Week Two Class 8-Man Top Ten Breakdown
Week 2 of the 8 Man schedule keeps the Top 4 pretty solid but from there back we had some fluidity. We had a pair of upsets inside the Top 10 along with a few teams posting some big wins and nearly making it into the Top 10. One of the two upsets was Caliche beating #5 Sargent 38-13. That loss by Sargent is their second on the year and moves them to 0-2 on the season. The loss moves them out of the rankings and the road does not get an easier as they have a huge game this week against #7 Fowler. The other upset was #9 Fowler upsetting #8 Akron. Fowler grabbed a big victory in the upset of Fowler beating Akron 22-12. The win moves Akron to 1-2 on the season and it’s showing some of the inexperience of Akron. Some Top Ten wins that were bigger than expected were #6 Holly over Swink 42-14 and #10 Haxtun over Rocky Mountain Lutheran 54-15. These two top 10 teams are really surprising me this year and excited to see how much they continue to grow. Some non-top 10 victories were Del Norte over Rangely 13-8, Soroco over Sanford 52-32, Pikes Peak Christian over Kiowa 27-26, Hayden over Justice 56-12, and Sangre De Cristo over Custer County 42-14.
#1 Sedgwick County travels to Perkins County NE in a rematch of last year’s battle. Perkins County NE beat Sedgwick County a year ago and broke their winning streak and this year Sedgwick County looks to get some revenge. Perkins County is 2-0 on the season and is ranked #5 in the 8 Man ranks in Nebraska. Sedgwick County opened up their regular season with a 27-0 victory over 1A Yuma. This was an 11 man football game and neither team posted stats to the game. Sedgwick County will be tested by Perkins County NE and win or lose will probably keep the #1 rankings unless they are blown off the field.
#2 Hoehne hosts #5 Holly in the 8-Man Game of The Week. Holly comes in hot into this matchup. I expected Swink to give Holly a much better game and Holly came out and dominated scoring 38 first half points in a huge statement game for Holly. Offensively Holly attack thru the air racking up 210 yards passing. 3 different players completed passes for Holly but they were led by junior QB Kobe Davis who went 6 of 9 for 134 yards, 2 TD’s & 0 INT’s. Holly must get their rushing attack to be more dominate as they only ran for 139 yards on 29 carries. When you play Hoehne you must be able to run the ball at least a bit to take pressure of your QB and must limit the fumbles as they had 3. One receiver did stick out from the game and that was Jesus Dominguez who had 4 catches for 101 yards and 3 TD’s. Defensively Holly played well forcing 2 sacks, 1 INT, and caused 3 fumbles. Holly will need their run defense to play at an extremely high level. Hoehne also comes into this matchup at 2-0. Last week they faced Springfield who gave Hoehne a much better game than expected but still Hoehne was victorious winning 42-26. Defensively Springfield was able to rack up 362 yards of total offense. Hoehne must improve defensively as both Springfield and Sargent were able to put yards up but Hoehne offense is just a lot to handle. Hoehne did some things really well defensively against Springfield as they had 1 INT and forced 3 fumbles. The 4 turnovers were the difference in the game. Offensively Hoehne was dominate once again. Hoehne racked up over 500 yards of offense. Hoehne had 45 yards passing but they really dominated on the ground racking up 466 yards rushing on 55 carries which is 8.5 yard per carry. Hoehne nearly had 4 players break the 100 yard mark. Offensively Hoehne was led by senior RB Riley Hudson 8 carries for 137 yards and 3 TD’s. This game will come down to which team can stop the others main offensive attack. No team this year has shown it can slow down Hoehne rushing attack and Holly will have to play their best game. Hoehne has shown that you can pass on them but you must take care of the football. Limiting turnovers is also a huge key. I am just not sure if Holly can slow down the rushing attack from Hoehne. I am picking Hoehne to win 42-31.3
