Colorado High School Football Power Rankings: Week 9

Tim’s Take: An awesome come from behind victory for the Bruins last week against a good Eaglcrest team helps them keep the number one spot in 5A. However, there is no rest for Cherry Creek as they follow it up with a tough game against 7-1 Cherokee Trail.

Tim’s Take: Columbine jumps up a spot in my poll and here is why. They took down a very very good Ralston Valley team 29-14. They held Ralston Valley to 21 total yards rushing while running for 336 yards on 47 carries. This Columbine team is for real!

Tim’s Take: I had to drop Valor this week and this is by no means a punishment for Valor Christian, it was simply a reward for Columbine having played such a tough opponent and beating them soundly. Valor had Mountain Vista and took them down in a big way. This week they face off with #4 ThunderRidge.

Tim’s Take: ThunderRidge like Valor above was not tested this week. They took down Rock Canyon 52-7 and have a huge matchup waiting for them this Thursday. This game will go to tell us a ton about this ThunderRidge team.

Tim’s Take: I have been far too hard on Pomona this year. A team that took Number 1 Cherry Creek to overtime and played Number 3, Valor Christian, tight should not be discredited. They have been rolling these past few weeks and deserve to be in the top five.

Justin’s Take: Cherry Creek had to overcome a slow start and a 13 point deficit to Eaglecrest in a game that most thought would be a shootout. That was not the case at all as both squads showed off championship level defenses.

Justin’s Take: Dominant performance for the Eagles on both sides of the ball.  Defense wins championships and Valor might have the best defense in the state having only allowed 4 scores on the entire year.  Seven points is the most that they have allowed in a single game. This unit may be the best we have seen over the last few years.

Justin’s Take: The Rebels were in control from the start, dominating on the ground like only Columbine can. Compiling 336 yards on 47 carries, Columbine beat up on a very good Ralston Valley defense.

Justin’s Take: Tough loss for Eaglecrest, leading 13-0 at halftime the Raptors will be kicking themselves this week letting hated rival Cherry Creek off the hook.  Good chance these to meet again in the playoffs and I look forward to another classic!

Justin’s Take: Very efficient game from Grandview quarterback Jacob Burr (8-12, 167 yds, 4 TD) and another big night from Jordan Billingsley (163 yds rushing, 2 TDs). Grandview has always been known for its defense, if this offense can continue to improve they will be a handful come playoff time.

Joe’s Take: See below for rundown.

Joe’s Take: See below for rundown.

Joe’s Take: See below for rundown.

Joe’s Take: See below for rundown.

Joe’s Take: See below for rundown.

This week in 5A I think it makes sense to talk about the top 5 teams as a whole, as I see a clear separation in true contenders and pretenders. My top 5 stayed the same because I truly believe those are the 5 best teams in the state.  This week we have Valor playing a good ThunderRidge team.  If this is a close game I will give Thunder Ridge the respect they deserve, however I think I will be sitting here unsurprised that they get beat by 14 points. Eaglecrest lost to the best team in the state but would beat Pomona, I will keep them where they are.

Tim’s Take: Loveland continues to roll as they beat Fort Collins 49-7 this week. They have a struggling Silver Creek up next and the worry would be, will they be tested the re

Tim’s Take: Pine Creek is back on the gridiron and in typical Eagle form. They rolled Mesa Ridge 49-7, Junior Quarterback Gavin Herberg ended with 201 yards and two touchdowns along with 35 yards on the ground. This team is rolling!

Tim’s Take:  I debated moving Montrose up this week. However, the truth of the matter is they have one tough 4A win so far on their schedule and that was Heritage. They have beat who is in front of them and I am excited to see them match up with Ponderosa in two weeks.

Tim’s Take: Broomfield with a 53-14 domination of Mountain View leads perfectly into what could be the game of the week as they take on Number 5 Greeley West.

Tim’s Take: Greeley West handled their end of the bargain and took care of Brighton 48-17. They get ready to take on Number 4 Broomfield this week.

Justin’s Take: Win 49-7 over Ft. Collins. Not a lot of excitement in the 4A classification this week as 9 of the teams in the top 10 were involved in blowouts!  All 10 teams win their games and only Longmont found themselves in a competitive game. Just look at all of these scores!

