Week four of the football season brings several more matchups that will be used to help separate a very tight field in Class 4A. Winners of these non-conference battles improve their positioning for the playoff bracket and give them more confidence entering league action in a couple of weeks.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LANCE WENDT
The first of a few battles that will crown the champion of Longmont takes place this week as Skyline (2-1) meets Silver Creek (3-0). The Falcons suffered their first loss last week; falling to Golden 33-21 but that came at the end of a very trying week for the program and school. They had to deal with the unexpected loss of a senior Skyline standout early in the week. They played well through the first half but ran out of gas in the third and fourth quarter against a very good Golden club.
Logan Miller had 39 touches on offense and generated a total of 251 yards from his quarter back spot. Dilan Bridwell had eight catches and Andrew Muncy five. Both scored. The defense did allow 215 yards and five touchdowns through the air.
Those numbers match up well for Silver Creek as the Raptors average nearly 200 yards per game through the air. Bryce Gorr (36-51) is completing 71 percent of his passes with five touchdowns against just one interception. Elijah Hubert, with 12 catches for 328 yards and four scores, is his favorite target.
Skyline though represents the most difficult opponent that Silver Creek has faced this year. Their first three wins are against Mountain View, Centaurus and Mitchell who have combined for just one win in nine games overall.
While Skyline and Silver Creek get together on a regular basis, this week marks the first ever meeting between Discovery Canyon (3A) and Pine Creek. The Thunder have been a regular playoff visitor to the 3A bracket and of course Pine Creek has been the standard bearer in Class 4A for almost a decade.
It may not be the best week for the Thunder to take up this challenge as they’re regrouping a bit from last weeks lopsided loss to Mead. They surrendered 390 yards rushing and over nine yards per carry in the loss and now face an even more physical offense from the Eagles. Pine Creek picked up 319 yards and scored five TDs on the ground in their 41-20 win over Vista Ridge. They also dominated up front on defense; pushing the Wolves back to minus 13 yards rushing. Pine Creek also held the Vista Ridge offense to 184 yards passing and intercepted two passes.
QB Josiah Roy directs the Pine Creek offense and he’s coming off 158 yards and three scores rushing last week. Mason Miller added another 161 with two more touchdowns. Landon Neil paced the defense with seven tackles.
The game continues a very strong schedule for Pine Creek as they also meet Chatfield in non-league play next week before embarking on a 5A league slate against the likes of Legend, Douglas County, Chaparral and Regis.
Guessing the Loveland-Windsor game will be done in less than two hours with fewer than 10 combined passes thrown. Both teams have a long history of successfully running the football and each will try to establish the line of scrimmage against each other on Friday.
Both clubs are 2-1 on the season but they enter the game on different levels of momentum. Windsor became the first defense to slow down the high powered Longmont offense as they beat the Trojans 56-22 last week. Loveland gave up their first points of the season in a tough 25-6 loss to 5A ranked Ralston Valley.
A major reason why Windsor limited Longmont to a season low 22 points came on offense where they picked up 508 yards and eight TDs on a whopping 53 running plays. Dax Polka scored four TDs and finished with 94 yards. Jaden Thomas (142) and Chase Thomas (122) both went over 100 yards and combined for three scores.
Those running numbers limited the offensive chances for Longmont. Keegan Patterson did throw for 246 yards and ran for 92 but he was also intercepted three times.
Loveland ran for a season low 192 yards in the loss to Ralston Valley. They limited Ralston Valley to 148 yards rushing but gave up over six yards per attempt. They may need to trim that average in half to get the Wizards offense off the field this week.
Coming off a solid win over Fountain Fort Carson (23-14), Chatfield takes to the road to meet Fruita Monument on Saturday. In addition to FFC, the Chargers have also beaten Longmont and Brighton and really won’t have a week off the entire season. Six of their final seven opponents are either 3-0 or 2-1 at this point of the season. After Fruita is another challenge against Pine Creek followed by rivalry matchups with Bear Creek, Golden, Standley Lake and Dakota Ridge.
