It was a very busy weekend for teams on the Western Slope and our Colorado Preps Weekly series recaps almost every game in quite a few sports. The report is published each Tuesday.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FRUITA MONUMENT HIGH SCHOOL
Football
Vail Christian handed Sanford its first loss of the season. The defeat knocked Sanford from the top ranking to fourth in the poll.
Rangely picked up its first win of the season, topping Plateau Valley 42-14.
Senior quarterback Keihlin Myers completed 10 of 16 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Justin Kudo and Marstan Wagner had the receiving touchdowns, while Myers, Zane Varner and Timothy Scoggins scored on the ground.
North Fork remained undefeated and moved up one spot in the 1A poll after beating Grand Valley 49-7.
The Miners were led by Mordecai White, who tallied 18 carries, 125 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Drayden Taylor scored twice on the ground and completed 4 of 5 passing attempts. Blaine Peebles cracked the end zone once through the air and once on the ground, and Hunter Moreno added an additional rushing score.
On the Cardinals’ end, quarterback Steven Hicks did a bit of everything. The junior quarterback totaled 13 carries, 116 yards and a rushing touchdown, and added 7-of-11 passing for 69 yards. Additionally, he was Grand Valley’s leading tackler, compiling seven tackles, two for lost yardage.
Meeker lost a close battle with Buena Vista 17-14. Holding a 14-7 lead heading into the fourth, the Cowboys surrendered 10 points in the final frame.
Still, it was another big day for Kelton Turner. The senior rushed for 215 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. He has 545 yards rushing, good enough for second in the classification. His eight touchdowns ranks fifth.
Cedaredge fell 32-6 to Monte Vista, with the Bruins’ lone score coming on an 8-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ty Walck to freshman receiver Brady Cooper.
Olathe lost its fifth straight game, falling 51-8 to Gunnison.
Moffat County hammered Kennedy 51-15 behind a huge rushing day from Evan Atkin. The junior rushed 30 times for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Ryan Peck completed half of his 14 pass attempts and connected on two touchdowns.
Coal Ridge was defeated by Limon 55-7.
Steamboat Springs used a last-second field goal to secure a 20-17 win over Aspen on homecoming. Charlie Reisman knocked through a 34-yard try in the final minutes and an interception by Beck Vanderbosch put the game away.
Palisade cruised to a 42-21 victory over Conifer, powered by five rushing touchdowns from quarterback Malakhi Espinosa. The junior rushed 12 times for 130 yards and added a single completion for 27 yards through the air. Gerardo Marquez had an 83-yard touchdown via kickoff return.
Glenwood Springs lost to Basalt 34-14. Quarterback Jaoquin Sandoval scored once through the air and once on the ground.
Summit savaged Middle Park 40-7, aided by a three-touchdown day from quarterback Jack Schierholz.
Sophomore Wyatt Sharpe rushed for two touchdowns to lead Fruita Monument to a 14-7 victory over Grand Junction Central in a defensive slugfest. The Wildcats defense also stopped Central’s last drive at the one yard line with under a minute remaining in the game.
Sharpe compiled 102 yards on 22 carries, providing the bulk of the offense for the Wildcats.
Central responded with a standout day from junior Santana Martinez, who scored the Warriors’ only touchdown and reached 105 yards on 20 carries.
Montrose continued to march through Western Slope opponents with a 54-7 win over Grand Junction.
The Indians’ defense held the Tigers to just 39 yards in the first half.
VOLLEYBALL
Fruita Monument completed a sweep of ranked foe Montrose last week.
The Wildcats were paced in attack by four seniors. Jillian Buck led the way with 11 kills, BayLea Sparks had nine, Chloe Hagee finished with seven and Hayden Murray added six. Fruita also limited errors across all facets of their game, with only nine attack errors, three service errors and five dig errors.
Grand Junction Central picked up sweeps over Basalt and Grand Junction.
Rifle moved to 8-3 with wins over Gunnison and Moffat County.
The Bears dropped the first set against Gunnison but followed with three consecutive set victories to close out the match.
Kimber Lang finished with 15 kills and Brooke Allen had 10. Kristyn Mentink had a match-high 32 assists. Rifle swept Moffat County, again paced by Lang, Allen and Mentink.
Grand Valley snapped a three-match skid with a 3-1 win over Gunnison.
Linkin McCormick had 10 kills and Katie Ray added nine. Abbey Parker had 34 digs.
Top-ranked Meeker continued its domination with sweeps of Vail Christian and Hayden.
Against the Saints, it was Emma Luce who once again led the Cowboys’ attack. The junior had 21 kills, six aces, 19 digs and three blocks, all team-highs.
Luce also controlled the match versus Hayden, finishing with 18 kills and 10 digs. Sarah Kracht had five aces, the largest portion of Meeker’s 17 aces.
Olathe won a nail-biter against Plateau Valley 3-2. All but one set was separated by four points or fewer. Tyra Gray had 11 kills for the Pirates, while Daisey Ibarra had nine. Ibarra, along with Angelina Bollinger, finished with nine blocks apiece.
Caprock Academy topped Ridgway in five sets to snap a six-game skid. The Eagles were led by Clara Keddy, who had a team-high eight kills. Niah Klein chipped in seven aces, while Paige Moore and Hailey Moore each had five blocks.
SOFTBALL
No. 8 Grand Junction Central finished 3-1 at the Southwestern Classic in Grand Junction, securing wins over Green Mountain, Castle View and Conifer before falling to Horizon, which is ranked No. 2 in 5A.
Fruita Monument secured a 9-0 win over Green Mountain at the same tournament.
Rifle pushed its winning streak to four games with a doubleheader sweep of Montrose. The Bears won 12-2 and 17-5, aided by spurts of offensive. Rifle scored four runs or more in six of the 12 available innings.
Despite a tough nonleague schedule, Meeker moved to 6-0 in 3A Western Slope League play, pushing their season record to 6-7.
The latest wins were a sweep of Gunnison, courtesy of 12-9 and 7-4 victories.
BOYS SOCCER
Coal Ridge bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 3-1 win over Glenwood Springs and 2-0 victory over rival Rifle.
The Titans now sit at No. 5 in the 3A rankings.
Roaring Fork moved to 6-1 after a 3-2 cross-classification win over Palisade.
J.R. Mercado scored twice for the Rams and Giancarlo Perez Rios found the net once.
Glenwood Springs topped Grand Junction 3-2 in overtime, aided by goals from Ben Swanson, Eric Cordero and Dylan Nolan.
Grand Junction Central finish 2-1 last week with a lopsided loss to Durango, then wins Pagosa Springs and Montezuma-Cortez.
The Warriors topped Pagosa Springs 1-0 in overtime, with Adrian Soto Mendoza scoring the deciding goal.
Central then hammered Montezuma-Cortez 6-0, where Alfonso Banuelas scored four times. Hiusef Miranda had three assists.
