Jonah Ritter’s contributions for the Mancos Bluejays over the past two seasons had mostly been on defense, totaling 71 tackles over 20 games between his freshman and sophomore years.

Given the opportunity to touch the football a little more on offense this past Saturday, the now-junior Ritter dropped some jaws.

It was a gigantic matchup for Mancos against Merino, and the two teams traveled several hours to meet up against each other in Fairplay. The game lived up to its billing as one to watch, as Mancos (now No. 4 in the 8-man Colorado Preps rankings) pulled through for a 36-32 victory.

At the center of that win was Ritter, who had never had a 100-yard game rushing or receiving. He had a 64-yard run as part of 138 yards on the ground, and also caught three passes for 81 yards — with a 53-yard reception included in that. All told, he also found paydirt three times.

Mancos, now 2-1, gets a bye week before heading to face Dolores next Thursday. Merino, now 1-2, will look to rebound this Saturday against winless Lyons (0-3).

Still Perfect

There are still 27 teams in the 2A classification and below that are undefeated through Week 3.

Among them, McClave is one of just three teams in the entire state who hold a 4-0 mark heading into this weekend. It took every ounce of effort for the Cardinals to retain that status on Saturday, needing three overtimes to defeat Simla, 58-52, in what is being described as an early candidate for the game of the year. McClave’s rush attack, led by Mason Barr’s 197 yards and Ethan Bronniman’s six rushing TDs, countered a 326-yard passing performance from Simla’s Caston Cox (Cox also rushed for a pair of TDs). The Cubs had 535 yards of offense in the loss. Both teams are still ranked in 8-man — McClave is No. 3 and Simla is No. 5 — as they head to a bye week.

Other small school programs that are 3-0 right now: In 2A, Classical Academy, Kent Denver, Basalt, Strasburg, Lamar, Woodland Park and Denver West; In 1A, Wray, Centauri and Forge Christian; In 8-man, Byers, West Grand, Akron, Dayspring Christian, Dove Creek and Las Animas; And in 6-man, Otis, Idalia, Granada, Sierra Grande, Primero and Cheyenne Wells.

All Hail Cael

Don’t look now, but your state receiving leader at this point is a senior out of Lamar, Cael Buxton. After a nine-catch, 180-yard outing against Bennett on Friday, Buxton now has three straight 100-yard games to start the season and is sitting at 419 yards through the air. Part of that success goes to sophomore QB Jacob Dunning, who has completed 60% of his passes in his first year as the starter.

Longstanding rivalry
Though Forge Christian, formerly Faith Christian, dropped down to Class 1A play this season, the Fury are just as eager to face 2A Kent Denver on Friday night. After all, it’s been one of the program’s most heated rivalries for years. In four meetings between 2018 and 2022, then-Faith defeated Kent four straight times (Kent had won 10 in a row in the series prior to that). The Sun Devils flexed their muscles again last year, winning 46-0.
This year’s Forge squad, however, seems to be a little more stout — particularly on defense. Led by seniors Dante Vigil, Carson Craig and Euli Tafoya, FCHS has allowed just seven points to be scored on them through three games.