Week 1 Top Ten Breakdown Class 8-Man
The 8-Man season opened with a whopping 10 games in zero week and some telling signs from the zero week were shown. Friday the season opened with Akron blast Granada 46-16, McClave upsetting Sanford 6-0, and Springfield and Wiley losing to out of state teams on Friday. Sedgwick County also picked up a forfeit win on Friday as well over Creek Valley NE. Saturday the action resumed with Mancos blanking Plateau Valley 31 to 0, Merino beat Lake County (1A) 26-7, Las Animas sneaking by Miami-Yoder 22-19, Del Norte beat Sangre De Cristo a year ago Del Norte did not win a game, and Soroco holding on against Caliche 48 to 36. A few games from zero week told that #2 Akron is still a power house, Mancos could look to challenge in the Southwest League, Soroco does have some pretty good talent and Caliche is really close to being a very good team.
In Week 1 of the 8-Man season we have a pair of top 10 games and all top 10 teams are playing this week and they should be some good games. 5 games to watch for are #8 Norwood vs Soroco, #1 Sedgwick County vs Yuma (1A), #9 Fowler vs Las Animas, #2 Akron vs #7 Dayspring Christian, and The Game of the Week is #3 Hoehne vs #4 Sargent.
#1 Sedgwick County hosts Yuma (1A). Yuma a year ago went 2-7 and lost to Sedgwick County 48 to 0. Yuma has struggled as of late but Yuma only graduated 7 seniors so they could be looking to be more competitive these next couple years. I believe Yuma should be a more competitive team this year than last year. Sedgwick County is your two time defending State Champion and once again are the preseason favorite to win it all again. Sedgwick County received to open the season. Sedgwick County lost some talented players year’s team but are return their QB Brennan Ehmke who threw for 1806 yards 27 TD’s and only 1 INT. They also return their top 3 leading rushers but a big loss will be losing their two biggest pass catchers from a year ago. Sedgwick County will need to find some talent on the outside to help out their QB but with their top 3 runners returning their offense should not miss a beat. Sedgwick County is also losing 3 of their top 5 tacklers but with as good of an offense Sedgwick County has had their offense could hold until their defense is figured out.
#2 Akron hosts #7 Dayspring Christian. Normally this would be your game of the week if it was not for an even better to ten match up that well talk about next. Dayspring Christian lost some very talented seniors from their team a year ago. The biggest loss will be QB Jonathan Cowles who threw for 1911 yards. Dayspring Christian also lost their top two running backs from a year ago so offensively they will need to do some rebuilding. What Dayspring Christian does have going for them is on defense. They are returning their leading tackler in Seth Mondragon 159 total tacklers and also returning 4 of their top 5 tacklers and it looks like 6 of their 8 players on defense. Akron opened the year with a bang blasting Granada 46 to 16. I expected a somewhat close game but Akron did return quite a bit of talent from a year ago. Akron lost their starting QB from a year ago in probably their biggest loss, their new starting QB started off with only 3 pass attempts but went 2 of 3 for 75 yards and 1 TD. The more focal part of Akron’s offense is their rushing attack and they shined in last week. They ran for a team total of 247 yards & 4 TD’s. Their rushing attack was led by JR Justin Traxler and JR Derrick Poss both of whom broke the 100 yard mark. Akron will need to keep developing their QB but with a pair of RB that Akron has I have a feeling they will be a bit more run oriented. This game will come down to can Dayspring Christian offense score points to keep up with Akron. Dayspring Christian will need their best effort on Defense to slow down Akron and give themselves a chance but I am going Akron here due to both their offense and defense.
#3 Hoehne travels to #4 Sargent. The game of the week and it’s a good one. Both of these teams are returning a core group of players from last year’s Semifinals teams. Sargent won this meeting a year ago 26 to 24 and they are hoping for a similar result. Sargent did lose some talented seniors from that team they lost RB Justin Hasci and WR Esteban Aguilera on the offensive side and lost Justin Johnson on the defensive side 94 tackles. But what Sargent returns will be plenty of talent. They return QB Ryan Davis and backup RB Christian Schaller. They do have a transfer from Center as well and I am not sure when he can play but once he is available he will be a monster weapon for this Sargent team as well. I also have heard since Center did not have a football program that 2 or 3 players are playing for Sargent and if I heard correct one of them was the starting center for Center last year. Sargent will have to find some other running backs to help Christian Schaller but their defense will still be very tough. Hoehne also lost some very talented seniors but like Sargent are just reloading for this year. Hoehne lost starting RB Hunter Robins 1264 yards rushing on offense and on defense lost Anthony Payne 104 total tackles. What Hoehne does return is QB Jacob Yates & backup RB Trystan Moltrer. If this sound familiar to Sargent it very much seems like it. Both of these teams are run oriented and will be a physical game. Hoehne will have a slight disadvantage due to traveling but Sargent went there and won last year. This will be a 6 point game and I am giving the slight edge to Hoehne.
