Week 5 Class 1A League Breakdown
League play is upon us and the final week of the non-league season didn’t go quietly. So very important games were played and some teams didn’t rise to the occasion and a few new teams joined the Top 10. Class 1A I believe has 5 teams that are title contenders but like I said in the 2A rankings there are solid 15 teams and anything can happen. Some non-top ten games were Clear Creek over Summit (3A) 28-20, Hotchkiss over Vail Christian 34-10, and Peyton over Ellicott 41-0. Some very important top ten games were played last week Cornerstone Christian upset Wray 17-6, Meeker over Monte Vista 30-7, and Strasburg over Limon 14-12. With League play upon us things will start to take shape for some teams and playoff teams will separate themselves.
Foothills League
The Foothills league has turned into another very competitive league with 4 teams over .500 and three undefeated teams headed into the league schedule. 4 teams are in the Top 15 of the RPI and this league race should be very competitive. Just as long as Bennett, Clear Creek, and Platte Canyon beat the bottom half of league all three should get into the playoffs. The clear front-runner right now is Bennett followed by Clear Creek, Platte Canyon, Manual, Vail Christian, and Front Range Christian. One very key matchup opens the year with two top ten teams meeting and some other important games start the league schedule as well. #7 Platte Canyon opens against Vail Christian. Vail Christian is 1-3 on the season and this is only their second year in 1A previously they were in 8-Man. The transition for Vail Christian has been a tough one but Vail Christian can keep improving. Vail Christian lost last week to Hotchkiss 34-10 and defense has been the major problem for Vail Christian which must improve. #7 Platte Canyon is off to a solid 3-0 start but has not been as dominating as years past. They had two weeks to get ready for league play so their offense could kick in more. Platte Canyon beat Buena Vista two weeks ago in a very close 22-20 game. That is Buena Vista closest game and Platte Canyon had more questions open up about them but will have a chance to answer them once they play the other top teams in the league. Another very interesting matchup is Front Range Christian vs Manual. Front Range Christian comes into the matchup at 1-3. They lost last week to Estes Park in a 42-18. The Defense has been the major problem for Front Range Christian giving up 30.5 ppg. Offensively they are only scoring 11.5 ppg. If their defense can work out some of the problems they could give Manual a run for their money. Manual faced their first team with a winning record and it didn’t pan out that well losing to Weld Central 48-12. They have a very solid chance at bouncing back and moving to 4-1 on the season. They will be the favorite in this game but things get very tough from here on out. They play the top three teams for the next three weeks so this is a very critical game for Manual. The biggest matchup in the Foothills league will be #1 Bennett vs #9 Clear Creek. #9 Clear Creek is off to a very hot 4-0 start. They have not played the toughest schedule playing 3 teams with 1 win or less. They did play 3A Summit last week and grabbed a very important 28-20 victory. Clear Creek is a very pass heavy team and senior QB Ty Judge is the leader of the team with 1129 yards passing 13 TDs and 3 INTs. The team will rely on him to be successful in the league. They face a very physical team this week so defensively must be ready to stop the run. This will really give us a good feel for how good Clear Creek is. #1 Bennett moved to 4-0 on the season scoring 50 points for the third time out of four games. Bennett has only been held under 40 points once. I do think the key to beating Bennett will be keeping them under 30 points or being able to score 50 on a very good defense. Last week Bennett beat Burlington 50-38 in a much closer game than I figured and gave me a new outlook on Burlington. Bennett ran wild on Burlington amassing 534 yards on 45 carries and 7 TDs. Defensively they did give up 386 yards of total offense to Burlington. Bennett senior QB Rocky Lechman is nearly at 1000 yards rushing this year he currently has 839 yards rushing and 13 TDs and is the main play maker for Bennett. For Clear Creek to pull the upset they are going to need to take care of the ball first and then either play the best defense they have this year or they will need 40+ points. Bennett just needs to keep doing what has working run the ball very physical and also must take care of the football. Their defense did give up a season high 38 points to Burlington so improving there is a must. I have Bennett winning 45-21.
