The small-school rankings received quite the shakeup at almost all levels last week — the exceptions being the top half of the Class 1A rankings, and 6-man staying largely unchanged.
While Limon football was taken to the wire last week against Wiggins, the top four teams in 1A all won their respective games as the calendar turned to October representing the final month of the regular season.
Wray still sits at the top of the perch, with the Eagles securing a 49-7 victory over Holyoke last Friday night. Senior Casey Midcap threw just five passes, but three of them went for touchdowns (to three different receivers) in the road victory. Fellow senior Samuel Meisner, who of course had an explosive junior season with 32 TDs, touched the ball 11 times for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the blowout.
Speaking of Meisner, he’s averaging even more yards per play (8.7 yards per carry, 17.8 yards per reception) than last year.
In addition to Wray: No. 2 Forge Christian walloped upstart Prospect Ridge 48-6 to improve to 6-0; the No. 3 Badgers edged the Tigers 21-19; and No. 4 Centauri crushed Ignacio 53-13 behind senior Parker Buhr’s 246 rushing yards and four scores.
Springfield cracks the 8-man top 10
The Longhorns have a senior running back in Colby Batterton back in their rotation, and it’s paying off big-time. Batterton, who totaled 809 yards and six touchdowns as a junior, missed the first couple of games this season but has gone well over 100 yards each of the past three contests. Against Rocky Ford this past week, he had 220 yards on the ground and scored five times in a 54-32 win. For the year, he has 54 carries for 530 yards (9.8 average) and 11 scores.
Basalt gets statement win
The Longhorns of Basalt have quietly gone about their business this year so far, but a 30-14 victory against defending champ Delta this week might put a little more attention on them. They are now 5-0 and up to No. 3 in the rankings after shutting out the Panthers in the second half of the win. The defense came up with three turnovers, Will Daniel blocked a kick, and junior Will Tarallo had his best game of the year with 194 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Coal Ridge, at 4-1 and having outscored opponents the past three games by a 99-21 count, visits Basalt on Friday.
Top billing
Branson/Kim at Sierra Grande, Friday at 6:30 p.m.: It’s No. 6 vs. No. 10 in 6-man when the Bearcats visit the Panthers on Friday. Branson/Kim (5-1) has scored 135 points over the past two weeks and 59.2 points in its five wins. Despite just 37 rushing yards as a team, Sierra Grande (5-0) broke a 38-38 tie with Primero last week with 16 fourth-quarter points and won 54-44.
Akron at Haxtun, Friday at 7:30 p.m.: Akron was off last week and has allowed just 21 points across five games. No. 1 ranked Haxtun has put up at least 58 points each of the past four games. (Honorable mention to Simla vs. Byers, also Friday night at 7:30 p.m.)
Stratton at Otis, Friday at 7:30 p.m.: There’s going to be a lot of scoreboard watching in 6-man this week. No. 3 Otis (6-0) will be looking to beat the No. 2 Eagles for the first time in the MaxPreps era (0-4 in four meetings since 2021) and the Bulldogs have scored 67 points a game this year. No. 2 Stratton, meanwhile, has been led by senior Stockton Fye and his 917 rushing yards and 16 TDs.