Justin’s Take: Win 49-7 over Mesa Ridge

Justin’s Take: Win 53-14 over Mountain View

Justin’s Take: Win 44-14 over Denver South

Justin’s Take: 48-16 over Brighton

Joe’s Take: Week in and week out this team proves to be legit. They have a good running back Weinmaster putting together a nice little senior campaign.

Joe’s Take: Pine Creek beat down on Mesa Ridge it was never close. Gavin is playing well and leading this team, I like them going into the playoffs.

Joe’s Take: Montrose has beat a couple good teams in my opinion, but have a couple tough games on the back end to prove they really belong.

Joe’s Take: Easy win for Broomfield last week, but luckily they have a good matchup this week. We will see how real Broomfield is after this game.

Joe’s Take: If Ponderosa continues to win I will keep them here. I see there two losses as two wins against middle pack 4A teams. And Coach Cohen is the real deal.

Tim’s Take: Palmer Ridge is back rolling after a 42-7 Victory over Littleton. The truth is we will find out a lot about the Bears this week as they take on Thomas Jefferson in their first tough test since Pueblo East.

Tim’s Take: Erie just keeps on winning, however this week it was against good ol Niwot. Some Niowt trivia for you is the last time Niwot had a winning record according to MaxPreps was 2008 under Ron Tesone.

Tim’s Take: Harrison like Erie above just keeps on winning, however, they just can’t seem to find a tough team to play. Harrison should be rolling come playoff time.

Tim’s Take: I almost moved Discovery Canyon up this week as they took down an undefeated Thomas Jefferson, with that being said they will have a matchup in the last game of the season against Palmer Ridge which will tell us a lot about both teams.

Tim’s Take: How about them Warriors? Frederick traveled to Holy Family and took them down 41-23 which is big news in Class 3A. How good can this Frederick team be? Only time will tell.

Justin’s Take: This team has been on cruise control for the last few weeks, completely dominating in all phases of the game.  This weeks victim was Niwot, crushing the Cougars 45-3. My favorite time of the week is looking up Noah Roper’s stats and laughing at the absurdity! This week, 6 carries 175 yards for an average rush of 29.2 ypc!!!  

Justin’s Take: This team is beginning to remind everyone why they were the consensus favorite to repeat as state champions. Palmer Ridge is supremely talented and are just now starting to act that way. This team has finally put last years success behind them and have realized that it will take an even greater effort this year to repeat. A motivated Palmer Ridge team is scary!

Justin’s Take: The offense for Harrison has really woken up the past two weeks scoring 110 points! Hard not to point at Orlando Westbrook, the senior quarterback has been playing well all year but has really taken his play to another level! This week he was 8-10 for 216 yards and two TD’s threw the air with 126 yards on the ground on 7 carries with another 2 TD’s!  He will need to maintain this level through the playoffs in order for Harrison to compete with the big boys in front of them.

Justin’s Take: In the battle of the unbeatens it was the Thunder that remain, defeating Thomas Jefferson 39-22. I have to admit that I have not been giving this team the credit it has deserved, that all changes now that they have beaten a really good Trojans team.

Justin’s Take:  Palisade reenters the top 5 after TJ falls to #6. Palisade followed their game plan to perfection as they were able to wear down Glenwood springs during a close first half.  Following the break the Bulldogs put up 21 unanswered points to finish the game 42-14.

Joe’s Take: Nothing is going to change for this team. They only way they lose is if they beat themselves.

Joe’s Take: We know where I stand with this team. They’re a good football team with tons of talent. I am anxious to see them play a better team than they have been seeing.

Joe’s Take: A statement win for this team this year humbling Thomas Jefferson. I still think TJ is a good team this year and Discovery Canyon is legit. Excited to see them play another good team late in the season.

Joe’s Take: I had my doubts about this team but they are proving me wrong. I like that they let there best player touch the ball every play, that is never a bad thing.

Joe’s Take: Palisade has one loss to Montrose who is proving to be as good as anyone is 4A. I move them up because some other teams lost, however they might prove to have deserved a top 5 spot all season if they make a playoff run.