#3 Dayspring Christian travels to Springfield looking to avoid an upset and a 3-0 start to the season. Springfield is off to a 1-2 start but are much improved over last year’s team. Their two losses are to Top Ten teams, Turpin OK is #6 in Oklahoma and of course last week they lost to #2 Hoehne. Springfield must continue to improve every week and they will have a chance to compete for the League title or a playoff spot. Springfield biggest improvement must be stopping the run. Hoehne racked up over 400 yards rushing so improving there is a big key. Springfield also must take care of the football if they could have limited mistakes I think they really could have pushed Hoehne even more. Last week against Hoehne, Springfield racked up over 362 yards of offense. They had 117 yards passing and 245 yards rushing. Offensively they were led by their junior QB Beau Dukes who had 117 yards passing, 1 TD, & 1 INT and he also had 118 yards rushing and 1 TD. Springfield has another huge test this week facing their 3rd top ten team on the season which will only battle test this team even more. #3 Dayspring Christian is off to a hot 2-0 start blasting both teams they have faced so far. Last week Dayspring Christian beat Granada 59-0. This Dayspring Christian team has surprised me so far this year but they dominated the game against Granada scoring 33 points in the first quarter and having the mercy rule going by half time. DCA offensively had a good game racking up 183 yards passing and 303 yards rushing. DCA has a freshman QB so any experience he can gain will only get this team better. Offensively DCA was led by senior RB Seth Mondragon who had 9 carries for 74 yards and 1 TD. Defensively DCA was outstanding limiting Granada to 49 yards of offense. They also forced 1 INT, 2 Fumbles, and 2 sacks. DCA will be challenged a lot more this week. Springfield is a battle tested team and are looking for that signature upset. DCA must control the line of scrimmage and take control of the game. For Springfield to pull the upset their offense must score points. DCA has only allowed 6 points in two game. I am going with Dayspring Christian to win 42-14.
#4 West Grand received a forfeit win over Nederland. West Grand next week will host Pikes Peak Christian who a year ago was a playoff team. Pikes Peak Christian will be their final game of the non-conference schedule.
#6 Norwood travels to Sanford for their first league game of the year. Norwood is only playing an 8 game schedule it looks like and one of them is against a JV team. Sanford is off to a rough 0-3 start but have played a very tough schedule. They have faced 2 Top Ten teams and last week played a Soroco team who will end the year in the Top Ten more than likely. Sanford lost to Soroco 52-32 which is Sanford highest offensive output on the season. Sanford didn’t post offensive stats but they must improve in the turnover department. They gave up 5 turnovers in the game against Soroco and also were sacked 3 times. Defensively Sanford could not stop the run. They gave up 401 yards rushing on 39 carries for 10 yards a carry. Sanford must improve their run defense as they are facing another run heavy team in Norwood. #6 Norwood has played only 1 game so far this year and that was a 51-26 win over Soroco. Norwood was actually balanced in their offensive attack racking up 237 yards passing and 231 yards rushing. They also limited Soroco rushing attack to just 179 yards rushing. Norwood cannot afford to lose any games in terms of RPI so they must come out and dominate this game. I don’t think Sanford can slow down Norwood and I have Norwood winning big 48-14.
#7 Fowler hosts Sargent after a huge Top Ten victory over Akron last week. Sargent is off to a disappointing 0-2 start facing two Top Ten teams to open the year. They face their third Top Ten team this week followed by their fourth Top Ten team next week against Norwood. Sargent has yet to find another weapon for Ryan Davis in the backfield. I believe Sargent could pull the upset of Fowler but they must get their offense to click. Sargent gave Hoehne all they could two weeks ago but without their leader fell apart last week against Caliche. Sargent must improve their defense giving up over 30 points in both game so far this year. Sargent needs a victory pretty bad so they will be playing with a chip on their shoulder and hopefully have their main weapon back on offense. #7 Fowler picked up a huge upset last week against Akron. They used a 16 point second half to upset then ranked #7 Akron. Fowler defensively was able to limit the run heavy attack of Akron to 225 yards and 2 TD’s. They didn’t force any turnovers but were able to keep Akron under 250 yards which might be the key to beating Akron. Offensively Fowler was able to do just enough to win the game. They threw for 81 yards, 1 TD, and 0 INT’s. Fowler also ran for 194 yards and 2 TD’s. Fowler now much refocus to avoid an upset of their own. Sargent is a much better team than 0-2 and if Fowler is not ready to stop a more balanced offense they could be in trouble. Sargent must stop the run if they plan to be successful if Sargent can keep improving defensively I believe they will pull the upset. I am going with Sargent to upset Fowler 30-21.
