Week 4 offered a few big matchups and teams coming away with some key victories. In the Top 10 we had #7 Cotopaxi blasting Primero 59-18, #6 North Park escape Briggsdale 47-42, and #5 Cheyenne Wells upset #3 Kit Carson 14-6. Outside the Top 10 we had Eads blank Kim/Branson 65-0, Arickaree/Woodlin over Deer Trail 53-6, and Walsh over Aguilar 51-13. League play has already began in the 6-Man ranks and will really kick into gear this week.
Central League
Most league in the 6-Man ranks have already began league play and the Central league has a few huge games this week that could help decide a league champion. Genoa-Hugo beat Hanover last 59-27 and help put Genoa-Hugo into the drive seat in the league. Genoa-Hugo plays Cripple Creek this week and should easily get the win. The biggest game in the Central league takes place between Hanover and Edison. These two schools for the past few years were combining so Edison kids could play football this is the first time that these teams will play against each other and it will be a huge game. Hanover is 2-2 on the year with wins against Cripple Creek and Elbert. Their losses are to Top 10 teams in Cotopaxi and Genoa-Hugo. Against ranked teams Hanover has struggled to slow opposing offense down giving up over 50 points in both games. Hanover has a chance to essentially lock up the #2 spot in league and hope for an upset to give them a chance at the league title. Edison is 3-1 on the year and picked up their first loss of the season last week against Otis 55-0. It was a game were everything for Edison went wrong and never got the momentum back in their favor. Edison has a chance to bounce back this week and look to keep pace with Genoa-Hugo. A loss for Edison will really hurt their league title chances but a win will make next week’s game against Genoa-Hugo for the league title. One other game of note is Colorado D&B making the trip to play Phoenix D&B in their annual game.
#9 Genoa-Hugo at Cripple Creek Hanover at Edison
Colorado DB at Phoenix DB*
RPI: #10 Genoa-Hugo, #12 Hanover, #14 Edison, #26 Cripple Creek, #27 Elbert, #31 Colorado DB
East Central League
The East Central league is the home of the defending 6-Man state champion and two top ten ranked teams. Currently my favorite to win the East Central is Stratton/Liberty followed by Otis, Arickaree/Woodlin, Flagler, Idalia, and Deer Trail. RPI numbers are not looking great currently only two teams are in the Top 16 (both in the Top 5) and the rest of the league sits under the Top 25. Right now Otis and Stratton/Liberty are tied for first with 1 win and both play league games this week. Otis travels to Deer Trail and should walk away with the victory. Otis would move to 5-0 on the season. Stratton/Liberty has a much tougher game when they host Arickaree/Woodlin. Arickaree/Woodlin is 2-2 on the year and some key injuries have slowed them a bit. Both losses are to very good teams Fleming (by 6) and Prairie (by 20). They did get their momentum in the right direction when Arickaree/Woodlin blasted Deer Trail 61-19. Arickaree/Woodlin has struggled defensively to slow down opposing offenses against the top teams and now face the #1 team Stratton/Liberty. #1 Stratton/Liberty is 4-0 on the season with 1 big key victory over Genoa-Hugo 51-14. They grabbed their first league win over Idalia last week 68-8. They now move into the meat of their schedule playing Arickaree/Woodlin this week then play Cheyenne Wells next week. A win over Arickaree/Woodlin keeps Stratton/Liberty on pace to face Otis in 2 weeks for the league title. Stratton/Liberty offensively is a run first team and have 1261 yards and are led by senior Jacob McCormick 437 yards & 7 TDs. I expect Stratton/Liberty defense to continue to dominate and they will be victorious. I have Stratton/Liberty winning 42-14.
#1 Stratton/Liberty vs Arickaree/Woodlin #4 Otis at Deer Trail
RPI: #3 Otis, #5 Stratton/Liberty, #18 Idalia, #19 Arickaree/Woodlin, #23 Flagler, #24 Deer Trail
North League
The best league in 6-Man is the North league. 5 of the 6 teams are in the RPI top 16 and 3 of them are ranked in my rankings. Currently Prairie and Peetz are undefeated in league play and will both control their own destiny. Prairie is taking a step out of league play this week when they host Primero. Prairie will be able to measure how good they are against some of the Southwest teams. Sierra Grande and Cotopaxi both pounded Primero both breaking the 55 point mark. I expect Prairie to do the same and move to 5-0 on the season. Another league game takes place between #10 Fleming and Weldon Valley. Fleming should easily grab the W as well and break their 2 game losing streak. Fleming has faced 2 ranked teams from Nebraska and came up short in both. The biggest game for the North League is #2 Peetz hosting Briggsdale. Briggsdale nearly pulled off the upset last week falling to North Park 47-42. Briggsdale is 2-2 on the season and have quality loses to Prairie and North Park. They will face back to back tough games so their RPI will probably not move much. Peetz is undefeated on the year with a 3-0 record their signature win is against North Park blasting those 63-13. This is a critical game for Peetz as they face Prairie next week and Fleming the following week. Peetz controls their own destiny like Prairie. Peetz offensively have been explosive racking up over 58 points in all 3 games and defensively have been outstanding not giving up over 13 point yet. Peetz is also a run heavy offense with 818 yards rushing and are led by junior Bryson Long 439 yards and 9 TDs. I expect Peetz to dominate this game and walk away with the win 48-14.