#1 Bennett vs #9 Clear Creek #7 Platte Canyon vs Vail Christian
Front Range Christian at Manual
RPI: #2 Bennett, #6 Platte Canyon, #7 Clear Creek, #13 Manual, #32 Vail Christian, #34 Front Range Christian
North Central League
The North Central league only has one team with a record above .500 but 4 teams are sitting at 2-2 and this could be the most interesting race to watch in 1A. Two teams currently are sitting in the Top 16 in the RPI and the rest of the league is under 30 with all of them on eyes of making the playoffs. Currently my favorite to win the North Central league is Limon followed by Burlington, Wray, Holyoke, Wiggins, and Yuma. All three games are pretty important to open the league schedule. The first is Yuma at Wiggins. This is an Elimination game of sorts. The loser will be eliminated I believe from the playoffs and the league title race. Yuma comes into the game at 1-3 but have been competitive in all their games. They nearly beat Cornerstone Christian 12-7 and Crowley County 21-3. Scoring points has been Yuma problem and that must improve. Wiggins is 2-2 and are on a two game winning streak. Wiggins lost to the two winning teams they played losing to CSCS 35-12 & to Platte Canyon 26-6. This will not be a cake walk for Wiggins and I believe will be a very low scoring game. I have Wiggins winning 14-7. The next important game is Holyoke traveling to Burlington. The jury is still out on Holyoke. They come into the game at 2-2 and their wins are against losing teams. They lost badly to winning like Meeker 39-6 & Machebeuf 35-7. Holyoke faces the brunt of the North Central in back to back weeks with Burlington and Limon. Holyoke needs to be able to stop the run this week something they had a hard time doing last week against Machebeuf. Burlington played a very tough schedule facing two top 5 teams. They were competitive in all 4 games and in my eyes showed they could challenge for the league title. Burlington has wins against St. Mary’s and Lamar neither of which have winning records. They biggest eye opener was the 50-38 loss to Bennett and they proved they can score on some of the better defenses. They racked up 386 yards of offense on Bennett and must have a similar output to grab the victory this week. Burlington will be the favorite and I have them winning 28-14. The biggest game in the North Central league is #5 Limon at Wray. Wray opened the preseason ranked and their loss last week to Cornerstone Christian removed them from the rankings. Wray struggled scoring points they ran for 228 yards and 1 TD but also had 2 fumbles and their passing attack struggled completing just 2 passes for 15 yards. Defensively they gave up 162 yards rushing and 99 yards passing which is a very solid effort but their offense really struggled. Things don’t get much easier for Wray this week against a very good Limon team. #5 Limon comes into the game at 3-1 suffering their first loss of the season last week in a heart breaker 14-12 to Strasburg. Offensively Limon was effective rushing for 163 yards and passing for 88 yards but gave up 3 fumbles and really those turnovers cost them the game. Defensively they were outstanding holding Strasburg to just 222 yards of total offense but they lost the turnover battle. Limon has a chance to bounce back against Wray. Limon has a very solid run defense and that will be tested again this week. Wray will be attacked both through the air and on the ground and will be tested on both sides of the ball. Limon I think dominates the game 28-7.
