Class 1A League Predictions (Western Slope, South Central, Tri-Peaks)
I have decided to only do 3 or 4 leagues at a time instead of the full 6 leagues. I will be giving my league predictions on who finishes where. This is all in fun and I do not wish bad on any teams. Good Luck to all teams this season.
Western Slope League
1. Meeker
2. North Fork
3. Gunnison
4. Buena Vista
5. Cedaredge
6. Roaring Fork
We move into Class 1A and start with the Western Slope League. The Western Slope League had 4 teams reach the playoffs last season and I could easily that happening again this year. I think 5 total teams in the Western Slope will be playoff contenders. Meeker is my preseason pick to win the Western Slope League. Meeker went 5-4 last season and made the playoffs. Meeker will look to build off the inexperience of last season and return key pieces to push for a deeper playoff run this year. Offensively Meeker returns QB Ryan Sullivan along with #2 rusher Clay Crawford and WR Jace Mobley. The offensive line for Meeker returns 4 starters from last season and should help anchor a tough offense. Meeker defensively will return 7 of their top 13 tacklers but will be searching for leadership as they only return 3 of their top 7 tacklers. North Fork is my pick to finish in second place but also a playoff contender. North Fork went 5-4 last season and made a trip into the first round of the playoffs where they lost to Wiggins. North Fork had a lot of inexperience last season and will look to the experience gained to have a deeper playoff run this season. North Fork offensively will return key weapons with QB/RB/WR Hayden Moreno, QB Hunter Moreno, and #2 rusher Daniel Owens. North Fork offensive line will also look to retool after losing possibly 3 starters but have the senior leadership back to help on the offensive line. Defensively North Fork will look to improve after giving up 24.1 ppg. North Fork will return 9 of their top 13 tacklers including 5 of their top 7. Gunnison is my pick to finish in 3rd place but a playoff contender. Gunnison went 6-4 last season and made a trip to the playoffs. Gunnison lost in the first round to Centauri. Gunnison will look to build off the success of last season but have key holes to fill. Gunnison did not post many stats from last season but looking thru their roster they will be looking for a new QB and top rusher. Gunnison does return Royce Uhrig who was the #2 rusher. The offensive line for Gunnison should be a strength heading into the 2023 season as they return at least 3 starters from last year. Defensively Gunnison has limited stats to go from. I will say Gunnison had the top ranked defense last season and was a staple for them last season. Buena Vista is my pick to finish in 4th but still a playoff contender. Buena Vista went 7-3 last season and won their league but were upset in the first round by CSC. Buena Vista will look to rebound after falling in the first round and will look for some new faces on offense to take over. Buena Vista will be looking for a new QB and top rusher. Buena Vista has #3 rusher Tray Cardwell and top WR Caleb Camp back. The offensive line for Buena Vista will also look to retool this season. The defense for Buena Vista will be the strong point this season. Defensively Buena Vista returns 8 of their top 13 tacklers including 4 of their top 7. Cedaredge is my pick to finish in 5th place, but I also believe is a playoff contender. Cedaredge went 4-5 last season and just missed out on the playoffs. Cedaredge took 5th out of 7 teams last year and they will look to improve on this and push the top teams in league. Cedaredge offensively returns plenty of weapons with QB Luke Maxey, RB Ethan Toothaker, and WR Brady Cooper all coming back. The offensive line for Cedaredge has the most question marks with possibly 4 starters graduating. Defensively Cedaredge returns 8 of their top 13 tacklers but will search for some leadership with just 2 of their top 5 coming back. Roaring Fork wraps up the Western Slope League. Roaring Fork went 2-7 last season, and they continue to rebuild the program from the two years break they took back in 2018-2019. Roaring Fork has some solid pieces returning like QB Max Bollock, but he will be searching for new playmakers around him. Roaring Fork defensively returns 6 of their top 13 tacklers and this unit must see improvement if they plan on competing inside the Western Slope League.
Olathe has dropped their program this year and will not play Varsity.
