Week One 8 Man and 6 Man Breakdown
Class 8 Man
I won’t be able to break to much down this week due to only 10 games being played last week but I will quickly run down some of the Zero week games and then some of the big games in week one. To start off we had a huge surprise not by the team winning but by the margin of victory. Akron played Granada last week and it didn’t go good for Granada. Akron had an easy time on offense scoring 59 points and their defense was top notch once again shutting out Granada. This game was a huge shock I expected this game to be much closer and it ended up being a blowout. Another surprise game to some people was Soroco vs Caliche. In the Chsaa rankings and to people I talked to they thought Caliche was going to have a bounce back year but I figured they would still be a year or two away. Caliche was slammed by Soroco. Soroco beat Caliche 54 to 28 and that win is a huge boost for Soroco in their new league. I might have to keep a better eye on Soroco in their league. One more quick note was another game that surprised some. Las Animas who didn’t win a game last year beat new comer Miami-Yoder 55 to 8. Some other results are Turpin OK beating Springfield 56 to 6, Plateau Valley beating Mancos 12 to 8, McClave beating Sanford 58 to 22, Sedgwick County starting their title defense by blowing past Creek Valley NE 58 to 0, Hayden sneaking by Nederland 12 to 6, Merino beat Lake County (1A) 41 to 12, Sangre De Cristo beat Del Norte 50 to 0.
Week One will open with a bang in 8 Man. There are two matchups against Top Ten teams. #1 Dayspring Christian hosts #6 Akron. This is a league game surprisingly but last year Akron had Dayspring Christian number and are looking to keep it that way this year. Dayspring Christian is returning more starters than Akron but Akron has already played a game. I could see another upset here but should be a good game.
Another good game will be #4 Norwood traveling to Soroco. Soroco is coming off a blow out win against Caliche. They are hoping to use that momentum against a very good Norwood team. Norwood has not lost a regular season game in some time and are looking to keep that streak alive. This will be a good measuring stick for Soroco to see how far they have come.
#8 Haxtun travels to Simla. Simla is a traditional power in 8 Man and this year they are starting the season unranked and looking to prove that was a mistake. They are playing a very good team in Haxtun. Haxtun made the leap last year into the playoffs and are looking to continue that this year and have a good nucleus of players to do such a thing. They better be ready for Simla or this could be an upset.
The Game of the week goes to #2 Hoehne hosting #3 Sargent. Sargent is starting to turn into a traditional powerhouse in the 8 Man ranks following a great year last year and have been building their program since dropping to 8 Man. They don’t have an easy task to open the season. Hoehne is starting the season with a ton of hype and that is due to the amount of talent they are returning from last year. This is going to be a power running football game. Both teams want to run the ball and both teams have a ton of talent in the backfield. It will come down to who’s line controls the line of scrimmage.
Top Ten Games not mentioned
#5 Mernio vs Gilpin County #7 West Grand vs Sanford
#9 Dove Creek vs Rangely #10 Sedgwick Co at Yuma (1A)
Non Top Ten Games
Kiowa at Caliche Miami-Yoder at Wiley
Holly vs Deerfield KS Springfield at Rolla KS
South Park at Sangre De Cristo Pikes Peak Chr. At McClave
Swink at Granada
Class 6 Man
6 Man opened Zero week with only two games but they were both very important games. The first was Otis vs Cheraw. Otis in my poll was ranked but in the Chsaanow.com poll was unranked. Otis came out with fire and blew Cheraw out. Otis won 46 to 12 and grab a huge momentum builder for the next week. The other game was a league game and pitted North Park against Fleming. Fleming is trying to take that next step and win a state championship after losing in the Semifinals last year. Fleming lost some talent from last year team but the younger players stepped up and grab a nice 46 to 22 victory.
Week one for 6 Man also features two top ten battles and a ton of other important games in 6 Man. #6 Arickaree/Woodlin opens their campaign against #9 Walsh. #6 Arickaree/Woodlin was the runner up last year and once again lost a lot of talent but have plenty coming back to make a run in 6 Man. They face a Walsh team who is ranked and returned a ton of talent and are looking to make the playoffs this year.
The game of the week features #5 Eads vs #7 Otis. Eads is the defending state champion and they have a very tough match up in week 1. Otis proved last week they are going to be a force to reckon with and are looking to keep proving it this week. Eads will need to stop the run and keep their offense on the field if they are going to win. This should be a good game and I have Otis in the upset.
Top Ten Games
#1 Kit Carson vs Idalia #2 Stratton/Liberty at Genoa Hugo
#3 Fleming vs Pawnee #4 Cotopaxi at Mountain Valley*
#8 La Veta vs Aguilar* #10 North Park vs Peetz
Non Top Ten Games
Cheyenne Wells at Hi-Plains/Flagler Cripple Creek at Hanover
Elbert at Briggsdale
MileHigh Prep Report 