The Class 1A football regular season is nearing its end and as is tradition, Limon continues to look like the team to beat.
The Badgers are coming off solid wins against Wray (Oct. 8) and Holyoke last week. Now they have the task of going on the road to face a Wiggins team that would love to come away with the big upset.
In all, nine of the top 10 teams are in action with just Meeker sitting out with a bye.
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(1) Limon at (6) Wiggins
The Badgers have a pretty solid plug-and-play process considering the depth on the roster. Gabe Schubarth missed last week’s game against Holyoke but Lohgan Bottjer stepped in and rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns. That ignited the ground game overall as the Badgers rushed for 402 yards as a team in the win.
Wiggins put together a solid performance of its own and senior quarterback Cole Kerr threw for 183 yards and two scores as the Tigers beat Burlington. They rushed for 253 yards as a team, but the leading rusher, Julio Flores, ran for just 76.
(2) Wray at Burlington
The Eagles bounced back from the loss to Limon with a 20-14 win over Yuma last week. Casey Midcap threw for 137 yards and a touchdown while Samuel Meisner rushed for 75 yards and two scores.
Burlington has dropped three games in a row, but those losses have come against Limon, Yuma and Wiggins. A win here would likely keep Wray in the No. 2 spot in the coaches poll.
(3) Strasburg at Jefferson
Zach Marrero rushed for 157 yards and three scores to lead Strasburg to a 56-6 win over Middle Park last week. It was the fourth straight win for Strasburg, who’s only loss of the season came against Limon on Sept. 10. A win against Jefferson sets up a league championship game with Platte Canyon next week.
Holyoke at (4) Yuma
Yuma’s undefeated season ended last week thanks to a 20-14 loss to Wray. It’ll try to rebound this week against the Dragons and found the offensive rhythm that has benefitted the team all season. Las week, the Eagles contained Yuma to just 79 total yards on offense. Nash Richardson’s 26 rushing yards was the best production the offense saw all day and everyone on the roster knows that those numbers are unacceptable. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Yuma jump out to a fast start and roll to a win.
Center at (5) Monte Vista
The Pirates have been dominant for over a month now, winning each game by a margin of at least 28 points. They’ll get one more chance at a big win this week before facing a big test in defending 1A champion Centauri next week in the regular season finale. In last week’s win over Ignacio DeAngelo Archuleta, Keegan Gunter and Andrew Chavez each ran for over 100 yards and combined for six rushing touchdowns.
(7) Buena Vista at Olathe
Suffering back-to-back losses earlier in the years seems to have woken up the Demons. They’ve had a few big wins mixed in with a tough battle over a good Meeker team. Last week, Haden Camp threw for two touchdowns in addition to rushing for 134 yards and three scores in a win over Roaring Fork.
(8) Gunnison at North Fork
Gunnison all but wrapped up a league title last week with a 23-21 win over Meeker. Ryan Sullivan and Connor Blunt provided the bulk of the offense in that effort. Sullivan threw for 147 yards and a touchdown while Blunt rushed for 143 yards. This is the ninth game of the year for the Cowboys which will wrap up the regular season and give them a week off ahead of the start of the postseason.
Ignacio at (9) Centauri
The Falcons have certainly overcome a rough start to the season and have won their last four games by a combined score of 196-14. A win this week would setup a big league championship with Monte Vista next Friday.