#8 Haxtun hosts Wiley as Haxtun continues to build their offensive unit. Wiley is a somewhat unknown team so far this year they are 1-1 but with a loss to Boise City OK and a win against Miami Yoder. Wiley had two full weeks to prepare for this game against Haxtun and must be ready for a dynamic offense. Wiley in their win against Miami-Yoder they were able to do whatever they wanted on offense. Throwing for 195 yards and rushing for 243 yards. Wiley must be able to score points against Haxtun if they plan on pulling the upset. #8 Haxtun has surprised me so far this season. They are 2-0 and really played well against Rocky Mountain Lutheran last week having the mercy rule by Half time and won 54-14. Haxtun offensively didn’t throw the ball like normal only throwing 8 passes for 82 yards and 2 TD’s. They did run the ball very effectively rushing for 213 yards and 3 TD’s. Defensively they were impressive holding Rocky Mountain Lutheran to 75 yards passing and 154 yards rushing. The biggest reason Haxtun was successful on defense was they forced 4 fumbles one of which was a defensive touchdown. Haxtun must be ready to stop a good offensive unit again this week. I think Haxtun will have to much offensively for Wiley and I believe Haxtun will win 35-14.
#9 McClave hosts Swink in their first game as a Top Ten team. Swink is off to a 1-1 start and will be looking to rebound after getting beat by Holly last week 42-14. Swink defensively was torn apart through the air giving up 210 yards passing and 139 yards rushing. Swink couldn’t get stops when they were needed but have a good chance to rebound this week against McClave. McClave is still somewhat of an unknown team. They have two close victories over Sanford 6-0 and Pikes Peak Christian 20-18. McClave will have two weeks to prepare for this game and this could be a tough game. McClave must get their offense going this game. They have not scored a ton of points but defensively have played very solid. I think McClave will win this game but it will be a very close going. I have McClave winning 20-17.
#10 Caliches hosts Gilpin County after upsetting #5 Sargent last week. Gilpin County is 1-1 on the season and jumped into the win column with a 60-50 win over Simla last week. Gilpin lost their week 1 game against Merino 35-28 so this is a huge measuring stick for Caliche this week as well. Gilpin County will be looking to grab a huge signature victory this week. Gilpin County offensively was outstanding. They ran the ball at will rushing for 547 yards on 68 carries & 6 TD’s. Offensively they were led by senior QB Austin Boulter who threw for 56 yards but ran for 328 yards and 4 TD’s. He will need to have a monster game this week again. Defensively Gilpin County must improve. They have allowed 35 points and 50 points this year and this week Simla was able to throw the ball effectively throwing for 243 yards. Gilpin County did grab a huge INT which helped decide this game. If Gilpin County wants the upset they must improve on defense. Caliche is very much improved from a year ago where they didn’t win a game. They are still a young team and this is a monster measuring stick for this team. Merino only won by 7 so seeing how they do could help determine a bit how they will do against Merino during the league schedule. Caliche was impressive in their win over Sargent last week dominating 38-13. They must duplicate the same effort this week. I think Caliche will prove this week they are a tough team to beat and I have them winning 50-28.
Non-Top Ten Games
Del Norte at Mancos* Rangely at Soroco
South Park at Hayden Rocky Mountain Lutheran at Merino
Justice at Plateau Valley Simla at Pikes Peak Christian
*= League Game
MileHigh Prep Report 