After an opening weekend of the season provided only five games decided by fewer than 20 points, week two features three match-ups of ranked opponents, and two more that have teams that are highly thought of. Included in that slate is a rematch of last year’s title game.
Top-ranked Sedgwick County began its hunt for a fifth consecutive title by blanking Simla 46-0 last week. The Cougars pushed the game into mercy clock territory with around three minutes to play in the third quarter, and they claimed their 16th shutout since the start of the 2015 season. Dalton Carlson (77) and Beau Parker (73) both return to lead that unit after combining for 150 tackles last year.
They will visit #2 Hoehne on Friday in what will be the season-opener for the Farmers. The Farmers will be looking for a measure of revenge after dropping a pair of games to Sedgwick County last season. The Cougars handed Hoehne their only defeats of the year, 40-8 in the opener and 58-14 in the championship game. In between, the Farmers rolled up 11 straight wins. In that stretch, they scored 50 or more points six times. Dual-threat QB Weston Hill (1585 combined yards) is back for his junior season.
While this is a non-conference clash, the winner will gain a ton of valuable points in the RPI. It’s the first of two straight weeks against the Plains Division for Hoehne, as the Farmers visit #9 Dayspring Christian next Saturday. For Sedgwick County, they wrap up non-conference play next week against Gilpin County.
Another top 5 clash will take place on Saturday night, as #3 Caliche makes a trip to Kremmling to face #5 West Grand. Both teams won lopsided openers last week, with the Buffs downing Gilpin County 62-26 and West Grand defeating Calhan 66-18.
Caliche got three total touchdowns from Dylan Huss (receiving, rushing, fumble return) and three more from Riley Stump (two rushing, one kick return) in its win. West Grand, who saw Luis Dominguez amass more than 5100 yards of offense and 90 touchdowns over the last three seasons, had another Dominguez lead the way against the Bulldogs. Rene Dominguez, a junior, rushed for 229 yards and seven touchdowns. Sophomore Jesus Dominguez led the defense with 16 tackles.
West Grand got the win last year on the road, 38-20, rolling up close to 400 yards on the ground. Rene Dominguez accounted for 110 of them. The Buffs recorded 244 rushing yards, 210 by Adam Zink, who finished his playing career last season.
The final game pitting a pair of ranked teams against each other this weekend has #4 Fowler hosting tenth-ranked Sargent on Friday. Fowler kicked things off last week with a 54-6 rout of rival Swink. The Grizzlies led 32-0 after one quarter and the mercy clock was rolling by halftime as they led 46-0 at the break. Joshua Daniels (163 yards) and Jackson Bates (118 yards) each topped the century mark on the ground and combined for five touchdowns. Eighteen players recorded a tackle, and 10 had multiple stops in the victory.
For Sargent, Friday’s game will mark the start of the season, and the debut of a lot of new faces in major roles. Gone from last year is Frank Torrez, who threw for 1500 yards and rushed for more than 800. The Farmers also lost three more seniors out of the backfield, eliminating more than 2800 rushing yards. The top returning players on offense (Kage Pepper, Blake Behil, Cole Seger, Parker Ford) have a combined total of 932 yards from scrimmage, with most of those belonging to Seger (696).
Fowler has won the last two meetings between the sides, including a forfeit last year. Sargent had posted a 46-28 score on the field, but later had to surrender the victory to the Grizzlies.
Eighth-ranked Rangely earned a nice 46-28 victory last week over Norwood, despite allowing close to 500 yards of offense to the Mavericks. The Panthers now host a Dove Creek squad that ran up 461 yards on the ground against Monument Valley (UT). Chorbin Cressler tallied 188 of those yards, on only eight carries, scoring four touchdowns. Gauge Thompson aided the defensive effort with three interceptions, one of which he returned to the house for a touchdown.
Rangely owns a slight edge in the series with the Bulldogs, 4-3, having won four of the last five, including the last three. The Panthers have won the last two by a combined score of 101-36. Tytus Coombs had three total touchdowns for Rangely, while Cressler recorded 167 yards and two touchdowns for Dove Creek in the 57-18 loss.
Two squads just outside of the top 10 will square off on Friday, with Holly hosting Akron. The Wildcats, who fell to #9 Dayspring Christian 40-32 last week, are essentially #14 this week, while Akron, a 46-16 winner over Springfield is 11th.
Dakota Eaton tallied 125 yards and four touchdowns rushing, and another 225 yards with a touchdown through the air for Holly. The Wildcats, down 40-20 entering the final frame, staged a comeback that came up just short. Meanwhile, a 24-8 first quarter put Akron in control of its contest with the Longhorns. The Rams got a big night on the ground from Andy Stivers, who finished with just under 200 yards and three scores. Akron’s defense also came up with five takeaways and three sacks.
The two squads have only met two other times, with Akron winning both match-ups. The Rams took a 35-14 victory in the 2016 play-offs, and a hard-fought 8-6 win last year. The difference in last year’s game was a first quarter safety by Cameron Collins.