#5 West Grand travels to Sanford. In my preseason poll I had Sanford in the Top 15 due to the talent that was returning from a year ago. They opened up the season against McClave and fell 6 to 0. Which is a very low scoring game in 8-man. Sanford now must quickly rebound and get ready for West Grand. West Grand will be the favorite in this game. They are returning a very talented QB in Brady Gore and RB in Luis Dominguez. West Grand has a couple holes to fill on defense but are primed to make a run in the playoffs this year. West Grand must be ready for a defensive fight against Sanford but I believe their offense will be able to do enough to win this game.
#8 Norwood hosts Soroco. This is one of the more interesting games in the Top 10. Soroco is sitting at #11 and held off a much improved Caliche team. Soroco won 48 to 36. They were very run dominate in that game only throwing for 35 yards. Soroco did run for a whopping 474 yards and 7 TD’s. Their rushing attack was led by JR Jace Logan 337 yards & 7 TD’s. He will have to be the leader on this run heavy team till they develop their QB. Soroco must also improve on the defensive end allowing 36 points. Caliche is a much better team from last year and Soroco is out to prove they belong in the top 10. For Norwood this will be a very telling game for them. They lost a very talented senior class that included standout QB/RB Trent Armintrout 386 yards passing 1170 yards rushing and also RB Devyn Rummel 1199 yards rushing combined they had 50 total rushing touchdowns. Those are huge shoes to fill and will do so against a team that can score points. Norwood did get time to their back up QB and back up RB but they were more when they had bigger leads so now these JR’s will have to step up their game on the offensive side. Defensively Norwood is returning some key players. They return their second leading tackler and 4 of their 8 starters on defense also return. Norwood will need their defense to help slow Soroco. I am actually going with the upset in this game and picking Soroco to upset Norwood.
#9 Fowler hosts Las Animas. Las Animas got their season started with a trilling 22 to 19 victory over Miami-Yoder. Last year Las Animas went 2-7 and lost to Fowler 46 to 20. Las Animas did lose some good seniors. They lost starting QB Dylan Ramirez and starting RB Jeremiah Skinner but they did get quality time from their backups. Las Animas is still looking to break out in 8-man after dropping a few years ago from 1A. Fowler a year ago went 5-4 and just barely missed the playoffs. This year they are looking to improve on that and make the playoffs. Fowler lost their signal caller from a year ago but return their top 2 rushers. Fowler lost 4 seniors from last year so plenty of talent is returning to their team. They will lean heavily on SR Brand Sharp 812 yards rushing and JR Quinton Flanscha. Defensively Fowler must improve and they should be returning 3 of their top 4 tacklers and looks like 7 of their 8 starters on defense will also return. This could be a good game for Fowler to start developing a QB but they will be the favorite to win this game.
#10 Haxtun host Simla. Like the Norwood vs Soroco game this will be an interesting game for the ranked team. Simla is losing 4 seniors from their team a year ago at least that was what was listed but according to their roster this year they only have 15 players on their roster. It’s hard to get a good judgement on this Simla team but they are always tough. They went 4-5 a year ago and missed the playoffs. They will have a chance to upset the #10 team to start the year. Haxtun took a small step last year making the playoffs after going 6-5 but it was not the leap that I expected. They did upset Pikes Peak Christian in the first round before falling to Akron in the Quarterfinals. Haxtun which last year was a Pass Heavy team is losing their starting QB Bo Soukup 2473 yards passing and starting RB Caleb Andersen. Haxtun is returning their second leading RB and it will be interesting to see if Haxtun can find enough offense this season. Haxtun on defense though looks to be very loaded. They are possibly returning 6 of their 8 starters on defense and should be able to keep teams at bay till their offense gets going. This is a tough game to get any sort of direction to go especially since there is little to know information on Simla. I am going to pick Haxtun in this game but it could be a close one.
Top Ten Games Not Mentioned
#6 Holly at Deerfield KS
Non-Top Ten Games
Kiowa vs Caliche McClave at Pikes Peak Christian
Merino at Gilpin County Granada at Swink
MileHigh Prep Report 