ridge 31-17.
1A No. 6 Peyton is now 8-0 following a 35-8 win over Buena Vista. “We’ve been talking about it since June, about how good this football team could be,” coach Richard Deems told the Scoreboard Show. “The kids have grasped it.”
8-man No. 3 Akron beat No. 8 Haxtun on a Hail Mary, 48-43.
There were two top-10 matchups in 6-man: No. 10 Eads upset No. 4 Cheyenne Wells 36-34, and No. 7 Hi-Plains knocked off No. 3 Stratton/Liberty 61-50.
In 1A, Olathe trailed Hotchkiss 21-0 in the second quarter, but rallied to win 28-21 in overtime.
Silver Creek moved up to No. 2 in 3A football. (@SilverCreekAD/Twitter)
Silver Creek is playing its best football at the right time.
And thanks to a 28-14 win over Fort Morgan on Friday, the Raptors jumped to No. 2 in the Class 3A CHSAANow.com football rankings.
They are now firmly entrenched behind Discovery Canyon, which held on to its No. 1 spot thanks to a thrilling win over Lewis-Palmer.
Rifle was the only new team to break into the 3A poll, coming in at No. 10.
Pomona hung on to the top spot in the 5A rankings and Mullen was able to stay at No. 2 thanks a blocked extra point in overtime that gave the Mustangs a 28-27 win over No. 5 Columbine.
The rest of the 5A rankings remained fairly consistent as no new teams broke into the poll.
In 4A, Denver South, Chatfield and Pine Creek all held their spots at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.
Mesa Ridge made the biggest jump of the week, gaining two spots to come in at No. 8. Greeley West (No. 9) and Monarch (No. 10) are the two new teams in the 4A poll.
La Junta remains the undisputed No. 1 team in 2A, receiving every first-place vote in the process.
There were no new teams in the 2A rankings this week.
Strasburg hangs to the No. 1 spot in 1A with Paonia still hanging right behind them at No. 2.
Meeker was able to overtake Platte Canyon as the No. 3 team in the rankings with both teams still undefeated on the year.
The 1A poll also had no new teams this week.
Thanks to receiving eight of 12 first-place votes, Sargent is still the No. 1 team in the 8-man rankings.
Akron jumped one spot to come in at No. 3 and at No. 9, West Grand is the only new addition to the 8-man poll.
Fleming edged out Kit Carson by one vote to hang on to the top spot in the 6-man rankings.
Stratton/Liberty still hangs tight at No. 3 as each of the top three teams in the poll remain undefeated.
There were no new teams in the 6-man poll.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Pine Creek made an absolute statement on the road on Friday, shutting out Pueblo West in a big top-10 football matchup in Class 4A.
The Eagles, ranked No. 3, beat the No. 9 Cyclones 35-0. It is Pine Creek’s fourth win in a row since starting 1-2.
“I thought our kids just came out and played well hard,” Pine Creek coach Todd Miller told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show after the game. “We’ve made some changes since the beginning of the season, and our kids are kind of buying into it. They’re flying around, and we’re playing kind of old school Pine Creek football and getting real physical. We had some fun.”
The two teams were scoreless after the first quarter, but Pine Creek’s Xavier Hill scoredtwice in the second quarter to give his team a 14-0 lead at halftime.
It was yet another solid defensive outing for the Eagles after giving up 50 points in a season-opening loss to Chatfield.
“There’s no superstars on that defense, just a bunch of guys that run to the ball, hustle and they play every play,” Miller said.
Miller added that he thinks his team still has more improving to do.
“We’ve got a lot to do,” he said. “We can get a lot better. I think we haven’t played our best football. We’re playing pretty good, but there’s a lot of steps we need to take to play that championship-caliber football that I think a lot of teams in the state are capable of. We’re on our way. It’s just one step at a time.”
[divider]
4A: Greeley West 30, (4) Broomfield 29
Greeley West led 23-8 as the fourth quarter opened, then held on for dear life to secure the upset win.
“It ended up going our way tonight,” Spartans coach Jason Renouf told the Scoreboard Show. “It was a close game.”
“It was a wild finish,” Renouf said. “Broomfield’s a good team. They don’t quit. They have a solid passing attack, and they unleashed it there in the fourth quarter.”
“We just held them when we needed to,” Renouf added.
This game was back-and-forth all night, but Silver Creek ultimately pulled it out.
Silver Creek got a crucial fumble recovery in the second half which led to the go-ahead touchdown.
“That was a huge play,” Raptors coach Mike Apodaca told the Scoreboard Show. “They had scored to go up, our offense did a good job of answering — we tied it up — and on the ensuing kickoff, we forced a fumble and got a short field and were able to do something with it.
“That was probably a turning point in the game,” he added.
After the break, Fort Morgan went up 14-7, but Silver Creek tied it up at 14 when Dylan Ordway hit Thomas Blazon for a score.
On the ensuing kickoff, Silver Creek forced that crucial fumble, and the Ordway found Joseph Roth-Bogrett to go up 21-14. Ramirez added a rushing score to give his team the final two-score cushion.
