There were a number of major movers as CHSAANow released the first football rankings of the regular season on Monday.
New Wheat Ridge football coach Dan Reardon. (Tracy Renck)
Pueblo East (Class 3A), Discovery Canyon (3A), and Wheat Ridge (4A) all made big jumps after being unranked in the preseason.
Pueblo East had the biggest climb, and wound up at No. 3 in the 3A poll after winning its first two games. The Eagles beat Longmont, No. 4Â in the preseason 4A poll, in Zero Week, then topped Coronado, the defending 3A champion which has since moved up to 4A, in Week 1.
Discovery Canyon is No. 6 in 3A this week. Last Thursday, the Thunder beat Silver Creek, the 3A runner-up a season ago which has also moved up to 4A.
And Wheat Ridge, also off to a 2-0 start under new coach Dan Reardon in 4A, has won its games by a combined 91-0. The Farmers are No. 5 in this week’s 4A poll.
In total, those moves were just a microcosm of the new rankings, which saw massive change. All seven polls got at least one new team, with 4A and 6-man getting four new members, and 3A adding three.
There’s also a new No. 1 team in 2A, where Brush takes over for Platte Valley.
The least amount of change occurred in 5A, where Valor Christian continues its stranglehold on the No. 1 spot following its physical win over Pomona. The Eagles received all 13 first-place votes.
Teams Nos. 2-4 stayed the same behind them: Cherry Creek (which beat Regis Jesuit), Cherokee Trail and Pomona. Grandview joined the top five this week, bumping up three places from its preseason No. 8 spot.
More photos. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
Chatfield remained at No. 6, Fairview moved up three spots to No. 7, Regis Jesuit fell to No. 8 and Ralston Valley remained at No. 9.
The lone newcomer in 5A is Overland, which joined at No. 10.
In addition to Wheat Ridge in 4A, new teams include No. 8 Vista Ridge, No. 9 Falcon and No. 10 Fort Collins. Pine Creek remained atop that poll following its escape of Falcon’s upset bid.
Besides Pueblo East and Discovery Canyon, D’Evelyn also joined the 3A ranking. Lutheran stayed atop that poll after its overtime win in Texas last week.
2A added No. 9 Eaton, while 1A added No. 7 Meeker. Paonia is still No. 1 in 1A.
The 8-man ranking added No. 8 Akron and No. 9 Springfield. Dayspring Christian continues to lead that pack.
Finally, 6-man added No. 6 Prairie, No. 7 Pawnee, No. 8 Walsh and No. 10 Cotopaxi. Stratton/Liberty remained in the top spot.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, polls will be 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.
Frederick is the new No. 1 team in 4A softball this week. (Courtesy of Michelle Camacho)
It’s a week for change in softball. All three classifications got new No. 1 teams when CHSAANow.com’s rankings were released on Monday.
Brighton takes over in Class 5A. The Bulldogs are just 1-0-0, but their lone win came over then-No. 5 Eaglecrest — which owns wins over three ranked teams. Eaglecrest is No. 2, Dakota Ridge is No. 3 and former No. 1 Legacy dropped to No. 4.
Frederick is the No. 1 team in 4A after starting the season 8-0-0. Among those wins are a 6-0 decision over former No. 1 Erie on Aug. 23.
Meanwhile, defending champion Strasburg takes over in 3A. The team has started 3-0-0, including a wins over Valley (No. 2) and Eaton (No. 4).
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. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Valor Christian sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey ducks behind his offensive line on a 1-yard touchdown run in the first half Thursday night against Pomona. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — The chin straps needed to be buckled down as tight as possible Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Valor Christian, top-ranked in the CHSAANow.com Class 5A football poll, went toe-to-toe with No. 4 Pomona in one of the most anticipated 5A non-league games this season. The game lived up to the hype with Valor coming out on top with a 21-12 victory.
“We were really expecting a huge physical game. Pomona showed up, I’m not going to lie,” Valor senior linebacker Bubba Watkins said. “It was what we expected, but we answered the call and came out with a win.”
