The only battle of unbeaten league leaders in Class 3A football this week is found in the Mt Metro conference where Green Mountain visits Evergreen. Both teams are 2-0 in conference play and the winner will stand alone atop the standings.   The remaining schedule is filled with a long list of games that will help sort out pretenders from contenders in all other conferences.
Green Mountain has had the more difficult time in getting to 2-0 as they’ve beaten Conifer and George Washington by a combined 21 points. Evergreen meantime has rolled past George Washington and Lincoln by a combined 96-0 score. Comparison scores against G-W give the advantage to Evergreen as the Cougars won 43-0 and the Rams 17-10.
Evergreen’s offensive strategy is to run the football and control time of possession. And they rotate several running backs to keep everyone fresh for the fourth quarter. Ben Haefeli, with 569 yards and nine touchdowns, is the Cougars top rusher and has collected 203 yards in the two league wins; getting over 100 in both games. Beck Barrett has produced 95 yards rushing in conference play and has 445 for the season. Carter Cassin has 295 yards overall including 80 over the last two games on just nine carries.
Defensively, the Cougars also take a group mentality in getting several players to the ball. Grant Harris is the top tackler (46) followed by Mason Schmid (41) and Cade Carroll (37). Overall, the Cougars have 11 sacks and 21.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
QB Trey Towndrow is the key for the Green Mountain attack. He led the team in rushing (69) and passing (86) in last week’s win over George Washington. He also ran and threw for over 100 yards while combining for 254 and two scores in the opening league win over Conifer.
Defense is also a strength for the Rams. Against Conifer, they recorded six sacks including 2.5 from Will Banks and two from Corkin. Ryan Burdi had 11 tackles and Banks 10. The unit also forced two turnovers. In last weeks’ win, Burdi (16) and Corkin (10) combined for 26 tackles and the Rams again picked up two turnovers.
Green Mountain is 6th in RPI and Evergreen is 13th this week. Both remain in contention for a wildcard if they fail to land the league championship. George Washington is 14th in RPI this week and is also contending for a playoff berth. They host Kennedy. Conifer is 22nd in RPI ahead of their trip to Lincoln.
Following a tough loss to Discovery Canyon, Thomas Jefferson needs a win this week to stay in the Central league chase but it will be difficult as the Spartans visit defending state champion Palmer Ridge. The Bears are rolling of late; cruising by Lutheran 58-6 and Littleton 42-7 in league play. Because of those blowouts, the Bears are well rested and very healthy headed into the final three weeks. They can use some wins as despite the late charge, they still sit only 19th in RPI. The reason is strength of schedule as the Bears are rated 33rd of 42 teams this week. That number will go up this week against Thomas Jefferson and the regular season finale with Discovery Canyon.
Ty Evans has thrown for 1,407 yards and 20 TD’s but has attempted only 35 passes in league play. He’s completed 22 for 439 yards and nine scores. Anthony Roberson did not play last week but still leads the Bears with 28 catches for 469 yards and 7 TD’s. He exploded for 155 yards and four TD’s on just six catches against Lutheran. Raef Ruel has totaled 495 yards and eight scores on the ground but has just six carries in the last two games. In his last full game, the senior picked up 163 yards on 30 attempts in a nice win over Pueblo South.
Discovery Canyon picked up the win over Thomas Jefferson last week but was held under 40 points for the first time since week two. They still rushed for 248 yards and averaged over six yards per attempt. The Thunder host Lewis Palmer on Saturday. DCC is 3rd in RPI with Lewis Palmer at #18.
Mead and Frederick share the North Metro lead (2-0) and each faces a third-place team this week. The Warriors host Denver North and Mead visits Holy Family. If both teams grab wins, their meeting in the final week of the season should determine the league champion. All four teams are in strong position to land playoff berths as Holy Family is #5, Frederick #10, Mead #15 and Denver North #16 in RPI.
Frederick has the biggest league win as they downed Holy Family 41-23 last week. The Warriors led 20-17 at halftime but then scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. Brandon Hornby had a big day as he ran for 83 yards, threw for 128 yards and also returned a kickoff 95 yards. He was involved in two scores.
