After getting rolled by Stratton in the 6-man state championship last year, the Cheyenne Wells Tigers went to work in the offseason trying to eliminate the mistakes and work on the little details that might change the fortunes along another deep playoff run.

Then came a season-opening rematch against the Eagles, which the Tigers won 53-40 on the strength of five Trey Scheler touchdowns.

Scheler continues to excel in his junior season, as do others, and the Tigers are 4-0 with three straight games of 60-plus points on the board as they head into a bye week this week.

The Colorado Preps No. 1 ranked team in 6-man are coming off a 66-0 win against Cheraw last week. While Scheler added four more touchdowns to his stat line, four other players scored touchdowns in the win. The Tigers held Cheraw to 97 total yards, to boot.

For the season, 11 players have hit paydirt as CWHS displays a depth rare at that level of play. It seems the win against Stratton painted a whole new picture of what the Tigers are capable of, and while they get this week to rest, teams like No. 10 Eads (Oct. 11) and No. 5 Granada (Oct. 18) are waiting in the wings for their chance to take them down.

Centauri proves clutch

When the game has been on the line in their past two contests, the Centauri Falcons have risen to the challenge. That trend may have to continue this week as they host 3-0 Bayfield on Friday night.

Centauri had a bye week last week, but in reaching 3-0 themselves the Class 1A No. 4 ranked Falcons had to fend off Pagosa Springs (21-20 final) and Buena Vista (19-13). Statistics can tell only part of the story, but senior Parker Buhr certainly has been relied upon to take care of the football and grind the clock. He has 94 carries in three games (31 carries a game on average) and has surpassed 100 yards in each contest so far. He’s currently 14th in 11-man football with 542 yards.

Bayfield had its own clutch performance last week, fighting off Ignacio by a 38-35 score. The game was tied at 28-28 entering the fourth quarter, and a short Ayden Casillas field goal proved to be the difference. The Wolverines have also kept the ball on the ground, running on 71% of their offensive snaps so far this season.

Big jump

Behind a sophomore starting quarterback, the Strasburg Indians are 4-0 and jumped up to No. 5 in the latest 2A poll.

Having not previously taken a varsity snap prior to this season, Brody Hopwood has completed 22 of 33 passes for 516 yards, with six touchdowns and no interceptions. With the support of another sophomore, Ayden Dodge (522 rushing yards, six TDs), Strasburg has proven to be perhaps more balanced than even a year ago when it went 10-3 in 1A and made the state title contest.

Strasburg ends its nonleague play this week against 1A Wiggins (Friday, 7 p.m.). Though the series between the teams is relatively new (just two meetings in the MaxPreps era), it’s been a couple of hard-fought contests that have come down to just a play or two. In 2022, Strasburg won 29-28; in 2023, SHS took a 27-22 victory home.

Big-time D

The Akron Rams (4-0) head into this weekend as one of the stingiest teams in the state, having only allowed 13 points in four games. While breaking in a freshman quarterback, it’s been easier to play with a big lead thanks to the likes of seniors Anderson Filla, Caleb Poss and Merek Charney guiding an aggressive defense. Akron has produced 13 turnovers including 10 interceptions (junior Jace Curtis has four and freshman Kolten Randel has three), and Poss leads with four sacks.

Akron travels to play Dayspring Christian on Saturday afternoon.