#2 Peetz vs Briggsdale #8 Prairie vs Primero*
#10 Fleming vs Weldon Valley
RPI: #1 Peetz, #2 North Park, #7 Prairie, #13 Briggsdale, #15 Fleming, #20 Weldon Valley,
Southeast League
The Southeast League title I believe has been decided but Eads will still have a chance if they can run the table. Only 1 league game in the Southeast and the rest are non-league games this week. RPI wise the league is in decent shape. Two teams are in the Top 10 in the RPI and the rest are outside the Top 16. Eads and Walsh will needs some wins and some help to grab a playoff spot but they are still in the hunt. Eads travels to Elbert and should walk away with a victory and move to over .500 on the season. Cheyenne Wells travels to Idalia and should keep their undefeated season alive and move to 5-0. Kit Carson also is on the road to Flagler/Hi Plains. This game could be interesting but we are not sure if Flagler/Hi Plains has gotten some key players back yet. Kit Carson is looking to rebound from their loss last week. I believe even with some key players back Kit Carson should walk away with a victory. The lone league game is Walsh traveling to Cheraw. Cheraw has only 8 kids on their roster and a lot of inexperience. They have struggled with defense and look to just improve week in and week out. Walsh is sitting #22 in the RPI and will need to win a minimum of 2 of their last 4 and still might need to upset either Eads or Kit Carson. Walsh has played solid competition and defensively have struggled they should get back on track this week and move to 2-3.
#3 Cheyenne Wells at Idalia* #5 Kit Carson at Flagler*
Walsh at Cheraw Eads at Elbert*
RPI: #4 Cheyenne Wells, #8 Kit Carson, #17 Eads, #22 Walsh, #25 Kim/Branson, #28 Cheraw
Southwest League
The southwest League is a three team race for the league title and have 4 teams in the Top 16 RPI. There is a massive game this week in the southwest and will talk about that at the end. Two teams without a win faceoff this week and one will get a chance for a win that game is Aguilar at Mountain Valley. Another league game is Sierra Grande traveling to Antonito. Antonito got a team together last minute and are looking for their first victory. Their RPI numbers are solid sitting at #21 but will more than likely need to beat all the bottom teams and need an upset somewhere to get into the playoffs. Sierra Grande is 4-0 on the season but their OWP is pretty low and cannot afford any upsets. They have a really good shot for a league title with La Veta and Cotopaxi still on the schedule. Sierra Grande should move to 5-0 and hosts La Veta next week. The huge game of the Southwest League is between #7 Cotopaxi traveling to La Veta. La Veta two weeks ago played their biggest challenge and fell to North Park 41-36. La Veta proved it can hang with some of the big boys in 6-Man and helped give credit to the league. La Veta offensively passes more than runs which is one of the rare occurrences in 6-Man. Senior QB Eric Morgan leads La Veta offensively with 534 yards on 40 of 64 attempts. He has 12 TDs and only 2 INTs, he also leads the team in rushing with 201 yards and 3 TDs. Defensively La Veta has dominated teams in their wins holding opponents to under 20 points. La Veta will need to play their best defense of the year but I think this game will turn into a shootout. Cotopaxi has been dominate in all 4 games this year. Their signature victory is over Hanover 57-6 and Primero 59-18. They have played amazing defense all year giving up 10.5 ppg. Offensively they have broken the 57 point mark in every game. Cotopaxi offensively is very balanced in their attack. Passing wise they are led by senior Kurt Voll 571 yards 15 TDs and 0 INTs and their rushing attack is led by senior Arlo Garner 413 yards rushing and 6 TDs. Cotopaxi is looking to prove they are a legit title threat and break the mantra that the southwest league cannot compete in the playoffs. Cotopaxi must play solid defense and must be ready for a shootout with La Veta. La Veta has played tougher competition so that could factor into this game. I have Cotopaxi grabbing the victory because of their very solid defense, Cotopaxi over La Veta 42-28.
#7 Cotopaxi at La Veta Sierra Grande at Antonito
Aguilar at Mountain Valley
RPI: #6 Cotopaxi, #9 Sierra Grande, #11 La Veta, #16 Primero, #21 Antonito, #29 Mountain Valley, #39 Aguilar
*=Non-League Game
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