The Pine Creek football team is two-thirds of the way through the gauntlet, and so far, it's so good for the Eagles.
Ranked No. 3 in Class 4A,
Pine Creek (Colorado Springs) is amidst a stretch of three consecutive games against 5A foes and has escaped 2-0 (the Eagles are 3-0 overall). The Eagles defeated Rampart 41-0 on Sept. 10 and walloped Palmer 35-20 on Saturday (Palmer tacked on a few late touchdowns in the one-sided affair).
Now, the degree of difficulty increases as the Eagles face crosstown Colorado Springs rival
Fountain-Fort Carson (Fountain) on Friday night. The Trojans (3-0) have more than doubled up their opponents this season, posting an 85-37 scoring margin.
Pine Creek coach Todd Miller, 51-10 all time with the Eagles, believes it could be a final-possession type of game and said in his team's weekly newsletter that "this is what high school football is all about."
2. The blanking continues for Mullen: The
Mullen (Denver) football team, top-ranked in Colorado and No. 9 in the nation, continued its perfect season on defense. The Mustangs shut out Cherokee Trail 29-0 on Friday and have outscored their first three opponents by an 88-0 tally.
The Mustangs haven't done it against the dregs of the classification, either. Mullen's first two victims, Chaparral and Grandview, are Top 10 teams.
3. Ossello runs wild: Wheat Ridge quarterback
Nick Ossello keyed an insanely potent second half for 4A No. 1 Wheat Ridge, as the Farmers turned a 31-28 halftime deficit to Longmont into a 62-37 laugher. Ossello ran for 236 yards and five touchdowns on only 12 carries and also threw a touchdown pass to
Luke Yontz.
"We were all a little rattled going into halftime," Ossello said. "It was a big game, very emotional, and we calmed down in the second half and started realizing what we had to do to win."
4. Dakota Ridge softball back on the map: After winning it all in 2001 and remaining fiercely competitive until 2003, the
Dakota Ridge (Littleton) softball team had faded into a pedestrian unit. But the Eagles, still guided by longtime coach Dave Atencio, look to be back.
A 4-3 home win Tuesday against Green Mountain improved Dakota Ridge to 12-1, including a 2-1 start in the powerhouse 5A Jefferson County League.
Breanna Berens hit a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the seventh to win.
"She had been fighting a bit of a slump the past couple of games, but she came up big," Atencio said.
5. Aspen carving niche as comeback team: Two weeks ago, the
Aspen football team overcame a 19-point deficit to defeat Shelley, Idaho's 3A champion last season. This week, the Skiers, ranked No. 2 in 2A, wiped out a 15-point crater against Hotchkiss to survive 29-22.
TOP PERFORMERS• The
Eaglecrest (Centennial) volleyball team won its own Eaglecrest Invitational for the first time since 2006, getting 16 kills and eight digs from outside hitter
Morgan Bohl in a straight-sets sweep of Pine Creek in the title match. Of note, last time the Raptors won their own tournament, they went on to become state champs.
•
Berthoud senior Danielle Wikre ripped two homers and registered five RBIs in the Spartans' 9-1 pasting of Valley, previously top-ranked in 3A softball. Pitcher Victoria Puchino added nine strikeouts in a complete game for the Spartans (10-3), who have yet to lose to a 3A squad.
• A week after his high-powered offense was shut down by Regis,
Arvada West quarterback
Taylor Connors went 16-for-20 with 408 yards and four touchdowns in a 53-16 shellacking of Cherry Creek.
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Columbine (Littleton) running back
Cameron McDondle backed up his 301-yard performance against Rocky Mountain in Week 2 with a 222-yard effort in a 21-0 win against Douglas County. McDondle is averaging 200.3 yards per game and a spellbinding 10.7 yards per carry.
KEY MATCHUPS THIS WEEK•
Fort Collins travels to
Grandview (Aurora) on Thursday night for a meeting of Top 10 powerhouses in 5A football. Grandview is only 1-2 but has played a brutal schedule featuring Valor Christian, Mullen and Bear Creek.
• After a bye week, 4A title hopeful
Broomfield begins Northern League play with a tough road contest at
Loveland on Friday night.
•
Burlington visits
Yuma on Friday to take on the defending-champion Indians in a 1A showdown
RECRUITING NEWSColorado Springs Christian shooting guard
Nate Engesser has committed to the University of Denver. Engesser chose the Pioneers over Brigham Young, San Diego, Liberty, Drake, Bucknell, Air Force, George Mason, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Penn, Idaho State and Jacksonville and others. ... Ossello, the Wheat Ridge quarterback, wore Air Force on his eye-black in the win against Longmont, but said not to read too much into it. He claims he was paying tribute to all the armed forces.
Paul Willis is a regular sports freelancer for The Denver Post and covered high school, college and pro sports for the Rocky Mountain News from 2000-09. You can reach him at gdpdub@aol.com.
