Cherry Creek’s defense forced two key second-half turnovers, providing the spark to help the Class 5A top-ranked Bruins stay unbeaten with a win over Eaglecrest on Friday.
The Bruins, down 13-0 at half, rallied to defeat No. 4 Eaglecrest 14-13. They are now 8-0, while Eaglecrest drops to 7-1.
“It was just heart,” Cherry Creek senior Alec Pell told Altitude TV after the game. “(Nothing changed) scheme-wise, we knew what we were doing, it was just digging deep. Coming up with those fumbles was big, and just being a family and sticking together.”
Eaglecrest had seized the lead in the first half by controlling the clock with long drives — and by finishing those drives.
Isaiah Emecheta had a 7-yard score midway through the second quarter, and then quarterback Dylan James raced 43 yards for another score after picking up his own fumble. But the extra-point after the second touchdown wasn’t attempted after a snap and hold was mishandled.
The Raptors’ defense also looked mighty impressive, ending the half with a sack when Cherry Creek had the ball at the Raptors’ 20-yard-line.
But things changed as the second half opened.
Cherry Creek’s Cormier Euell forced a fumble with 7:38 remaining in the third quarter, and Dade Bissell recovered. That led to the Bruins’ first score: a 9-yard pass from Alex Padilla to Vance Brazile.
The Bruins’ defense also forced a fumble on the next possession, and once again Bissell recovered. After converting a fourth-down from the Eaglecrest 29, Cherry Creek’s Jayle Stacks rumbled in for a score to make it 14-13.
Eaglecrest drove down and had a shot to take the lead with 1:19 to play, but a 34-yard field goal attempt missed just to the right, and Cherry Creek held on.
“It just show what we are this year,” Pell said. “We’re just a different beast. We’re all together, we’re so close. And that closeness and that heart is what got us that win.”
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3A: Frederick 41, (7) Holy Family 23
Frederick made a statement with a big upset of Holy Family, and has now won six games in consecutive seasons. The Warriors are 6-1 in 2018.
“We showed up,” Frederick coach Travis Peeples told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “Our kids are physical now. And, boy, are they excited. We’re on the bus, and we’re having a great ride home.”
Frederick broke open a game in which they led 20-17 at halftime to pick up their biggest win of the season so far.
“Our kids had a great week of practice,” Peeples said. “They just wanted to show what they could do against a quality opponent, and that was one of the questions everyone had: Could we beat a quality opponent? And this one was circled on Monday.”
In the win, Peeples said his team “dominated the line of scrimmage tonight.”
“I think we wore them down,” Peeples said. “We started running the ball inside the tackles. Our offensive line, all seven of the guys up front were tremendous. We had some gaping holes, and we ran the ball really well tonight.”
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3A: (2) Discovery Canyon 39, (5) Thomas Jefferson 22
Marshall Pike rushed for three touchdowns to help Discovery Canyon stay unbeaten at 7-0, and hand previously unbeaten Thomas Jefferson (6-1) its first loss of the season.
Zack Anderson also tossed two passing touchdowns for the Thunder, one to Zach Surface and another to Kevin Pasion.
The top-ranked Badgers continued to roll, this time picking up a top-5 win.
“It was just a great all-around effort by everybody,” Limon coach Mike O’Dwyer told the Scoreboard Show. “Defensively, we got some turnovers, some interceptions, and we had some short fields to work with. It was one of those games where we just had some fortunate things go our way.
“I thought we did a great job defensively putting kids in places to make plays, and those kids made those plays.”
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Notables
Greeley West, No. 5 in 4A, beat Brighton 48-17, and is now 6-1. “We’ve got a lot of weapons on offense,” coach Jason Renouf told the Scoreboard Show. “I’m really proud of how they’re performing.”
Aspen had one of the biggest upsets of the night, taking down No. 3 Rifle 20-19 in 2A. “It’s a huge win,” coach Travis Benson told the Scoreboard Show. “I am super proud of the defense. The eight guys in the box, they played hard, they fought, they played the run. And our secondary came up with some picks when we needed to.”
In 2A, No. 5 Resurrection Christian beat No. 8 Eaton 26-7. “The kids responded the way we wanted them to, and that was good to see,” coach Jeff Van Winkle told the Loveland Reporter-Herald. “That’s a tough Eaton team.”
Another top-10 game in 2A: No. 5 Basalt beat No. 10 Delta 13-0.
In 1A, No. 10 Holyoke knocked off No. 8 Wray 30-14.
Perhaps one of the lowest-scoring 8-man games in a long time: No. 4 Caliche beat No. 8 Akron 6-0.
There were top-10 matchups all over the board in 6-man: No. 1 Stratton/Liberty beat No. 6 Arickaree/Woodlin 60-20; No. 2 Kit Carson beat No. 9 Granada 60-24 and No. 3 Otis beat No. 7 Idalia 68-56.
Kit Carson controlled the game from start to finish in moving to 2-0 this season.
“We ran the ball really well,” coach Curt Connelley told the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “Our special teams really got us on the board quickly.”
Joe Bryan returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and his brother, Chris Bryan, returned a punt for a score.
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8-man: Fowler 28, (4) Akron 20
Fowler knocked off the previously-unbeaten Rams with a late score. The Grizzlies recovered a kickoff after a fortunate bounce to set up the touchdown.
