Early top-10 Colorado football clashes on tap for September

The excitement of last week – the official start to the 2015 high school football season – is about to ramp up to another level.

Even though 43 teams picked up victories during Zero Week, the first full week of the season will see the rest of the state get things underway.

Four of the seven defending state champions played last weekend, with three of them – Cherry Creek, Pine Creek and Caliche – notching a big first victory on the season. All seven are in action this weekend, with a few marquee matchups highlighting a full slate of games around Colorado.

Here is a look at 10 games that are sure to generate plenty of interest in the month of September:

Class 5A
Friday, Sept. 4: Regis Jesuit (Aurora) at Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village), 7 p.m., Stutler Bowl
The defending 5A state champion Bruins opened play last weekend and were very impressive in a 31-0 blanking of Heritage. Senior Joe Caplis tossed three touchdown passes, while a swarming defense intercepted five passes and tallied 5.5 sacks. The contest with the fourth-ranked Raiders is a rematch of the 2014 quarterfinals, which Creek took 49-21. Regis Jesuit coach Danny Filleman will make his debut with the team after taking over for Mark Nolan.

Friday, Sept. 4: Pomona (Arvada) at Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch), 7 p.m.
Another rematch of a quarterfinal from last season pits No. 3 Pomona against top-ranked and state runner-up Valor Christian. The Eagles were dominant last weekend in a 51-12 rout of Bonneville (Idaho) at home. Six players scored touchdowns, and junior quarterback Dylan McCaffrey looked sharp with three TD passes.
Pomona is looking to prove itself early, with Cherry Creek awaiting the team one week after Valor Christian. A defense that was sophomore-heavy last fall will get an early test from the Eagles.

Class 4A
Friday, Sept. 4: Falcon at Pine Creek (Colorado Springs), 7 p.m., District 20 Stadium
The first of two 4A state semifinal rematches this month pits two teams from the Colorado Springs region. Pine Creek, winners of the past two state titles in the classification, eliminated Falcon 34-14 last November. Like Cherry Creek, the Eagles opened this season with a shutout in resounding fashion, dispatching Pueblo Centennial 45-0. D'andre Toliver rushed for 68 yards and three scores on the night.
Senior Matt Bastian returns for the Falcons after rushing for 1,293 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2014.

Friday, Sept. 18: Longmont at Broomfield, 7 p.m.
The other semifinal rematch sees a pair of rivals tangle after splitting the season set a year ago. Broomfield knocked off Longmont in the regular season, but the Trojans gained a big measure of revenge with a seven-point victory in the semis. Longmont already has a key win under its belt, topping defending 3A champion Pueblo East by 21 points in the opener. Senior Conlan Berger rushed for four touchdowns, part of a 391-yard ground attack.
Broomfield, which opens with Legacy and Windsor, returns a strong defense that includes two players – Noah Dohm and Ryan Mazzola – who each had at least five sacks last fall.

Class 3A
Sept. 4: Brush at Fort Morgan, 7 p.m.
This big cross-classification clash sends defending 2A state champion Brush up against 3A's second-ranked Fort Morgan. First-year coach Reid Kahl, who won two 4A state titles with Wheat Ridge, leads the Beetdiggers. Brush ran the table a year ago on its way to a championship but graduated seven all-state players.
Fort Morgan returns four all-state players from a squad that advanced to the 3A semis before falling to Rifle.

Friday, Sept. 25: Discovery Canyon (Colorado Springs) at Pueblo East, 7 p.m., CSU-Pueblo
Yet another rematch of a 2014 playoff contest, the Thunder and Eagles meet up at the Thunderbowl, home of defending NCAA Division II national champion CSU-Pueblo. Discovery Canyon was undefeated a year ago before being upended by Pueblo East in the 3A state semifinals. The Thunder figure to get a tune-up for Pueblo East by taking on No. 4 Holy Family on Sept. 11.
East, which captured the 3A crown last fall, lost its opener to Longmont last weekend. Four all-state players are back though, including quarterback Daniel Martin, who passed for 221 yards and rushed for 184 more in the loss to the Trojans.

Class 2A
Friday, Sept. 4: Platte Valley (Kersey) at Strasburg, 7 p.m.
A pair of preseason top-five teams meet up in – you guessed it – another postseason rematch. Platte Valley eliminated Strasburg in the 2A quarterfinals before falling to Kent Denver. The Broncos dropped their 2015 opener 15-13 to Resurrection Christian.
Strasburg's loss to Platte Valley was the team's only one of the 2014 season. Junior quarterback Mitchell Martin returns for the Indians.

Class 1A
Saturday, Sept. 19: Resurrection Christian (Loveland) at Platte Canyon (Bailey), 1 p.m.
Fourth-ranked Resurrection Christian and No. 5 Platte Canyon each saw its respective season end to eventual state champion Paonia in the 1A playoffs last season. The Cougars scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to top Platte Valley last weekend, with the defense adding four interceptions.
Platte Canyon returns all-state running back Hank Bode, who rushed for 1,324 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior.

8-man
Friday, Sept. 18: Simla at Akron, 7:30 p.m.
No. 9 Simla was one game away from playing for the 8-man title last fall but couldn't get past eventual champion Caliche. The Cubs graduated quarterback Cody Norris and leading rusher Manuel Galaviz, but junior Jason George rushed for 527 yards and five scores as a sophomore.
Sixth-ranked Akron is in a similar boat after graduating all-around talent Jared Clarkson, who threw for 27 touchdowns and rushed for 18 more a year ago. Darrion Gibbs had more than 500 rushing yards and seven scores as a junior though for the Rams, who lost to Granada in the quarterfinals.

6-Man
Friday, Sept. 4: Arickaree/Woodlin (Anton) at Peetz, 7 p.m.
Defending state champion Arickaree/Woodlin begins its title defense against Peetz in what was nearly the title-game matchup last fall. Peetz fell 52-50 to Eads in the semifinals.
Quarterback Trent Leoffler threw for 13 touchdowns as a junior, but Arickaree/Woodlin graduated Player of the Year Kyle Loeffler, who had 40 rushing touchdowns. Peetz has Jordan Nelson and Cody Wilson back after the pair combined to rush for more than 1,800 yards and scored 36 touchdowns.