Rumors of Limon’s demise might just be greatly exaggerated. Even if they’re coming from the head coach. Prior to the Badger’s season opener against Colorado Springs Christian, a top-10 matchup in Class 1A, Mike O’Dwyer stressed the difficulty of staying competitive when having to replace nearly 20 starters.

And CSCS is no pushover.

The Lions return a ton of talent, led by quarterback Jace Velasquez.

But the Badgers have been the dominant football program in the state for a reason and the 42-28 win to open their season is a clear declaration that they have every desire to remain competitive despite the heavy senior losses they suffered in the offseason.

Things looked shaky early as Velasquez broke for a 67-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game. But as he was explosive, the Badgers were methodical. They put together a sustained scoring drive with Aiden Kollath scoring on a QB sneak. The Badgers then forced a turnover on the ensuing CSCS drive and converted that into a touchdown as well.

They built a good lead through the course of the game and fought off a rally from CSCS to open the season with a big win over a tough opponent.

**

6-man

(2) Cheyenne Wells 53, (1) Stratton 40

For the first time since 2021, Stratton is on the losing end of a football game. The Eagles have been dominant in all facets of football since losing the 2021 6-man title game to Cheyenne Wells. They had beaten the Tigers twice in the state title game since then but in Week 1, the Tigers put an end to a 27-game winning streak.

“It feels good,” Cheyenne Wells coach Myles Smith said on the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show. “These guys have been ready to go since last November.

“We didn’t control the line of scrimmage in the first quarter and Stratton took the lead. We just kept believing.”

**

Class 4A/3A

(4A No. 10) Rampart 15, (3A No. 8) Lewis-Palmer 14

(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)

In arguably the most thrilling ending of the night, Rampart was down 14-7 with about two minutes to go. And L-P had the ball. A blocked punt resulted in a touchdown and the Rams didn’t hesitate to go for two. The 2-point conversion was successful and the Rams now move to 2-0 on the season.

“That Lewis-Palmer team is so dang good,” coach Rob Royer told Kevin Shaffer on the Scoreboard Show. “They run that veer really well and our kids were super physical tonight and held them [off].”

**

Class 2A

(2) TCA 28, (4) Eaton 14

The Titans grabbed a two-touchdown lead and were able to sit on it the rest of the way. Eaton showed a bit of a spark on a long touchdown pass from Connor Davey to ax Blaskowski to get to within a touchdown of TCA in the third quarter.

The Titans turned around and once again made it a two-score game and held on to get the win.

**

Notes:

Bad night for No. 1 teams

In all, four teams ranked No. 1 in their respective classification’s football rankings were in action on Friday night. Those teams went a combined 0-4. Cherry Creek (5A) and Mancos (8-man) lost to out of state opponents, Delta (2A) got edged out by 3A’s Palisade and 6-man’s Stratton fell to No. 2 Cheyenne Wells.

Coronado snaps losing streak

Sept. 24, 2021 feels like a lifetime ago to anyone wearing a Coronado football uniform. But no more. The Cougars got a 25-20 win over Colorado Springs District 11 rival Palmer at Garry Berry Stadium. The Cougars’ last win came on Sept. 24 2021 against Liberty. This win snaps a 25-game losing streak.

“Our quarterback put some balls on the money to our wideouts,” Coronado coach Robert LeBoeuf told Kevin Shaffer on the Scoreboard Show. “It was a complete team effort by our program.”

Big showing from ranked 4A teams

The top teams in 4A looked dominant in their Week 1 games. No. 3 Montrose beat Greeley West 47-6, No. 4 Pueblo West beat Pueblo County 41-0, No. 5 Heritage beat Severance 40-21 and No. 7 Mesa Ridge rolled to a 48-0 win over Air Academy.