#5 Limon at Wray Yuma at Wiggins
Holyoke at Burlington
RPI: #5 Limon, #12 Holyoke, #18 Burlington, #21 Wiggins, #23 Wray, #27 Yuma
Northern League
The Northern league has already somewhat been separated into two halves. Three teams have .500 records or higher and 3 teams have sub .500 records. Also 3 teams have Top 16 RPIs and the rest are over 30 so really the Northern league has been sorted out. Strasburg is your favorite to win the Northern league followed by Highland, Cornerstone Christian, Estes Park, Byers, and Lyons. I do believe only 3 teams have a realistic chance at the playoffs and they cannot lose to any of the bottom 3 teams and expect to make the playoffs. Estes Park opens up league play against Byers. Both teams are sitting with an RPI over 30 and the winner will move into the Top 30 RPI but still will be a ways from making the playoffs. The winner of this game will need to upset one of the Top 3 and cannot afford to lose to Lyons. The winner will then need their OWP to sky rocket for a chance at the playoffs. Estes Park picked up a very important win over Front Range Christian last week and Byers is 0-4 but played their closest game of the year against Wiggins last week. Estes Park is my favorite in this game. Another game is Cornerstone Christian at Lyons. Lyons has their one victory via forfeit from Dolores Huerta. Last week Yuma blew past them 48-7 and Lyons has really struggled on defense the past two weeks giving up over 35 points. Lyons must improve defensively if they are looking to make any moves in the playoffs. Cornerstone Christian is on a 3 game winning streak and picked up their most important win of the season over Wray last week 17-6. They attacked Wray both on the ground and through the air racking up 261 yards of total offense. Cornerstone Christian should have no problems with Lyons but must avoid losing to any of the bottom 3 teams. #3 Strasburg vs Highland is the key game in the Northern League. Highland comes into the game at 2-2 but had two weeks to prepare for Strasburg. They lost two weeks ago to Wray 35-26 and they had a very hard time stopping the run. Their defense will once again be tested by Strasburg but they have risen to the occasion before when they upset Peyton 13-7. #3 Strasburg played a very critical game last week and beat Limon 14-12 and both teams played a very good football game. Strasburg defensively slowed Limon offense down and held them to 162 yards rushing. Strasburg was also slowed on offense but just shows the strength of both of those teams. Strasburg played a brutal non-league schedule facing 2 Top 5 teams, 1 2A team, and a good Burlington team and it should have them ready for this game. Last year the game between Strasburg and Highland determined the league championship but with the emergence of Cornerstone Christian it will not decide the league crown. Strasburg has been more run oriented this year with the loss of their starting QB to graduation. Hunter Bergstrom the senior RB has led the team with 397 yards rushing and 7 TDs they will need a big game from him to beat Highland. They keys to winning for Strasburg are simple play great defense and run the ball. Highland struggled stopping the run when they faced Wray. For Highland they must keep Strasburg under 300 yards rushing to have a chance for the upset. If Strasburg breaks the 300 yard mark this could turn into a blowout. I think Strasburg really dominates this game and I have them winning 35-14.
#3 Strasburg vs Highland Cornerstone Christian at Lyons
Estes Park at Byers
RPI: #3 Strasburg, #8 Cornerstone Christian, #16 Highland, #31 Estes Park, #33 Byers, #37 Lyons
Southern Peaks League
The Southern Peaks league looks to be a two horse race between Monte Vista and Centauri and they face each other next week. Monte Vista must avoid the trap game this week against Ignacio and must go down there and dominate the game and be ready for Centauri. The other team that could challenge Monte Vista and Centauri is Dolores who is 2-2 on the season. They are a very young team still and next year I think is the year they could make a run at Monte Vista and Centauri. Dolores still has a chance at the playoffs but cannot lose to John Mall and Ignacio. They will be hurt by two teams who have not won a game this year but Dolores should finish the year at 5-4 and have a chance at the playoffs. Dolores opens league play and John Mall and should have no problems against them and move to 1-0 in league. Monte Vista travels to Ignacio this week and like I said must avoid the trap game. Monte Vista lost last week to #2 Meeker 30-7 but after watching the highlights from Coloradopreps.com they did play much better and honestly if they played like that last week would have either beat Pagosa or been much closer. Monte Vista should win 42-0 and be ready for Centauri next week and will be for the league crown. Centauri has a bye this week in preparation for Monte Vista at home.
