Class 2A Football Preview-Week Four
By: Anthony Garcia
We enter the fourth week of the regular season and things have been exciting the first three weeks of the season. This week we quickly give the Top 10 Schedule then we give you the 8 games we are most excited for. We will give a quick breakdown of those games. Good Luck to all teams this weekend!
Rankings used are from MileHigh Prep Report Media/Coaches Poll.
Class 2A Top 10 Schedule
#1 Classical Academy (3-0) at La Junta (2-1), Saturday at 12pm
#2 Kent Denver (2-0) at 1A #4 Forge Christian (3-0), Friday at 7pm
#3 Delta (2-1) vs Alamosa (2-1), Friday at 7pm
#4 Wellington (2-0) at 3A Mountain View (2-1), Thursday at 6:30pm
#5 Berthoud (Bye)
#6 Basalt (3-0) at 3A Evergreen (2-0), Friday at 7pm
#7 University (2-0) at D’Evelyn (0-3), Thursday at 4pm
#8 Strasburg (3-0) vs The Academy (1-1), Friday at 7pm
#9 Resurrection Christian (1-1) at 3A Lutheran (2-1), Friday at 7pm
#10 Elizabeth (2-1) vs Weld Central (2-1), Friday at 7pm
Class 2A Top 7 Games of the Week
#2 Kent Denver (2-0) at 1A #4 Forge Christian (3-0), Friday at 7pm
We kick off our top 8 games by looking at the game of the week in Class 2A. Kent Denver makes the quick trip to face rival Forge Christian. This is a battle of top 5 teams in their respective classes. Kent Denver comes into the matchup at 2-0 and are coming off a 42 to 6 win over Denver Christian last week. Kent Denver on the season is led by their rushing attack which has racked up 271 yards. RB Wyatt Walker leads all rushers with 197 yards. QB Yianni Balafas leads the passing attack with 185 yards and 6 TDs. Defensively Kent Denver is led by Nigel Fay (8 tackles) and Bennett D’hondt (8 tackles). Forge Christian comes into the contest at 3-0 overall and have broke the 40 point mark in all 3 games so far this season. Forge Christian last win came over D’Evelyn last week. On the season Forge Christian has racked up 1240 yards of total offense. QB Sullivan Strange leads the way offensively with 466 yards passing, 181 yards rushing and 9 Total TDs. RB Euli Tafoya (234 rushing, 3 TDs) leads the rushing attack while WR Joey Shelton (195 receiving, 4 TDs) leads the receiving core. Defensively Forge Christian has 3 tacklers over 15 tackles with Dante Vigil leading the way with 33 tackles. Carson Craig is #2 in tackles with 19.
#3 Delta (2-1) vs Alamosa (2-1), Friday at 7pm
We jump over to the western slope for our next contest. Delta hosts Alamosa in what seems to be an annual meeting between Delta and Alamosa. Delta comes into the contest at 2-1 overall and they are on a two-game winning streak. Delta last week defeated Rifle 49 to 0. Delta offensively got the passing attack going racking up 175 yards thru the air as QB Ty Reed had a solid day. The rushing attack was led by RB Nay Soe who rushed for 82 yards and 2 TDs and the receiving core was paced by WR Jordan Fraser who had 71 yards and 2 TDs. Defensively Delta forced 3 turnovers in the game with a pair of INTs by Ty Reed. Rhett Miramontes (13) and Ripp Lockhart (10) lead the Panthers in tackles. Alamosa comes into the contest at 2-1 overall and are coming off their first loss of the season. Alamosa last week fell to Pueblo Central 43-0 and will be looking to bounce back against a top 10 team. Alamosa so far this season is lead by QB Dyson Woodward who is off to a great start with 372 yards passing, 319 yards rushing, 6 Total TDs. RB Zane Zook leads the rushing attack with 199 yards while WR Kevin Gonzales Jr. leads the receiving core with 148 yards and 1 TD. Defensively Alamosa has 6 players of 10 tackles with Ryan Higareda (16 tackles) and Landon Garcia (16 tackles) leading the way for the Mean Moose.
#1 Classical Academy (3-0) at La Junta (2-1), Saturday at 12pm
We head out to the southeast corner of the state for our next matchup between La Junta and The Classical Academy. TCA comes into the contest as the #1 team in the state and undefeated at 3-0 overall. TCA last week defeated Elizabeth 35 to 20 for their second ranked win of the season. TCA offensively had a big game racking up over 450 yards of total offense. QB Andrew Brown had a big game with 208 yards passing, 91 yards rushing, and 4 Total TDs. The rushing attack was led by RB Jackson Schipfer (77 rushing) and the receiving core was led by WR JD Packard (76 receiving yards). Defensively TCA forced a pair of fumbles with Andrew Richins forcing and recovering a fumble. Elijah Wright (8) and Joshua Knuckles (7) lead the Titans in tackles. La Junta suffered their first loss of the season falling to Strasburg 46 to 14. La Junta now sits at 2-1 overall and will be looking to upset the #1 team in the state. La Junta on the season has been powered by their rushing attack which as over 500 yards on the season. QB Rylan Schmidt leads the rushing attack with 239 yards and 4 TDs while RB Andres Morales is #2 in rushing with 90 yards and a TD. Defensively Joe Nunez (17 tackles) and Uziel Ruiz (9 tackles) lead the Tigers in tackles.