Points weren’t as easy to come by for the Eagles (2-0) as their 61-20 victory in Zero Week over Bonneville, Idaho. Sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey scored on a 1-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter to get Valor on the scoreboard, but it would be the last play of the game for McCaffrey.
Senior Parker Courier played the rest of the way at quarterback for Valor after McCaffrey took a handful of early hard hits.
“I think he (McCaffrey) will be fine. It was one of those where we care so much about his long-term future and safety there was no reason to risk anything,” Valor coach Rod Sherman said of McCaffrey’s condition. “Certainly we’re hopeful he’ll be back as soon as possible. He is a great football player for us.”
Valor Christian junior Booker Schelhaas (4) is tackled by five Pomona defenders during the first quarter Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada. The Eagles took a 21-12 victory to extend their in-state winning streak to 25 games. (Dennis Pleuss)
Courier engineered a 71-yard scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Tanner Tadra to give the Eagles a 14-6 lead. It answered Pomona’s first score of the game, a 7-yard touchdown run by sophomore Cameron Gonzales where the running back muscled through several defenders for the touchdown in the third quarter.
Midway through the fourth quarter Valor extended its lead to 21-6 off a 6-yard touchdown pass from Courier to junior Ben Waters. Courier finished the game 9-for-14 passing for 97 yards and a touchdown.
“Parker is a great quarterback. If Dylan weren’t here he would be in a starting position anyways,” Watkins said. “They are both great quarterbacks. It was really awesome to see Parker step up and make those plays.”
Pomona made some plays of its own in the fourth quarter offensively. Senior quarterback Justin Roberts ended an 80-yard scoring drive with 3:38 left in the game with an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior Ryan Ward on a fourth-down play. However, a failed 2-point conversion pretty much end the Panthers’ hopes of ending Valor’s winning streak against Colorado schools.
Not only has the Eagles won five state championship titles over the previous five seasons, but they also have an impressive 25-game winning streak going against in-state teams. Valor’s last loss to a Colorado was back in August 2012. The Eagles lost to Mullen in their season opener.
“I thought we fought and fought and fought,” Pomona coach Jay Madden said. “We just ran out of gas a little bit. We have some big guys going both ways. We are going to have to figure that out a little bit to give them a rest.”
Pomona sophomore Cameron Gonzales (22) fights for extra yards after being hit by Valor Christian junior linebacker Gabe Kortz in the first half Thursday night. Gonzales had a 7-yard touchdown run in the second half for the Panthers, but it wasn’t enough as Valor took a 21-12 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
Senior Isaac Marquez had a solid game on both sides of the football for Pomona. As a receiver he had seven catches for 65 yards. Marquez also had an interception and fumble recovery from his defensive back spot.
“He (Marquez) will always play both ways. He is a stud. He had a good night,” Madden said. “We had a lot of guys have good nights.”
Pomona continues its tough schedule on the road next Friday night against No. 2 Cherry Creek. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Stutler Bowl. The Panthers begin their 5A Jeffco schedule against Mullen at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 back at NAAC.
“This is just one step in our journey to see what happens this year,” Madden said. “We’ll be alright.”
Valor will host East High School out of Salt Lake City, Utah at 7 p.m. next Friday. The Eagles have one more contest with an out-of-state school before beginning their Centennial League schedule with Overland on Sept. 26.
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.
Skyview’s football team has never stepped onto its home field under the lights. This season, the 27th in school history, that changes.
Due in large part of a grassroots community effort, as well as determination from its school board, Skyview has installed lights onto George DiTirro Stadium in Thornton. Those lights will turn on August 29, a Friday, when the Wolverines open the season against Summit.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“Playing on Friday nights is going to be awesome,” Skyview coach Bill Nelson said on Thursday. “Everybody’s excited.”
Skyview had been relegated to playing Saturday afternoons ever since the school was founded when the old Mapleton and Highland high schools combined in 1988. Mapleton had lights on its football field, but the new school moved to Highland’s campus. That stadium didn’t have lights.
So Saturdays became the norm when playing at home for Skyview. Early in the season, that meant dealing with heat. It usually always meant playing in front of sparse crowds.
