Wild Friday night sees No. 1 football teams lose in 5A, 4A and 3A
It was not a good night to play at the top.
The No. 1 teams in CHSAANow.com’s football polls for classes 5A, 4A and 3A all lost on Friday night. ThunderRidge, top-ranked in 5A, lost to No. 9 Regis Jesuit 35-12. Monarch, atop 4A, lost to No. 2 Montrose in a wild game, 39-34. And 3A Silver Creek was taken down 31-28 on a last-second field goal from Frederick.
“They believed in themselves and were able to play as one unit and we were able to come up with a big win,” Frederick coach Thad Lear told ColoradoPreps.com’s Built Ford Tough Scoreboard Show on Friday night.
Frederick trailed 14-0 in its game but was able to cut things to 14-7 before the half. Then, the Warriors scored on their first possession in the second half to make it 14-13.
“We missed the PAT, but the kids were excited, they believed in one another and they never let up,” Lear told the Scoreboard Show. “They never stopped.”
Frederick would eventually take a 28-21 lead before Silver Creek tied things at 28-all with 1:28 remaining. That set the stage for one more drive — and the game-winning 30-yard field goal from sophomore Dalton Nelson.
“They tried a pooch kick and we were able to get the ball on the 30, and we decided to run the ball a few times to see where we could get it to,” Lear told the Scoreboard Show. “We got a first down and completed a couple of short passes, and we had a couple of timeouts. … I think it ended up being a 30-yard field goal and we were excited to have the opportunity.
“I can’t say enough about our kids, and our kicker, he stepped in. He’s a sophomore, first year playing football, and he kicked the game-winner.”
Likewise, Montrose had to dig its way out of a hole, this one 21-0 to top-ranked Monarch midway through the second quarter.
The Indians clawed their way back to 21-18 with 2:16 to play in the third, but Monarch responded with a quick touchdown which made it 28-18.
Montrose had an answer of its own, and cut things to 28-25 before recovering an onside kick and scoring again. At that point, it was 32-28 Indians and 8:30 remained in the game.
Monarch marched down and regained the lead at 34-32 with 3:47 to go, but it was short-lived. Montrose countered with a scoring drive, and took the lead at 39-34. Monarch had one final drive, but fell just short deep in Montrose territory. Read a full recap of the game here.
Regis Jesuit’s upset of ThunderRidge in 5A was a different story. The Raiders led from the outset and were up 28-0 at the half.
ThunderRidge got within 28-6 in the third, but Regis put things out of reach on Jalen Williams’ five-yard run with 11 minutes remaining. Find photos from the game here.
It wasn’t all bad for No. 1 teams on Friday night. Top-ranked Brush beat University in 2A, 56-13; 8-man’s Hoehne handled Manzanola 55-8; and 6-man’s Liberty/Stratton beat Cheraw 74-6. Buena Vista, No. 1 in 1A, plays Salida on Saturday.
In other top-10 action, 5A No. 7 Fairview beat No. 4 Ralston Valley 43-18; 4A No. 6 Montbello beat No. 5 Wheat Ridge 20-0; 2A No. 5 Manitou Springs beat No. 4 Florence 26-14; and 1A No. 4 Hotchkiss beat No. 3 Cedaredge. Find a complete top-10 scoreboard here.
