Starting to believe that we should wait until Friday to release our weekly previews as opponents and schedules seem to change on a daily if not hourly basis. That’s the case in 1A football this week as one of the top regular season contests has been cancelled with Limon dropping out of their matchup with Wray due to COVID concerns.
Not playing this game will toss a wrench into seeding the Class 1A bracket. The top ranked Badgers and 4th ranked Eagles entered the week as two of six unbeaten teams left in the division. With the reduced playoff bracket this year, only the top four seeds get the chance to host first round games and the outcome of Limon-Wray would help determine which teams get that opportunity.
But even with Limon-Wray off the schedule, there are a few more games that will help determine the pecking order. #3 Florence (4-0) meets #9 Colorado Springs Christian, #5 Centauri (4-0) faces Woodland Park and #6 Hotchkiss (4-0) hosts Gunnison. #2 Strasburg (4-0) is the sixth unbeaten club in the division and should cruise by Jefferson. The Indians kept their season long streak of not allowing a point intact with last week’s 42-0 shutout of Bennett. Collin Russell connected with Jack Swanson on three TD passes in the win.
We lead off with Florence-Colorado Springs Christian where the key may be how well the Lions can hold the Huskies running game in check. The Lions allowed 342 yards on the ground in their only loss to Limon (42-7) and they will need to post a lower number to beat the Huskies. They have some history in doing so. Last year, Florence won the head-to-head matchup 13-10 but totaled just 138 yards rushing. CSCS also gained 285 yards on the ground but committed three costly turnovers.
Florence has scored at least five touchdowns running the football in each game this year and has 23 for the season. Owen Busetti, with 425 yards and eight scores, is the first option and QB Jacob Kennedy is next with 390 yards and nine TD’s. The Huskies defense is also strong; they’ve allowed just 14 first half points in four games and 27 overall.
Joe Dunn and Caleb Stockton pace the Lions attack. In just three games, Dunn has gained 527 yards with three scores and Stockton has thrown for 293 yards and seven touchdowns. All seven scoring strikes have gone to either Andrew Knedler (4) or Daniel Eng (3). Severin Grundvig (34 tackles), Rian Chavez (9 tackles for loss) and Jordan Palumbo (5 fumble recoveries) are the top defenders.
Florence is likely a playoff qualifier regardless of result this week, but CSCS may need a win to secure their berth. A loss drops them to 3-2 on the season and into a three-team battle with Holyoke and Highland for the last available playoff berth. In last week’s consensus rankings, which combines the four polling services into a top 10, the Lions were the odd team out; sitting in a 9th place tie with Centauri. Holyoke was #2 and Highland #8.
Holyoke and Highland are ranked 8th and 10th by the coaches and both have games with Burlington this week. Holyoke has already earned a win; beating the Cougars 14-13 on Tuesday as Miles Sprague hit Wyatt Sprague on the game winning TD pass in the final five minutes. The Dragons will collect a second win this week as they get a forfeit from Pinnacle. The two victories push Holyoke to 4-1 ahead of the final week clash with Limon.
Highland hosts Burlington on Saturday. The Huskies have won two straight; beating Yuma 40-7 and Prospect Ridge 48-7 over the last two weeks. They also have Wiggins on the schedule in the final week.
#5 Centauri had Center on the schedule for this week but with the Vikings in quarantine, found a nice opponent in Woodland Park. It’s a good pickup as the Falcons should get a much-needed RPI boost. As mentioned above, the Falcons were not in the top eight of the Class 1A consensus rankings last week and it was RPI that dragged them down. They did not crack the RPI top 10 last week but have bumped up two spots this week. The game with Woodland Park and next weeks’ clash with Monte Vista (3-1) should move them up the standings a bit more.
Centauri could also use a test. They’ve outscored opponents 252-0 and every game has gotten out of hand in the first quarter. The defense averages nearly nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage per game including six from Mason Claunch, and 4.5 apiece for Peyton Polzin and Zach Buhr. Brady Holman has three interceptions and Buhr two fumble recoveries. They represent half of the team’s 10 forced turnovers.
On offense, Claunch has 14 rushing touchdowns on just 30 carries. He’s averaging over 13 yards per attempt. McKay Russell has 27 pass completions with one-third of them (9) going for scores. Holman has three TD’s receiving; Polzin and Brandon Shawcroft two apiece.
Woodland Park enters the game off a tough 27-23 loss at Moffat County last week. A win there could have pushed the Panthers into the 2A playoffs for the first time since 2000, but now they may need to win out to qualify. The Panthers defense forced three turnovers last week and will need more to upset Centauri. Mason Pyles tossed a pair of TD passes and ended up with 148 yards passing on the night.
Ahead of facing Centauri next week, Monte Vista (3-1) has an important date with Ignacio (2-1) this week. Since Centauri is up in week six, the Pirates still have playoff hopes as two wins could get them into the bracket. They’ve won three straight; outscoring Del Norte, Center and Dolores 138-8. Cobi Garcia has gained 311 yards with three TD’s on the ground. Hunter Pacheco (188) and Khegan Gunter (116) have combined for another 304.
Comparison scores give the advantage to Hotchkiss in their game with Gunnison this week. While both teams have similar outcomes against Paonia, the Bulldogs own a 14-8 win over #7 Meeker and Gunnison lost their matchup 48-0. Still the Cowboys have won two straight; their first varsity wins since 2016. Brayden Duncan ran for 100 yards and two TD’s in their win over Paonia last week. Nico Marchitelli added three TD’s and 147 yards of combined offense.
Hotchkiss continues to roll up big numbers with their running attack; generating 330 yards in last week’s victory over Olathe. Five different players scored touchdowns and Drayden Taylor (114) cracked the century mark in yardage.
Meeker has Olathe this week and Paonia next week so they’re expected to finish at 5-1 which would easily be good enough to find their place in the bracket. Ryan Phelan threw for 168 yards and three scores, including two to Spud White, in last week’s 48-0 decision over Cedaredge. Kelton Turner hit paydirt twice and finished with 168 yards rushing. Olathe lost an early game to Cedaredge (14-12) which damaged their playoff chances. An upset this week changes those fortunes.
