Classes 3A and 4A join the fray this week so week seven of the football season is the first to have all seven divisions involved in conference play. We focus heavily on league races as champions earn automatic post-season bids and in almost every case, play at home in round one.
Below is our list of the five most important games in each classification. We’ll take a look at each contest and several others during our weekly class reports which are published each Tuesday through Thursday. Then we tell you what the results mean during the Colorado Preps Scoreboard show each Friday from 9:30-11:00pm.
CLASS 5A
Cherry Creek at Arapahoe
Cherokee Trail at Grandview
Fairview at Horizon
Denver East at Smoky Hill
Regis at Legend
NOTES: Cherry Creek and Arapahoe both picked up week one wins inside the Metro East and share the top spot with Grandview. The Warriors edged Cherokee Trail last week and reached 6-0 for the first time since winning 10 games in 2015. Grandview looks to stay tied with that winner by beating Cherokee Trail. The Cougars need a win to avoid an 0-2 league start that likely eliminates them from the conference crown. Fairview and Horizon started the Front Range schedule at 1-0 and the winner will be tied with Rocky Mountain in first if the Lobos move past Fossil Ridge. Smoky Hill can virtually clinch the Metro 10 title for a second straight year by beating Denver East. A win gives the Buffs a commanding two game lead with just three games remaining. East moves into a first place tie with Smoky Hill if they upset the Buffs. The Regis-Legend winner should land the South crown as no other club has more than two wins on the season. The Titans and Raiders are a combined 12-0.
CLASS 4A
Wheat Ridge at Chatfield
Silver Creek at Skyline
Monarch at Loveland
Heritage at Montrose
Hinkley at Vista Peak
NOTES: Opening week in conference play for Class 4A features many games that could us an indication of which teams can be favored to land crowns. Chatfield and Wheat Ridge are both 4-1 but are just two of the teams in the Jeffco with that record. Dakota Ridge and Golden also have four wins apiece in what is considered a wide open chase. No team in the Longs Peak has more than three wins so it’s another chase without a clear favorite. Silver Creek, Skyline and Loveland are all 3-2 with Monarch right there at 2-3. Heritage and Montrose are a combined 9-1 on the season so the winner grabs a very important conference win. Ponderosa is also expected to challenge there. Hinkley and Vista Peak are both 5-0 and the winner steps up as the top threat to Fruita Monument and defense of their Pioneer championship.
CLASS 3A
Lewis Palmer at Thomas Jefferson
Lutheran at Palmer Ridge
Green Mountain at Conifer
Pueblo South at Pueblo East
Northridge at Erie
NOTES: The Central division is again filled with good teams as four teams are 4-1 and another is 3-2. Palmer Ridge, despite last week’s loss to Pine Creek, remains the favorite but Lutheran is coming off a 78 point effort against Mitchell. Thomas Jefferson is quietly 4-1 and becomes a challenger by beating Lewis Palmer. Green Mountain and Conifer battle in the opening week of conference play but the winner could easily end up with the Mt Metro title. Evergreen (2-3) is another challenger as they’re coming off a nice win voer Palisade. Pueblo South has the much better record than East but it’s one of the more anticipated games each year in Pueblo. Northridge and Erie are in a role reversal this year. The Grizzlies have the best record in the North Valley (4-1) while Erie is one of three league teams at 2-3. The Tigers though are the defending league champs and have played a stronger schedule than Northridge.
CLASS 2A
Delta at Rifle
Lamar at Woodland Park
Elizabeth at La Junta
Englewood at Kent Denver
Eaton at Academy
NOTES: There’s quite a bit riding on the Delta-Rifle matchup and the game should attract plenty of attention. They’ve been ranked 1-2 in the division for the past couple of weeks and each enter the game unbeaten and unchallenged thus far. The winner though will not stand alone atop a rugged Western Slope as Basalt is also 5-0 after taking out Moffat County in their opener last week. Elizabeth and La Junta were both week one winners in the Tri Peaks but they took completely different routes to get there. La Junta tallied six points in a shutout of Woodland Park while Elizabeth exploded for 61 in blasting Manitou Springs. Both clubs are 4-1 overall. Lamar and Woodland Park both came up short in league openers and the loser this week may be eliminated from the title chase. Englewood and Kent Denver seem to be the best two clubs in the Colorado so that winner could end up with the crown. They finished 1-2 last year but only the conference champion (Kent Denver) made the playoffs. If Resurrection Christian gets by University, then the winner between Eaton-Academy will share the top spot with the Cougars. Both the Reds and Wildcats were week one winners.