“It was one of those wins we had to have in order to stay in a place where we can get into the playoffs,” Faith Christian coach Ralph Nance told the Scoreboard Show.
It was Faith Christian’s fourth-straight game following an 0-3 start.
“The young kids are starting to figure it out, and we just hope that as we go down the road, they’ll continue to improve,” Nance said.
Bishop Machebeuf played the first home game in the history of its program on Friday. The Buffaloes beat Sheridan.
Machebeuf is now 6-1, which is its highest win total since the 2010 season when it went 7-4.
[divider]
Notables
Briggsdale beat Longmont Christian 83-75 in 6-man. The 158 combined points are the third-most in state history.
Akron, No. 4 in 8-man, avenged a earlier loss to No. 3 Daypsring Christian with a 37-27 win. “Our linemen played phenomenal tonight,” coach Jerome Weers told the Scoreboard Show.
6-man No. 2 Kit Carson beat No. 7 Eads 48-8. “It was a big game, and our kids responded really well to the challenge,” coach Jim Trahern told the Scoreboard Show.
Another big one in 6-man: No. 1 Fleming outscored No. 6 Peetz 58-41.
In 3A: No. 10 Holy Family made a statement with a 43-20 win over No. 9 Erie.
1A No. 4 Meeker took care of No. 6 Cedaredge, 42-14.
8-man’s No. 2 team, Sedgwick County, won on the road at No. 7 Merino.
2A No. 9 Manitou Springs narrowly escaped an upset by Salida with a 35-34 win. The Mustangs faked a punt in their own territory in the fourth quarter to keep a drive alive, went down and scored, then faked the extra point to get the win.
Castle View beat Rocky Mountain in overtime, 28-27.
Our weekly check of the all-time wins list: West Grand and coach Chris Brown beat Rangely 46-8, giving him his 312th career win. And Kent Denver and coach Scott Yates beat Englewood 41-13, giving him win No. 310.
Resurrection Christian climbed a spot to No. 2 and Delta made the biggest jump on the week, gaining two spots to land at No. 6.
Strasburg remains the No. 1 team in 1A with Paonia hanging on to the No. 2 spot.
Cedaredge gained the most ground with a three-spot jump to come in at No. 6 this week.
By a one-point margin, Sargent is still the top team in 8-man. Sedgwick County comes in at No. 2 with an equal number of first-place votes as the Farmers.
Akron jumped two spots to land at No. 4 while Hoehne (No. 6) and Pikes Peak Christian (No. 9) each moved up one spot from the last set of rankings.
Fleming keeps a firm hold on 6-man’s No. 1 spot with Kit Carson and Stratton/Liberty coming in at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.
Newcomer Hi-Plains joins the 6-man poll at No. 9.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Pueblo West is ranked No. 9 in 4A this week. (Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)
The Class 4A CHSAANow.com football rankings has some fresh faces with the release of this week’s rankings, and it’s happening at the right time.
Pueblo West comes into the poll at No. 9 and Skyline is right behind them at No. 10.
With a 28-0 win over Niwot on Friday, the Falcons remain undefeated on the year and received enough support from the voters to be regarded as a top-10 team.
The Cyclones have won three-straight games after surrendering their first two of the season. Wins against Pueblo South and Dakota Ridge got them votes, but it was the  57-20 win over Coronado on Saturday that pushed them into the poll.
Denver South hung on to the top spot in 4A, taking 16 of 17 first-place votes.
Coming off a bye, Pomona hung on to the No. 1 position in 5A, but Mullen was able to jump one spot to No. 2.
Fairview (No. 6) and Doherty (No. 9) also jumped one spot from a week ago. Despite coming up short against No. 8 Valor Christian last Thursday, Cherry Creek stayed in the rankings at No. 10 meaning no new teams broke into the 5A rankings.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Discovery Canyon made a statement against Vista Ridge Friday night and as a result, hang on to the No. 1 spot in 3A.
After snagging a couple of first-place votes, Lewis-Palmer jumped to No. 3, one spot above where they were a week ago.
Longmont made the big 3A jump of the week, leaping three spots to come in at No. 7.
There were no new teams in the 3A rankings this week.
In 2A, both La Junta (No. 1) and The Classical Academy (No. 2) maintained their spots after a thrilling showdown Friday night that saw the Tigers come away with the late win.
La Junta’s schedule does not get any easier this week as they host Manitou Springs, which jumped to No. 4 after a homecoming win over Lamar.
At No. 10, sterling is the only new team to break into the 2A poll.
Strasburg hangs on to the No. 1 spot in 1A as all 10 teams from last week’s rankings remained in the this week’s poll.
Peyton made the big jump of the week to come in at No. 7, two spots better than they were previously ranked.
In 8-man, Sargent took five of 13 first-place votes to hang on to the top spot.
Merino made a three-spot leap to come in at No. 4.
There were no new teams in the 8-man rankings.
Still undefeated, Fleming holds strong as the No. 1 team in 6-man with Kit Carson hanging tight at No. 2.
Cotopaxi (No. 5) and Peetz (No. 6) each jumped three spots from last week’s rankings.
At No. 10, Genoa-Hugo is the only new team in the 6-man rankings.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