Monte Vista at Ignacio Dolores at John Mall
RPI: #4 Centauri, #15 Monte Vista, #28 Dolores, #35 Ignacio, #39 John Mall
Santa Fe League
The Santa Fe league like the Southern Peaks league looks to also be a two horse race between Crowley County and Rocky Ford. Ellicott could also challenge for the top spot and will have a bye this week to prepare. The RPI numbers do not look good for the Santa Fe league and they won’t get much help especially with 4 teams over 20 and 3 over 30. All Crowley County and Rocky Ford can do is win and hope the numbers are in their favor. The automatic berth could possibly be decided this week when Crowley County hosts Rocky Ford. Rocky Ford is 3-1 on the season but have 3 wins over teams win no wins which is why their RPI is #24. Their one game against a winning team was Limon and Limon blew them off the field with a 44-12 victory. Rocky Ford last week struggled with St. Mary’s winning 20-17. Rocky Ford played great defensively holding St. Mary’s to just 126 yards passing. They also forced 2 INTs. The bigger problem was on the offensive side of the ball. Rocky Ford only ran for 68 yards but threw for 288 yards. The biggest problem has they had 5 turnovers which turned into 2 touchdowns. Rocky Ford cannot expect to have 5 turnovers and beat Crowley County. #10 Crowley County is 4-1 on the season and beat Mullen JV last week. Which is pretty impressive especially with Mullen being 5A. Crowley County has one good win on the year beating Colorado Springs Christian 26-7. Crowley County lost their rival game with Limon 27-0. Crowley County this year has been pretty balanced. They have 568 yards passing and 949 yards rushing. Offensively they are led by Cannan Geringer 453 yards rushing and 4 TDs. Crowley County will be the big favorite in this game I don’t think will be tested the rest of the year I have them winning 42-7.
#10 Crowley County vs Rocky Ford Dolores Huerta at Trinidad
RPI: #10 Crowley County, #24 Rocky Ford, #30 Ellicott, #36 Trinidad, #39 John Mall
Tri-Peaks League
The Tri-Peaks league is having a very down year. Currently only two teams have winning records and the rest with either 1 win or no wins. Peyton is the favorite to repeat as the Tri-Peaks champs and they will be followed by Colorado Springs Christian, Buena Vista, Rye, St. Mary’s, and Lake County. RPI numbers do not look good for the Tri-Peaks with only 1 team in the Top 15 and the rest over 20. Peyton, Rye, Buena Vista all have chances still for playoffs berths but OWP for some of the teams will be hurt by the league. #8 Peyton opens league play at Rye. Rye picked up their first win of the season last week beating John Mall 34-7. Before that game they had scored a combined 3 points. Rye now must focus in on Peyton and the task will be tall at hand. Peyton will get a good look to see how they measure against Paonia, Centauri, and Limon. If they are in a close battle that would not be the best for their playoff chances. Peyton comes in a 3-1 on the season and their 3 wins are on teams with a combined 1 win. Their loss was to Highland and it was a good game with the score being 13-7. Peyton must take care of business this week and I have them winning big. The other game is St. Mary’s traveling to Colorado Springs Christian. St. Mary’s has played tough in games and their defense is to credit. Burlington and Florence blew them out but St. Mary’s played tough against Manitou Springs 14-7 and Rocky Ford 20-17. St. Mary’s offense is the struggle. Last week against Rocky Ford they struggled to move the ball only racking up 126 yards of total offense and 1 TD. The other touchdown came off an interception return for a touchdown. St. Mary’s if they can keep it close could sneak out a win over CSCS. CSCS is off to a surprising 3-1 start. They picked up a huge victory last week over Valley 7-0. That is a win that could spark a run in the league schedule. Offensively CSCS struggled only racking up 136 yards of total offense. But defensively CSCS played outstanding and help win the game for their team with a 47 yard INT return for a touchdown. CSCS plays physical defense and it showed holding a Valley team to no points. This CSCS team also held Crowley County to under 100 yards rushing. If CSCS can figure out their offense they could be dangerous. The score to this game will be much closer and very low scoring I have CSCS winning 20-0. The last game is Lake County at Buena Vista and will eliminate a team for league title hopes and the playoffs. Lake County has struggled this year going 1-3 but their one victory was over Dolores Huerta who has not won a game. Lake County cannot seem to get things together this year and will be in trouble this week. Buena Vista is rebuilding this year but have steadily improved every week. They nearly upset Platte Canyon two weeks ago but gave up the lead late and lost 22-20. Buena Vista was in the game last week against Centauri and were down 14-7 at half time but fell 34-7. Buena Vista defense has played well and will need it the rest of the way. Offensively they are still working out the problems but I expect Buena Vista to compete in the game from here on out. I have Buena Vista opening league play with a win 21-0.
