By now everyone probably knows the slogan for a certain package delivery company: What can Brown do for you?
At Limon, though, the catchphrase certainly has to go something like this: What can’t Brown do for the Badgers?
The question refers to Limon senior Matt Brown, who has been all-everything for the Badgers during his four-year career and particularly this school cycle.
In football this past fall, the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder was voted as the MaxPreps Class A Player of the Year by the state’s coaches after passing for 1,435 yards and 16 TDs and rushing for 1,018 yards and 20 scores at quarterback. Defensively, he collected 79 tackles and five interceptions as a linebacker. Brown also won the Denver Post’s Gold Helmet Award as the state’s top student-athlete for football, and he will continue his football career at the Colorado School of Mines.
After the recently completed basketball season, Brown was selected to the Class 2A MaxPreps Starting Five by state coaches. He averaged 19.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.8 steals and 2.5 steals for the Badgers.
If form holds true, Brown will receive similar recognition in baseball. Brown, no doubt, opened some eyes this past week when he notched 19 strikeouts in a complete-game 11-4 victory against Burlington on April 2. He yielded six hits and walked only two in the contest.
“It was great to watch Matt throw Friday,” Limon coach Les Layton said. “He has been working hard to get to the point of throwing 5-7 innings in a game, and it was cold and windy, which made it even tougher to throw strikes. But we have grown to expect a lot of strikeouts from him, and he is always ready to pitch whenever we need him.”
On the season, Brown has gone 4-1 (the loss coming to 3A Strasburg) and has struck out 43 in 19 innings while posting a 0.875 ERA. Offensively, he is batting .500 with two homers, eight RBI and five stolen bases. Limon overall is 6-1. The past three years Brown served as the Badgers’ catcher when he wasn’t on the mound, but this season has moved out to shortstop. He also hopes to play baseball at Mines.
“Matt means a lot to all the sports programs,” said Layton, noting that Brown also runs track during the spring. “It has been great to watch him and his teammates grow from little kids having fun playing all the sports, to now having success at the high school level. Matt is one of the best athletes to come out of Limon, which is saying a lot because we have had some really successful athletes through the years.”
Limon, ranked No. 5 by MaxPreps in 2A, will be at No. 2 Rocky Ford on Tuesday.
Diamond notes: Mountain View (Loveland) pitchers also racked up strikeouts at an impressive rate last week, as Derek Neeper fanned 16 in a 2-0 win against Broomfield on April 1, while teammate Nick Miller punched out 13 in another 2-0 victory against Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins) on April 3. Miller had earned the save against Broomfield by recording the final out by strikeout, of course . . . Eaton has won 43 consecutive games, the latest a 24-5 victory against Bennett. The Reds, 6-0 and ranked second in the state overall by MaxPreps, have outscored their opponents 83-20 this season . . . Three-time defending Class 5A champion Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins)continued to show well outside the state’s boundaries. The Lobos placed second in the prestigious Big League Dugout tournament in Arizona, losing 7-6 in the final to Hamilton from Chandler, Ariz. Rocky Mountain went 3-2 in the event. "It was a great week for us, no question," Lobos coach Scott Bullock told the Fort Collins Coloradoan. "To be right in there against a great team like Chandler Hamilton says something, but it's a tough (loss). We really wanted to win this tournament."
Top games this week: Class 5A – No. 10 Highlands Ranch at 4A No. 6 Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch)(Wednesday). Class 4A – No. 7 Mountain View at No. 3 Fort Morgan (Saturday). Class 3A - No. 4 Holy Family (Broomfield) at No. 7 University (Wednesday), No. 10 Weld Central (Keenesburg) at University (Saturday).
Girls lacrosse
Reaching the Summit: The season might only be six games old, but it’s not too early to recognize the Summit girls lacrosse team. The Tigers went 6-10 last year, but have stormed to a 5-1 record to this point behind the play of senior Bri Barto. Barto has tallied a team-leading 19 goals and five assists to pace a Summit offense that has scored 81 goals overall. Last week Barto scored six goals in a 20-4 win against Mountain Range and followed that with six more in a 15-5 victory over Durango.
Top games this week (MaxPreps rankings): No. 8 Colorado Academy (Denver) at No. 10 Thompson Valley (Loveland) (Wednesday), No. 7 Columbine (Littleton) at No. 9 Golden (Thursday), No. 4 Kent Denver (Englewood) at No. 3 Denver East (Friday).
Also, in boys lacrosse this week: No. 5 Chatfield (Littleton) at No. 7 Fort Collins (Tuesday), No. 1 Arapahoe at No. 3 Mullen (Denver) (Wednesday), No. 9 Wheat Ridge at No. 4 Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) (Wednesday).
Girls soccer
Make room on the schedule: Forgive Mesa Ridge (Colorado Springs) junior Isha Sumah if she wishes her Grizzlies scheduled Sierra (Colorado Springs) more often. In an 8-0 Class 4A Colorado Springs Metro League girls soccer victory on April 1 against the Stallions, Sumah tallied two goals and five assists. Previously in a season-opening win against Sierra at the Mesa Ridge Tournament, Sumah racked up two goals and three assists. Sumah has seven goals and nine assists on the season.
Top games this week (Denver Post rankings): Class 5A – No. 5 Air Academy (US Air Force Academy) at No. 6 Pine Creek (Colorado Springs) (Wednesday), No. 8 Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins) at No. 9 Poudre (Fort Collins) (Thursday), No. 4 Arapahoe at Pine Creek (Colorado Springs) (Friday). Class 4A – No. 1 Wheat Ridge at No. 8 Golden (Tuesday). Class 3A – No. 3 Classical Academy (Colorado Springs) at No. 1 St. Mary's Academy (Englewood) (Tuesday), No. 6 Peak to Peak (Lafayette) at No. 2 Faith Christian (Arvada) (Wednesday), Peak to Peak (Lafayette) at St. Mary's Academy (Englewood) (Saturday).
ETC.
Coaching carousel in full swing: It was a busy week for coaching news around the state, as several programs made changes in their respective programs.
On the basketball front, Bayfield girls basketball coach Stephanie Dennison resigned after leading the Wolverines program for the past four years, while Poudre (Fort Collins) boys basketball coach Jeff Schelly stepped down for family reasons. He went 102-62 in seven seasons. In addition, Poudre volleyball coach Lisa McDanel also resigned.
On the football field, Ryan Goddard was selected the new coach at Pueblo South. An assistant for the Colts the past seven seasons, Goddard takes over for Mark Haering, who resigned to become a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin.
Also, former Grand Junction Central football assistant Brandon Milholland will take over the program at Cedaredge. He will be the Bruins’ third head coach in as many seasons.
“He’s a classy guy who knows football,” Cedaredge athletic director Randy Brown told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “He fits into our puzzle for what we want in the classroom and on the football field.”
Gerry Valerio is the former high school sports editor of the Rocky Mountain News and has covered preps for more than 20 years. Send news and notes to gerry.valerio@gmail.com. Also, follow Valerio on Twitter for Colorado high school sports updates.
