Week 10 sees an end to the regular season in all classes except for the 3A and 4A divisions as they stretch an additional week to cap their campaigns. With that in mind, here’s a look at the top games coming up for week 10 and they include several games that will determine league championships in 5A, 2A and 1A. Eight and six-man football divisions have already crowned all league champions.
CLASS 5A
Cherry Creek at Grandview
Eaglecrest at Cherokee Trail
Ralston Valley at Pomona
Westminster at Smoky Hill
ThunderRidge at Castle View
NOTES: Cherry Creek is the Metro East champion with a win over Grandview and if that occurs, then Eaglecrest ends up second with a win over Cherokee Trail. Wins by Grandview and Eaglecrest leave the two sharing the top spot with Cherry Creek. The Ralston Valley-Pomona winner will be the second-place team behind Columbine in the Metro West. Second place behind Valor Christian in the Metro belongs to the winner of Thunder Ridge-Castle View. Smoky Hill is the Metro 10 champion by beating Westminster. Should the Wolves gain the victory, they probably end up in a three-way tie with the Buffs and Denver East.
CLASS 4A
Fruita Monument at Standley Lake
Montrose at Ponderosa
Grand Junction Central at Pine Creek
Air Academy at Rampart
NOTES: The first three games feature unbeaten league teams against one another with the winner taking the outright lead in their respective conference. Fruita-Standley Lake is for the lead in the Pioneer, Montrose visits Ponderosa for the Metro top spot and Pine Creek-GJ Central face off for the top spot in the Southern 1. Rampart is tied with Pueblo West atop the Southern 2 standings and a win keeps them there. Air Academy is third at 2-1 and must win to stay in the league title chase.
CLASS 3A
Palmer Ridge at Lewis Palmer
Green Mountain at Kennedy
Evergreen at Conifer
Battle Mountain at Palisade
Summit at Glenwood Springs
Harrison at Sand Creek
Canon City at Mitchell
Pueblo Central at Pueblo East
NOTES: Palmer Ridge remains alone atop the Central with a win over Lewis Palmer. The Rangers are coming off the big win over Discovery Canyon and moves into a first-place tie with the Bears and Thunder with a victory. Green Mountain clinches the Mt Metro title with a win over Kennedy. If that takes place; then the Evergreen-Conifer winner will be alone in second. Palisade clinches the Western Slope title with a win if Glenwood Springs also beats Summit. Harrison is the Southern champion with a win over Sand Creek if Canon City also beats Mitchell. If the Panthers win; then the Canon City-Mitchell winner is alone in second.  Pueblo East maintains sole possession of the South Central lead with a win over Pueblo Central.
CLASS 2A
Machebeuf at Kent Denver
Faith Christian at D’Evelyn
Bayfield at Salida
Brush at Platte Valley
Berthoud at Eaton
Aspen at Basalt
NOTES: Kent Denver is the Colorado champion with a win over Machebeuf. A Buffs win creates a three-way tie between the two clubs and Englewood. The Faith Christian-D’Evelyn winner in the Flatirons champion and the loser is second. It’s the same scenario in the Intermountain between Bayfield-Salida. Platte Valley must beat Brush to land the Patriot East title outright. A Brush win leaves the two clubs tied with Sterling in first. Eaton must beat Berthoud to end up second in the Patriot West. Aspen is the Western Slope champion with a win over Basalt. If the Longhorns win, then Rifle can land the title by winning at Moffat County.
CLASS 1A
Florence at Colorado Springs Christian
Holyoke at Limon
Strasburg at Cornerstone Christian
Estes Park at Highland
Manual at Platte Canyon
NOTES: The winner between Florence-Colorado Springs Christian lands the Tri Peaks title and the loser ends up second. Holyoke needs a win over Holyoke to win the North Central title outright. A Holyoke win likely creates a three-way tie between the two and Burlington atop the standings. Strasburg clinches the Northern crown by beating Cornerstone Christian. If that happens, then Highland can secure second place with a home win over Estes Park. Platte Canyon must beat Manual to win the Foothills championship outright. A Manual win likely leaves the two tied with Clear Creek in first place.
EIGHT MAN
Springfield at Holly
Sanford at Sargent
Dayspring Christian at Akron
Elbert at South Park
NOTES: Holly needs a win over Springfield to clinch second in the Ark Valley. If Mancos beats Dove Creek, then the winner between Sanford-Sargent is the second team in the Mountain division. The winner between Dayspring Christian-Akron in third behind Sedgwick County and Caliche in the Plains conference. Neither South Park (27th) nor Elbert (30th) will make the playoff bracket but their winner takes home second place in the Central.
SIX MAN
Stratton/Liberty at Kit Carson
Cheyenne Wells at Otis
Fleming at Idalia
Briggsdale at Flagler/Hi Plains
Arickaree/Woodlin at North Park
NOTES: The top game is an easy choice as it features the number one and two ranked teams for much of the season and the game could serve as a state championship preview. They’re also two of the three remaining unbeaten teams in the division joining Mountain Valley in that category. The remaining games on the list will help seed the playoff bracket. Otis is 5th and Cheyenne Wells 8th in RPI so their game could determine which team plays at home in round one and the answer could be both. It’s the same for Idalia and Fleming as they sit 9-10th in RPI this week. Briggsdale is 17th following a loss to North Park last week so the Falcons may need to beat Flagler/Hi Plains (13th) just to make the bracket. North Park used the Briggsdale win to claim a top 16 spot this week (16th) and could get another boost by Arickaree/Woodlin which is 2nd this week. Win or lose, the game will boost the Wildcats strength of schedule and that could be enough to get them into the playoffs.