#8 Peyton at Rye St. Mary’s at Colorado Springs Christian
Lake County at Buena Vista
RPI: #9 Colorado Springs Christian, #20 Peyton, #25 Rye, #26 Buena Vista, #29 Lake County, #38 St. Mary’s
Western Slope League
Once again the Western Slope league looks to be one of the more competitive leagues and it shows in just the numbers alone. Every team is at or above .500. 3 teams are in the Top 15 of the RPI and all 6 are in the Top 25 in the RPI. Meeker to me is the favorite to win the Western Slope league followed by Paonia Hotchkiss, Olathe, Grand Valley, and Cedaredge. The first week of league play will tell us everything more about all 6 teams. #6 Paonia hosts Cedaredge. Cedaredge is currently 2-2 with losses to Monte Vista and Aspen both good teams. There wins are against Vail Christian (1 win) and Gunnison (0 wins). In both losses they struggled offensively only scoring 8 points in both games combined. Cedaredge is still searching for the right answers on offense and defensively they also struggled. Cedaredge now faces a team that will run the ball the majority of the time and well see if there defense is ready. Paonia is 3-1 on the year with their loss coming to Centauri in zero week. Since then they have blasted 3 straight opponents granted all three combine for 1 win. Paonia dominated all three games though giving up 9 points and scoring 142 points. Paonia is a run heavy team they have only attempted 19 passes for 161 yards. Their rushing attack has produced 1068 yards 15 TDs and is led by senior Jaden Miller 639 yards and 10 TDs. This will be an interesting test for both teams so see which has improved the most. I am going with Paonia to win. The next game is Grand Valley traveling to Olathe. Olathe is coming at 2-2 and surprised me with their close 14-0 loss to Centauri. Then last week Coal Ridge ran them off the field in the second half in route to a 57-26 loss for Olathe. Coal Ridge ran the ball at will rushing for over 500 yards. Olathe needs to get their defensive composure back for this game. Olathe offense is run first as well and see if they can keep producing yard. Grand Valley also comes in a 2-2 losing both games to 2A opponents. Basalt blew past Grand Valley 44-0 and Aspen squeezed by Grand Valley 30-26. They have a good chance to get off on the right foot against Olathe this week. Grand Valley offensively has not put up the biggest numbers passing for 135 yards and rushing for 557 yards. Defensively is were Grand Valley has struggled. Against good teams Grand Valley has not been able to keep teams off the board giving up 44 & 30. Grand Valley must play solid run defense this week if they want any chance to win. I have Olathe winning a close game 21-14. The final game is #2 Meeker vs Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss is 3-1 on the year. They don’t have a big win on the season beating Dolores, Vail Christian, and Montrose JV. Their loss was to Coal Ridge 26-14. In that game Coal Ridge still racked up over 400 yards rushing but Hotchkiss was able to limit them to under 10 yards a run and answer with 200 yards rushing and 144 yards passing. Hotchkiss is hoping to show they are a serious threat in the Western Slope and will be tested by Meeker. Hotchkiss offensively is run first but have enough of a passing attack to keep you from stacking the box. They have 263 yards passing 4 TD and 0 INTS and have 753 yards rushing. Defensively they will be tested by an explosive offense in Meeker. #2 Meeker has played a solid schedule to open the year with games against Highland, Coal Ridge, Holyoke, and Monte Vista. All four either are .500 or higher. Meeker is scoring over 30 ppg and holding opponents to 6.5 ppg. They have been very solid this year on defense and look to continue that. Offensively they are one of the most balanced teams in 1A. Their passing attack is led by Logan Hughes 600 yards passing and their rushing attack has gained 904 yards and is led by Doak Mantle 302 yards rushing. Meeker will look to set the tone with their defense and look to limit Hotchkiss rushing attack. Hotchkiss must bring their A game on defense this week to try and pull the upset. I have Meeker winning this game but well learn more about Hotchkiss and be able to judge how they will do going forward.
#2 Meeker vs Hotchkiss #6 Paonia vs Cedaredge
Grand Valley at Olathe
RPI: #1 Meeker, #11 Hotchkiss, #14 Paonia, #17 Olathe, #19 Grand Valley, #22 Cedaredge
MileHigh Prep Report 