“It was a lot of smashmouth football. Akron had a couple of big plays on us. They did a great job defensively,” coach Mark Van Sickle told the Scoreboard Show. “We were three- to four-yards and a cloud of dust. It was great to get back to what I think Fowler football is.”
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Notables
Ponderosa got a huge win by upsetting No. 3 Windsor in 4A, 17-13. Nick Hoff and Ethan Waite each rushed for a touchdown.
Hinkley is off to its first 2-0 start since 2014 following a 7-0 win over Gateway. The Thunderbirds have opened the season with consecutive shutouts.
Pagosa Springs knocked off 1A No. 3 Centauri 31-12.
Smoky Hill is now 3-0 for the first time since 2007. The Buffs beat Northglenn 21-6.
Quite the stat line for Bryson Long of No. 6 Peetz in 6-man: He rushed for 270 yards and had five touchdowns in a 67-22 win over No. 9 Fleming.
It’s always a big rivalry game, and even though they’re now in different classes, this matchup was no different as 1A No. 1 Strasburg beat 2A No. 8 Bennett 32-8.
In a game that featured six lead changes, 4A No. 4 Chatfield held off Brighton 39-30.
In 8-man, No. 4 Prairie beat No. 10 Briggsdale 56-40. “We had a little bit more offensively efficiency. Our offense clicked a lot more tonight,” coach Justin Kerns told the Scoreboard Show of the difference from his team’s first game to its second. Photos from the game are here.
5A Castle View won a wild back-and-forth game on the final play of the game against Wasatch (Utah), 36-35. The Sabercats are now 2-1 under Todd Casebier in his first year — doubling their win total from last season.
Evergreen blocked a last-second field goal to upset Mead.
Denver North QB Erik Flores threw for 370 yards and five touchdowns in his team’s 56-40 win over Englewood. Four of those TDs went to Keon Brickens.
In 5A, Highlands Ranch beat Regis Jesuit in overtime, 20-17.
Eagle Valley snapped a 12-game losing streak with a 57-12 victory against Alameda.
2A No. 7 Basalt cruised to a 47-6 win over Battle Mountain. “The offensive line really played well tonight,” coach Carl Frerichs told the Scoreboard Show.
8-man No. 1 Sedgwick County has now won 25 games in a row after beating Gilpin County 60-0.
Eaglecrest (5A) and Erie (4A) have taken over the top spots in their respective softball rankings this week.
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 select media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Class 5A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Eaglecrest (3)
5-1-0
61
3
5-1-0
2
Fossil Ridge (1)
6-2-0
52
2
6-2-0
3
Legacy
3-2-0
49
4
3-2-0
4
Douglas County
5-1-0
44
10
5-1-0
5
Cherokee Trail (3)
7-0-0
41
–
7-0-0
6
Brighton
4-2-0
29
5
4-2-0
7
Valor Christian
5-1-0
28
9
5-1-0
8
Rock Canyon
5-0-0
26
–
5-0-0
9
Loveland (2)
6-0-0
24
6
6-0-0
10
Legend
1-4-0
22
1
1-4-0
Others receiving votes:
Columbine 21, Arvada West 10, Prairie View 7, ThunderRidge 7, Hinkley 5, Castle View 4, Chatfield 3, Grandview 2, Mountain Vista 2, Ralston Valley 2, Broomfield 1.
Dropped out
Columbine (7), Arvada West (8).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Erie (5)
3-0-0
84
3
3-0-0
2
Silver Creek
6-1-0
67
4
6-1-0
3
Holy Family (1)
4-0-0
63
6
4-0-0
4
Mountain View (1)
4-2-1
58
1
4-2-1
5
Mullen
1-2-0
32
5
1-2-0
6
Wheat Ridge (1)
4-1-0
25
–
4-1-0
7
Pueblo South (1)
4-0-0
23
9
4-0-0
8
Pueblo County
4-0-0
19
–
4-0-0
9
Conifer
2-1-0
17
7
2-1-0
10
Frederick
3-2-0
16
–
3-2-0
Others receiving votes:
Pueblo Central 15, Pueblo Centennial 14, Golden 13, Thomas Jefferson 13, Longmont 8, Discovery Canyon 6, Pueblo West 5, Roosevelt 5, Windsor 4, Berthoud 3.
Dropped out
Golden (2), Pueblo Central (8), Thomas Jefferson (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Strasburg (4)
2-2-0
70
1
2-2-0
2
University (3)
7-1-0
63
6
7-1-0
3
Eaton
4-3-0
56
2
4-3-0
4
Lamar
3-3-0
44
7
3-3-0
5
Faith Christian
2-2-0
38
3
2-2-0
6
Brush
4-2-0
37
5
4-2-0
7
Rocky Ford
2-3-0
25
9
2-3-0
8
Sterling
3-2-1
24
–
3-2-1
9
La Junta
1-5-0
19
4
1-5-0
10
St. Mary’s (1)
5-2-0
15
–
5-2-0
Others receiving votes:
Limon 11, Meeker 11, Burlington 8, Delta 6, The Academy 5, Basalt 3, Peak to Peak 3, Holyoke 1, Valley 1.
The 2017 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.