Overall, the Warriors picked up 319 yards on the ground. Trey Odell led the team with 98 yards and Dante Ciaravola added 88. They both scored a touchdown.
Against Denver North, Frederick will again face a team that wants to the throw the football all across the field.  Erik Flores threw for a state best 504 yards and six touchdowns in last week’s win over Skyview 48-34. Keon Brickens caught eight passes for 276 yards and four TD’s; Elias Zarate had six catches for 117 and Ben Aleman six for 80.
Despite those numbers, Frederick remains favored based on comparison scores with Holy Family. Frederick, as mentioned, won 41-23 last week while North lost to the Tigers 40-7 two weeks ago.
In the South Central, Pueblo South at Durango and Pueblo County at Pueblo East are the two most important games to the championship race, but the battle between Pueblo Central and Pueblo Centennial will draw the most attendance.  It’s the annual Bell Game and the two teams represent the oldest high school rivalry west of the Mississippi. Neither team has won a conference game but both are improved over the recent past and it should be a very good game. Central is 4-3 and Centennial 3-4 overall. They sit 23rd (Centennial) and 25th (Central) in RPI so both need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Durango and Pueblo East share the league lead at 2-0 with Pueblo South and Pueblo County a game back at 1-1. Jordan Woolverton continues to pace Durango’s offense as he’s thrown for 361 yards and four touchdowns combined in wins over Pueblo Centennial (33-8) and Pueblo Central (24-6). Dawson Marcum has been over 100 yards rushing in both games with a combined 224 yards and three TD’s.
The Demons could get pushed by a Pueblo South team that is only 2-5 but one that has played the third most difficult schedule in Class 3A. They’re coming off a blowout win of Pueblo County (56-7) last week and also beat Lewis Palmer earlier in the year. Losses are all against likely playoff teams in Pueblo East, Palmer Ridge, Discovery Canyon, Erie and Holy Family.
QB Logan Petit is the key to the Colts success. He’s nearing 12-hundred yards passing with 10 TD’s on the season. Top targets include Jackson Dickerson (34) and Cedric Tillman (30) who have combined for 64 catches and eight touchdowns.
Durango is the highest ranked league team in the RPI as the Demons are again #2 this week. Pueblo East is 7th with Pueblo South #17. Pueblo County is 24th.
With Palisade heavily favored at Eagle Valley this week, Battle Mountain must beat Glenwood Springs to keep pace in the Western Slope. The Bulldogs and Huskies have both started conference play with two straight wins. Battle Mountain looks to run the football against a Glenwood Springs defense that surrendered 321 yards and six scores to Palisade last week. The Huskies get plenty of production from the trio of Kiah Gongaware, Garrett Anderson and Trever Goldberg who have a combined 790 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns this season.
Palisade sits #1 in RPI this week and has played the second strongest schedule in 3A, trailing only Durango. Battle Mountain (11th) is also in position for a rare playoff berth. Glenwood, #20, remains in playoff contention.
Unbeaten Harrison has rolled past Falcon (42-0) and Canon City (58-14) in the Southern division and more double-digit wins could be in their future. The Panthers are the only league team with a winning record overall. They visit Sierra on Friday and the Stallions have the second most wins overall (3) and are one of four teams at 1-1. The Sierra defense must contend with a very balanced Harrison offense that has generated 1,377 yards passing and 1,475 rushing. Scoring is more one-sided as nearly two-thirds (21) of their 30 touchdowns are on the ground.
The Panthers are 4th in RPI this week. Falcon (29th) is the only other league club in the top 30.
North Valley leaders Erie and Fort Morgan are both at home this week against third-place teams Roosevelt and Thompson Valley respectively. Of those two, Erie may have the more difficult test as the Roughriders are much better than their 2-5 record indicates. They pushed Fort Morgan to the end in a 27-21 league loss two weeks ago and are 21st in RPI.
Erie though is rolling; winning two league games by a combined 95 points and they’ve outscored opponents 302-71 overall. Noah Roper continues to turn in big plays and leads the Tigers with 1,319 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns. He’s another 157 yards in the return game and is averaging over 200 yards of total offense a game.
Erie is 8th in RPI and we believe safely in the playoff bracket. Fort Morgan is 12th.