#10 Elizabeth (2-1) vs Weld Central (2-1), Friday at 7pm
We head north for our next contest as Elizabeth makes the trip to face Weld Central. Elizabeth held onto a top 10 ranking after falling to the #1 team in the state last weekend. Elizabeth record now sits at 2-1 overall and they are looking for a rebound win before hitting the road in back-to-back weeks. Elizabeth struggled defensively to stop the high-flying offense of TCA. Wes Noe and Jaden Francis lead the Cardinals in tackles and Caden Long had a pair of sacks. Offensively Elizabeth did rack up over 270 yards of total offense. RB Tristan Mccray had a solid day with 168 yards rushing and 3 TDs. QB Joaquin Aviles also threw for 71 yards in the game. Weld Central also picked up their first loss of the season last week falling to Berthoud 26-0. Defensively Weld Central played tough holding Berthoud to under 250 yards of total offense. Weld Central forced 1 INT (Pierce Thoene) and a pair of sacks. Harley Nulsen (8 tackles, 2 TFL) and Cael Schellenberg (7 tackles) lead Weld Central on defense. Offensively Weld Central did struggle to get much going racking up under 150 yards of total offense. On the season RB Marcello Rossi leads the rushing attack with 363 yards and 4 TDs and #2 offensively is RB Ben Weaver with 74 yards rushing and 1 TD.
1A Burlington (1-1) at Lamar (3-0), Friday at 6:30pm
We head back to the southeast corner of the state for our next matchup between Burlington and Lamar. This is another game which has turned into an annual contest. Lamar is off to a fantastic start on the season sitting at 3-0 overall and coming off a 43 to 16 win over Bennett last week. Lamar had another big offensive day racking up over 400 yards of total offense. QB Jacob Dunning had a career day passing for 304 yards and 4 TDs. WR Cael Buxton also had another big day with 180 yards receiving and 2 TDs. Buxton is closing in on 1000 yards receiving for his career. RB Alex Aguilar (67 rushing, 1 TD) and WR Diego Estrada (80 receiving yards, 2 TDs) also contributed to the Lamar offense. Defensively Lamar forced 3 turnovers and had a pair of players in Adriel Gonzalez and Diego Estrada who had 16 tackles in the game. Burlington comes into the matchup at 1-1 overall and they are coming off a tough 48 to 6 loss to Goodland KS. Defensively Burlington struggled to get stops on Goodland and they will look to bounce back this week. Scout Humrich (7 tackles), Anthony Estrada (6 tackles), and Stanton Cure (6 tackles) lead the Cougars in tackles this week. Offensively Burlington did have some success racking up 222 yards of total offense. RB Scout Humrich led all rushers with 100 yards in the game. RB Anthony Estrada pitched in another 71 yards rushing while QB Weston Schaal had 44 yards passing in the game.
1A Platte Valley (0-4) at Sterling (2-1), Friday at 7pm
We head to the Northeast Corner of the state for the next matchup between a pair of former league rivals in Sterling and Platte Valley. Sterling comes into the matchup at 2-1 overall and they bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 34 to 12 win over Banning Lewis last week. Sterling got their defense going this week as they held Banning Lewis to under 220 yards of total offense. Sterling forced a pair of turnovers a INT by Sam Emmerson and a fumble recovery in the game. Memphis Dempcy (10 tackles) and Carter Jaeger (8 tackles) lead the Tigers in tackles. Offensively Sterling had things going racking up 403 yards of total offense in the game. RB Carter Jaeger had a monster day with 208 yards rushing and 3 rushing TDs. QB Memphis Dempcy also had a solid day with 87 yards rushing and 53 yards passing. Platte Valley comes into the game at 0-4 overall. Platte Valley has played one of the toughest schedules in small school football playing Burlington, Strasburg, Buena Vista, and Eaton. The Broncos played Buena Vista tough falling 39 to 35 and Strasburg tough falling 35 to 21. Platte Valley will be looking to stop the slide this week against Sterling. No stats have been entered on the season for Platte Valley.
Fort Lupton (2-1) at Coal Ridge (2-1), Friday at 7pm
We swing on over to the Western Slope for our next matchup between a pair of playoff hopefuls. Fort Lupton heads to Coal Ridge in a key matchup between teams looking to get into the playoffs. Fort Lupton comes into the contest at 2-1 overall and they bounced back nicely from their lost of the season last week defeating D’Evelyn 41 to 14. Fort Lupton had the offense clicking racking up 315 yards of total offense. QB Royce Guerrero led the offense with 123 yards passing, 48 yards rushing, and 3 passing TDs. RB Christopher Galicia led the rushing attack with 109 yards rushing and 2 TDs while WR Josiah Gonzales lead all pass catchers with 84 yards and 2 TDs. Defensively Fort Lupton forced 4 turnovers in the game with Josiah Gonzeles forcing an INT and recovering a fumble. Joel Valadez led all tacklers with 13 tackles, 2 TFL, and 1 Sack and Christopher Galicia was the #2 tackler with 8 in the game. Coal Ridge comes into the contest on a two-game winning streak. Coal Ridge fell in week 1 to 3A Steamboat Springs but have bounced back with wins over Cedaredge (47-28) and Grand Valley (43-0) last week. Coal Ridge in the game against Grand Valley was dominate on defense forcing the shutout and holding Grand Valley to under 100 yards of total offense. Coal Ridge forced 7 turnovers in the game. Diego Games had a pair of INTs while 5 other players forced a separate turnover. Grayson Isenhart continues to lead the Titan defense with 14 tackles and 3 TFL. Angel Hernandez was another key contributor for the Coal Ridge defense with 5 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and .5 a sack. Offensively Coal Ridge had 368 yards of total offense. QB Dylan Miller lead the offense with 224 yards and 5 passing TDs. WR JL Houston lead all WRs with 101 yards and 3 TDs and RB Jayden Emery lead the ground attack with 60 yards and 1 TD.
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