In last week’s win over Fountain Fort Carson, the Chargers rallied from a 14-3 hole in the fourth quarter. Sophomore QB Jake Jones hit on 12 of 22 attempts for 234 yards and two scores. Mason Lowe ran for 84 yards and also caught five passes for 118 yards. On defense, Cade Thomas had 12 tackles and Brock Narva eight. Narva also had an interception and the Chargers earned five sacks.
Fruita let go a nine point lead in a 26-22 week two loss to Montrose but bounced back nicely in beating Grand Junction 47-7. They prefer to run the football; on the season they have 132 offensive play with 113 coming in the run game. Overall, the Wildcats average 265 yards per game with 12 touchdowns. Armony Trujillo has five of them and seven others have one apiece.
The Fruita defense has 16 tackles behind the line of scrimmage including four sacks. They have created just three turnovers in three games (all interceptions) and may need to come up with big plays this week.
Ponderosa is back. We wondered if it would be a tough year for the Mustangs following a 42-0 loss to 5A Legend in the opening week but they’ve responded with wins over Fort Collins (35-33) and Chaparral (37-21). Zach Pekarek leads the offense with 298 yards rushing and three touchdowns but expect the freshman combination of Andrew Heidl and Max Mervin to get better as the season moves along. Heidl has 260 yards passing and 2 TDs. Mervin has eight catches which is second on the team behind Alex Tongren.
The Mustangs seek a third straight win against Standley Lake (2-1). The Gators are also young on offense but sit at 2-1 and nearly missed a third straight win against Green Mountain last Friday. They trailed by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter but rallied to force a 14-14 tie. The Rams eventually won with a last second field goal.
Standley Lake averages 231 yards a game on the ground and underclassmen handle most of the workload. Cannon Frost has 264 yards; Blake Stout 203 and Fulton Jackson 175. Seniors pace the defense however as Dylan Graham (36), Evan Shanks (26) and Logan Thille (25) are the top three tacklers. They have created seven takeaways as Shanks has both an interception and fumble recovery.
Palmer Ridge limited Lewis Palmer to just 42 yards on 38 rushing attempts in last week’s 49-0 rivalry game win. Now the Bears face another run first offense when they visit Pueblo West this week. The Cyclones were blanked by Pine Creek in their opener but have won two straight since. Cole Brinkley had two TD runs and also tossed a pair of scoring passes in last week’s win over Adams City (35-16). They Cyclones led 35-0 very early and then quickly went to reserves for the rest of the game.
There are several other games of note inside the Top 10. #2 Dakota Ridge was impressive in beating Thomas Jefferson 49-7 last week and will be favored at home against Rampart. Adam Graves threw for 151 yards and three scores in last week’s win. Noah Triplett also reached the end zone three times while gaining 125 yards. #4 Montrose could get challenged at 3A Palisade and we provide a preview of that game in our 3A report. #6 Erie seeks a fourth straight win at home against Longmont. The Tigers are coming off a 39-21 win at Bear Creek last week as Blake Barnett threw for 239 yards and ran for 90 and three touchdowns. #8 Golden should get to 4-0 at Liberty this week. Jazel Riley tossed five touchdowns against Skyline last week and now has eight on the season. He’s averaging just under 200 yards per game (195.3) through the air. #9 Fountain Fort Carson looks to rebound from the tough Chatfield loss as they return home to host Doherty.
CLASS 4A – TOP 10 SCHEDULE
#1 Palmer Ridge at Pueblo West
#2 Dakota Ridge vs Rampart
#3 Pine Creek vs #8 Discovery Canyon (3A) (THURS)
#4 Montrose at Palisade
#5 Chatfield at #10 Fruita Monument (SAT)
#6 Erie vs Longmont
#7 Loveland vs Windsor
#8 Golden at Liberty
#9 Fountain Fort Carson vs Doherty