CLASS 1A
Highland at Strasburg
Monte Vista at Centauri
Jefferson at Platte Canyon
Buena Vista at Colorado Springs Christian
Holyoke at Burlington
NOTES: There possibly could be three league championship games on the 1A schedule this week. Strasburg-Highland have finished 1-2 in the North conference each of the past three years and could do the same this year. Flatirons Academy (4-1) could also factor in. Centauri and Monte Vista routinely collide for the Southern Peaks title and since the Falcons blew by Center last week, the scenario is likely the same this year. The Foothills conference, because of RPI, likely gets one playoff bid this year so the winner between Jefferson-Platte Canyon moves closer to the league title. Both picked up victories last week. Colorado Springs Christian did not have a conference game last week so they begin defense of their Tri Peaks title against Buena Vista this week. Both teams are 4-1 on the season. Buena Vista moved past St Mary’s in their league opener last week. Burlington, after falling to Wray last week, probably needs to hand Holyoke their first loss to stay in the North Central championship discussion.
EIGHT MAN
Dayspring Christian at Sedgwick County
Caliche at Merino
Sanford at Mancos
Vail Christian at Soroco
Elbert at Front Range Christian
NOTES: It’s a huge week for the Plains conference as the top four clubs collide head-to-head. Of the four Caliche probably has the most to play for as they’ve already dropped a league game to Dayspring Christian. A second loss takes them out of the title picture but a win keeps them in a second place tie with Merino and the loser of Dayspring Christian-Sedgwick County. Playoff seeding is also a favor as Dayspring Christian is 4th, Merino is 6th, Sedgwick County 10th and Caliche 11th in RPI. All those numbers should improve as the clubs move through the rugged league slate. Sanford and Mancos are tied with Dove Creek as all three clubs remain unbeaten in the Mountain conference. Dove Creek has a tough matchup with Sargent as well and if the Bulldogs drop that one, then the Mancos-Sanford winner will be alone in first. The Vail Christian-Soroco winner takes over sole possession of the Northwest lead. Since Vail Christian has already beaten West Grand and Rangely as well, a win this week should land them the title. Soroco has not played either the Mustangs or Panthers. Elbert and Front Range Christian are the last two unbeatens in the Central so the winner is the probably league winner.
SIX MAN
Sierra Grande at Cotopaxi
Deer Trail at Hanover
North Park at Fleming
Stratton/Liberty at Granada
Peetz at Flagler/Hi Plains
NOTES: Cotopaxi can clinch the Southwest title by beating Sierra Grande. An opposite result leaves the two clubs tied with Mountain Valley for the top spot if Mountain Valley gets by Cripple Creek as expected. Deer Trail has already topped Genoa Hugo so a win over Hanover should give them the Central championship. Fleming has a one game edge on North Park, Briggsdale and Prairie in the North conference. The Wildcats have already beaten Prairie but have the Wildcats and Falcons over the next two weeks. If Fleming wins this week, their game with Briggsdale next week will be for the conference championship. North Park also has a game remaining with the Falcons. The last two games on the list are non-conference meetings but will impact post-season bracketing. The six man division uses RPI exclusively to seed the bracket and entering this week, Stratton/Liberty is #3, Granada #6, Flagler/Hi Plains #7 and Peetz is 18th. The first three are in contention to host a first round while Peetz could use a win to climb back into the bracket. If the pairings were announced this week, the 2017 champs would not be included.
