With 20 football games played on Thursday, the 2021 football season is off and running and the schedule picks up even more speed on Friday and Saturday as the rest of the state also hits the field.  It’s an interesting slate and we’ve developed several storylines to watch as week one unfolds.

  • There’s a mixed classification game between Granada and Wiley on Friday.  The game was scheduled late when both teams lost opening contests when opposing programs could not field a team.  The game will be played under six man rules when Granada has the ball and then switch to eight man guidelines when Wiley is on offense.  It’s an early kickoff at 9:00am on Saturday.
  • With three top 10 matchups on the six man schedule this weekend, we’ll get a good read on if the preseason rankings were accurate.  Plus results will help sort out the early feel of the playoff structure.  Games of note include Stratton-Prairie, Genoa Hugo-Eads and Cheraw-Idalia.
  • Hoehne visits John Mall this evening in a rematch of the Season C championship contest.  The Farmers easily won that contest and will be favored again tonight but both clubs will feature several new faces in key positions on both offense and defense.
  • Two contests pairing returning state semifinalists are on the Friday schedule.  In Class 1A, Wray and Centauri both fell one game short of playing for the title last Fall and it’s the same scenario in Class 3A as Holy Family takes on Pueblo South.
  • There’s a sneaky important game in Class 1A between Wiggins and Highland.  Both clubs have playoff aspirations but may have to go the wildcard route to get there as both play in difficult conferences.  Wiggins faces the likes of Limon, Holyoke and Wray in the North Central and Highland has not been able to get by Strasburg in the North over the past few years.  The winner gets a quality win early on and valuable RPI points.
  • Couple of intra-class games mark the return of former conference rivalries.  On the west side, Palisade meets Rifle.  The Bears, a few years ago, moved down to Class 2A and out of the 3A Western Slope but the two rivals are familiar with one another and have had many great battles over the years.  Strasburg moved from the 2A Patriot and into the 1A ranks six years ago but tonight they get back on the field with former league rival Platte Valley.
  • Unusual to see such matchups in week one but we have rivalry games all over the place on the big school level.  Such games include Ponderosa-Legend, Boulder-Fairview, Smoky Hill-Overland and Prairie View-Brighton.
  • Curious to see how Far Northeast fares against ThunderRidge on Friday.  The Warriors won the Season C championship last May and are headed in the right direction under coach Tony Lindsay.  They get a good test against the Grizzlies on opening night.
  • Over the past decade, Pine Creek has been the standard bearing program in Class 4A.  They’ve won four state championships in that stretch and always seem to reach at least the semifinal round.  But here to start 2021, the Eagles are not included in the preseason Top 10 but that will quickly change if they find a way to get past #8 Pueblo West.
  • Contrasting offensive styles collide when Vista Ridge battles Windsor.  The Wolves threw the ball 221 times in five games last year and ran it just 80.  The Wizards got on the field six times in 2020 with 259 rushing attempts compared to just 31 pass attempts.  Quick scoring favors Vista Ridge; a grind it out game tilts to Windsor.
  • Brush will honor some history tonight as they rename Beetdigger Stadium in honor of longtime coach Larry Mills.  Those festivities will take place before the scheduled game with George Washington.

THURSDAY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Two-time defending six man state champion Fleming extended their winning streak to 22 games as they blanked Arickaree/Woodlin
  • Six-time defending eight man champion Sedgwick County lost for just the third time in seven years as they fell to Nebraska defending champion Dundy County.  The loss also snapped the Cougars 26-game winning streak.
  • Bear Creek rallied from an early 14-0 hole to stun Lakewood and topple the Tigers for the first time in six years
  • Air Academy and Mesa Ridge matched their win total from 2020 with victories on opening night.  The Kadets rolled past Liberty and the Grizzlies nipped Denver South
  • Grandview scored in the final 10 seconds to stun Pomona 30-29.  It’s an early candidate for game of the year.

SCOREBOARD SHOW

Tonight marks the start of year 19 for the Colorado Preps Scoreboard Show.  We’ll take the airwaves at 9:30 and stay with you through 11:00 as we recap the night in football.  We’ll run through all the scores and then visit with several coaches who grab important wins.  Early on this season, our goal is to highlight programs we haven’t in the past so we hope to get many new voices and coaches on the programs.  Hope you can join us.