My predictions for the Western Slope League
League Champion: Meeker
Playoff Contenders: Meeker, North Fork, Gunnison, Buena Vista, Cedaredge
Dark Horse: Buena Vista (lose a great senior class but have depth in key positions)
Player of the League: QB Ryan Sullivan Sr. Meeker
Others to watch for: Clay Crawford Jr. Meeker, Jace Mobley Sr. Meeker, Cade Blunt Jr. Meeker, Buzz Clatterbaugh Sr. Meeker, Hayden Moreno Sr. North Fork, Daniel Owens Sr. North Fork, Josiah Peters Sr. North Fork, Payson Pene Jr. North Fork, Royce Uhrig Sr. Gunnison, Kellan Yoder Jr. Gunnison, Tray Cardwell Jr. Buena Vista, Caleb Camp Sr. Buena Vista, Colton Montoya Sr. Buena Vista, Elijah Flower Sr. Buena Vista, Luke Maxey Sr. Cedaredge, Brady Cooper Jr. Cedaredge, Logan Tullis Sr. Cedaredge, Ethan Toothaker Jr. Cedaredge, Max Bollock Sr. Roaring Fork, Zack Bollock So. Roaring Fork
South Central League
1. Centauri
2. Monte Vista
3. Center
4. Del Norte
5. Ignacio
6. Trinidad
The South Central League has been controlled by the same two teams for a long time with Centauri and Monte Vista being the main teams. I don’t see many changes this season as well with Centauri and Monte Vista being the favorite and the playoff contenders. Centauri is my preseason pick to win the South Central League. Centauri went 8-3 last season and had a trip to the Quarterfinals where they lost to Strasburg. Centauri will look to build off the Junior class many of whom made their first starts last season. Centauri offensively will have a QB battle at hands when camp starts but whoever wins that battle will have plenty of weapons. RB Deven Brady is back after an injury sidelined him for all of last season but, also look for Keegan Huffaker to have an increased role. WR position is also reloaded with WR Chaz Holman and Kiler Ullery being the top targets. The offensive line for Centauri will return their core and will need to replace just 1 or 2 starters from last season. Defensively Centauri returns 7 of their top 13 tacklers including 4 of their top 7. Monte Vista is my pick to finish in second but are a playoff contender. Monte Vista went 9-2 last season and reached the Quarterfinals before falling to Limon. Monte Vista will be young this season but most played big minutes in the second half as Monte Vista had big leads. Monte Vista offensively will look different in the backfield but look for QB Kaden Madrid to take over in that spot. I also look for RBs Kevin Cisneros and Jacob Pacheco to see an increased role this season. WR position does have some big play capabilities with Azariah Hurtado & Izzy Medina coming back. Defensively Monte Vista returns 4 of their top 13 tacklers but have key leadership back at LB. Center is my pick to finish in 3rd place. Center went 4-5 last season and will have a new head coach this year in Bob Frederickson. Center will have some playmakers back with QB Jesus Valadez and WR Luis Valadez. The main question mark for Center will be their offensive line which must improve. Defensively Center returns 8 of their top 13 tacklers but just 1 of their top 5. We will see what Center does to improve under a new coach. Del Norte is my pick to finish in 4th. Del Norte went 3-6 last season and will look to build into this season. Del Norte will also return playmakers on offense with QB Jace Pacheco and WR Cody Worz coming back. Del Norte will also lean on some younger players to step up. The offensive line for Del Norte must also improve this season. Defensively Del Norte should see huge improvement this season returning 11 of their top 13 tacklers and if this unit makes big strides, we could see them push for a top 3 spot in league. Ignacio is my pick to finish in 4th. Ignacio went 5-3 last season and finished in 3rd place in league. Ignacio barely missed out on the playoffs, and we will see what improvements they make. Ignacio does not post stats or update their roster so hard to tell what is coming back. Trinidad rounds out the South Central League. Trinidad went 0-9 last season as they continue to try and rebuild the once very successful program. Trinidad seems to have good numbers out this season, and we will see how much they grown this year. Trinidad will be young this season again, but progress must be seen.