“Saturday afternoons were wicked,” Nelson said. “I love coaching there, the people are good to me. But playing on Saturday afternoon just killed me.
“We are hoping attendance is going to go up,” Nelson added. “Even sometimes (entire) visiting team’s (crowds) didn’t come. A lot of our people didn’t come.”
(Pam Wagner)
The Wolverines have six home dates this season. All games are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Fridays.
“It just puts a different tone on our program,” Nelson said. “It’s more of a typical high school setting. We’re going to try to do some new traditions. Either have a meal or have some kind of session that we didn’t normally do.”
The school’s other teams that use the facility will also benefit from the lights. Notably, soccer games can start later. Those athletes had been leaving classes at 2 or 3 p.m. to prepare for a 4 p.m. start.
“Getting out of school just to play a home soccer game?” Nelson said. “Now we’re not going to have to do that.”
As part of the agreement to put lights up, the City of Thornton will also have access to the facility.
But on a Friday night in late August, DiTirro stadium will belong to the Wolverines. There’s a public Facebook group inviting alumni to attend.
Chris Kemm, Skyview’s girls basketball coach and a 1991 alum of the school, is a driving force behind the night.
“The only time we ever pack the stadium is for graduation,” Kemm said.
That may soon change. A full house is expected for the opener.
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MLB draft picks sign
Ralston Valley graduate Jordan Holloway. (Dennis Pleuss)
The MLB’s deadline for 2014 draft picks to sign was July 18.
Among those starting professional careers were Freeland and 2014 graduates Brock Burke (Evergreen), Max George (Regis Jesuit) and Jordan Holloway (Ralston Valley).
Freeland has made three starts for the Rockies’ Rookie-A affiliate in Grand Junction, but has thrown just nine innings. He has a 1.00 ERA, seven strikeouts and hasn’t allowed a walk.
Burke has thrown three innings for Tampa Bay’s Rookie-A affiliate, and hasn’t allowed a run.
George is with Freeland at Grand Junction and is hitting .303 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 21 games. He hit for the cycle on July 13.
Holloway has yet to play a game.
[divider]
Short stuff
MaxPreps recently ranked the 20 “most dominant” football programs in Colorado since 2004. The top three are not exactly a surprise: Mullen, Valor Christian and Columbine. Those three schools have won all but two Class 5A titles since 2004.
Earlier this month, we wrote about the Nate Ekhoff Kicking Camp. Campers got an awesome surprise when Broncos kicker Matt Prater showed up as a counselor. “Matt worked with the kickers for over four hours and never left the turf,” Marshall Ekhoff wrote in an email.
Jefferson Academy’s Jennifer Kupcho, the reigning Class 4A girls golf champion, lost during the match play portion of the U.S. Girls Junior Golf Championship in Flagstaff, Ariz. this week. Kupcho did finish in a tie for eighth at 1-under during the two-day stroke play portion, and was the highest Colorado finisher. Dakota Ridge’s Gillian Vance (+12), Regis Jesuit’s Jaclyn Murray (+21), Dakota Ridge’s Sydney Merchant (+22) and Skyline’s Erin Sargent (+27) also took part in the stroke play event, but missed the cut for match play.
Eaglecrest’s Jordyn Poulter and Lewis-Palmer’s Alexa Smith both won a gold medal while competing for the United States at the Under-20 NORCEA Continental Championship, an international volleyball tournament.
The inter-Colorado Springs coaching swaps continued when boys basketball coach Jarris Krapcha moved from Mitchell to Doherty last week.
New Denver Bronco DeMarcus Ware helped Doherty’s football team during its fundraiser.
Former Columbine athletic director Ed Woytek will remain in his advisory role with Valor Christian this season.
Front Range Christian and Jim Elliot will co-op in football for the 2014-15 school year.
Coveted 2016 big man De’Ron Davis of Overland added an offer from Oregon, according to his club team. Among his offers: Arizona, Indiana, UCLA and Wake Forest.
Valor Christian graduate Alex Kozan was a Freshman All-SEC pick as a redshirt freshman at Auburn last season. A guard, he’s now landed on the Outland Trophy watch list, given annually to college football’s top interior lineman.