My predictions for the South Central League
League Champion: Centauri
Playoff Contenders: Centauri & Monte Vista
Dark Horse: Center, Del Norte, Ignacio (Can any of these three teams push for a playoff spot and a contender for a league title)
Player of the League: RB Deven Brady Sr. Centauri
Others to watch for: Chaz Holman Sr. Centauri, Kiler Ullery Sr. Centauri, Josh Polkowske Sr. Centauri, Troy Huffaker Sr. Centauri, Keegan Huffaker Sr. Centauri, Jack Noonan Sr. Monte Vista, Jacob Pacheco Jr. Monte Vista, Kevin Cisneros Jr. Monte Vista, Kaden Madrid Jr. Monte Vista, Azariah Hurtado So. Monte Vista, Jesus Valadez Sr. Center, Luis Valadez Jr. Center, Jace Pacheco Sr. Del Norte, Cody Worz Sr. Del Norte, Paul Neal So. Del Norte, Kelby Mondragon So. Del Norte, David Romero Jr. Trinidad
Tri-Peaks League
1. Rye
2. Banning Lewis
3. C.S Christian
4. Peyton
5. Rocky Ford
6. Ellicott
The Tri-Peaks League last season had some success getting two teams into the playoffs in Rye and C.S Christian and C.S Christian had a big run reaching the Semifinals. The Tri-Peaks League should be competitive again this year and look for four playoff contenders to emerge this season. Rye is my preseason pick to win the Tri-Peaks. Rye went 8-2 last season and made the playoffs. Rye fell to Yuma in the first round but gained key experience in the playoffs. Rye offensively returns a lot of talent with QB Nolan Schauer and RB Dylan Hurne returning. Rye also returns key WR in Codah Graber and Derick Bak. Rye offensive line will have some holes to fill but return at least 3 starters from last season. Defensively Rye returns 9 of their top 13 tacklers including 6 of their top 7. Banning Lewis is my pick to finish in second place. Banning Lewis went 5-4 last season and just missed out on the playoffs. Banning Lewis will look to reach the playoffs this season as they enter year 4 of their program. Offensively Banning Lewis returns their QB Sam Bell, RB Chase Riehle, and top WR Ben Early. The offensive line for Banning Lewis will also look to take a step forward with physicality as they return their entire offensive line from last season. Defensively Banning Lewis returns 12 of their top 13 tacklers including their top 7 tacklers from a year ago. This is a very big year for Banning Lewis as they will lose some key seniors from this team next year. C.S Christian is my pick to finish in 3rd place and be a playoff contender. C.S Christian went 8-4 last season and made a deep playoff run to the Semifinals where they fell to Limon. C.S Christian will have some big holes to fill from last season but return a key leader on offense with QB Jace Velasquez coming back. He will be looking for new targets at RB and WR as C.S Christian lose their top 3 RBs and top 4 WRs. The offensive line for C.S Christian could also be rebuilding as they return possibly just 1 starter from last season. Defensively C.S Christian will be searching for new leadership as well and will be looking for new playmakers to step up. Peyton is my pick to finish 4th and my dark horse pick to push for the playoffs and possibly push for a top spot in league. Peyton went 3-6 last season and will hope their youth and inexperience will step up this season. Peyton will return key leadership on offense with QB Noah Martin coming back and his top target at WR Brian Keairnes. The offensive line for Peyton should also see improvement with possibly 3 or 4 starters returning. Defensively Peyton will look to improve, and they should returning 9 of their top 13 tacklers including 3 of their top 5. Rocky Ford and Ellicott round out the Tri-Peaks League. Both are still rebuilding their teams and hoping to gain some momentum. Rocky Ford went 0-9 last season, and they will look to build on last season. Rocky Ford returns some playmakers from last season in QB Ayden Sisneros, but he must improve on his decision making. Rocky Ford does lose their top 3 WRs from last season. The offensive line for Rocky Ford also will have some holes to fill with possibly just 2 starters returning. Defensively Rocky Ford returns 6 of their top 13 tacklers but just 1 of their top 6. Rocky Ford will be young again this season but will look to build some success. The final team to mention is Ellicott. They went 1-8 last season and look to keep rebuilding their program. They did not post any stats from last season.
My predictions for the Tri-Peaks League
League Champion: Rye
Playoff Contenders: Rye, Banning Lewis, C.S Christian, Peyton
Dark Horse: Peyton (They were young and inexperienced a year ago. How much have they grown.
Player of the League: RB Dylan Hurne Sr. Rye
Others to watch for: Nolan Schauer Sr. Rye, Derick Bak Sr. Rye, Codah Graber Sr. Rye, Jose Martinez Jr. Rye, Sam Bell Sr. Banning Lewis, Chase Riehle Jr. Banning Lewis, Joseph Bjegovich Sr. Banning Lewis, Ben Early Sr. Banning Lewis, Julien Laderman Sr. Banning Lewis, Riley Dotson Sr. Banning Lewis, Jace Velasquez Sr. C.S Christian, Eddie Harmon Jr. C.S Christian, Noah Martin Jr. Peyton, Lucas Boisvert Sr. Peyton, John Turner Sr. Peyton, Ayden Sisneros Sr. Rocky Ford,
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