Widespread changes as Valor Christian takes over atop 5A football poll
The weekend’s turmoil has bled over into CHSAANow.com’s football polls.
Though, when a total of 17 ranked teams lose in a week — including the No. 1s in classes 5A, 4A and 3A — it’s not hard to see change coming. So, yes, there are new teams atop 5A (Valor Christian), 4A (Montrose) and 3A (Rifle).
But the change didn’t only affect the top. In 5A, where three of the top four teams lost last week, that meant Chatfield, Fairview, Cherokee Trail and Regis Jesuit all made big jumps.
Valor Christian leads the 5A poll for the second time this season. The Eagles are 4-1, but unbeaten against Colorado competition this season, and received 21 of the 24 first-place votes.
Chatfield moved up to No. 2 from No. 5, Fairview went from No. 7 to No. 3 and Cherokee Trail moved into fourth from sixth. Regis Jesuit, which last week knocked off then-No. 1 ThunderRidge, went from No. 9 to No. 5.
ThunderRidge dropped to sixth, and is followed by Grandview and Cherry Creek.
The 5A poll added two new teams this week: No. 9 Pomona and No. 10 Arapahoe.
In 4A, Montrose takes over following its come-from-behind win over then-No. 1 Monarch. The Indians were a unanimous No. 1 pick, getting all 21 first-place votes.
Falcon is No. 2 this week, and Monarch dropped to No. 3. Loveland stayed at No. 4, Montbello moved up one place to round out the top-5.
Pueblo Centennial (No. 9) and Longmont (No. 10) are 4A’s newcomers this week.
Rifle takes over atop the 3A ranking following Silver Creek’s loss to Frederick. New to 3A this week are Mead (No. 7) and D’Evelyn (No. 10).
Brush continued to lead 2A’s poll, which added Bennett at No. 10.
Likewise, Buena Vista remained atop in 1A. That poll added Paonia (No. 8) and Jefferson (No. 9). Jefferson’s addition is especially noteworthy because the Saints were a combined 3-85 from 2004-12.
Complete rankings for all classes are below.
CHSAANow.com Football Polls
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Go to: 5A | 4A | 3A | 2A | 1A | 8-man | 6-man
| Class 5A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Valor Christian (21) | 4-1 | 238 | 2 | W |
| 2 | Chatfield (2) | 5-0 | 189 | 5 | W |
| 3 | Fairview | 4-0 | 181 | 7 | W |
| 4 | Cherokee Trail (1) | 4-1 | 170 | 6 | W |
| 5 | Regis Jesuit | 4-1 | 159 | 9 | W |
| 6 | ThunderRidge | 4-1 | 142 | 1 | L |
| 7 | Grandview | 4-1 | 87 | 8 | W |
| 8 | Cherry Creek | 4-1 | 79 | 10 | W |
| 9 | Pomona | 4-1 | 38 | – | W |
| 10 | Arapahoe | 4-1 | 35 | – | W |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Columbine 31, Ralston Valley 25, Grand Junction 23, Douglas County 16, Legend 6, Mountain Range 6, Doherty 5. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| Columbine (3), Ralston Valley (4). | |||||
| Class 4A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Montrose (21) | 6-0 | 210 | 2 | W |
| 2 | Falcon | 5-0 | 153 | 3 | W |
| 3 | Monarch | 3-1 | 149 | 1 | L |
| 4 | Loveland | 4-0 | 134 | 4 | W |
| 5 | Montbello | 5-0 | 132 | 6 | W |
| 6 | Standley Lake | 5-0 | 102 | 7 | W |
| 7 | Pueblo West | 4-1 | 88 | 9 | W |
| 8 | Pine Creek | 3-2 | 48 | 10 | W |
| 9 | Pueblo Centennial | 5-0 | 35 | – | W |
| 10 | Longmont | 3-1 | 27 | – | W |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Pueblo South 26, Durango 18, Wheat Ridge 12, Broomfield 11, Windsor 5, Denver South 3, Sand Creek 3. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| Wheat Ridge (5), Denver South (8). | |||||
| Class 3A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Rifle (8) | 5-0 | 154 | 2 | W |
| 2 | Palisade (6) | 5-0 | 153 | 3 | W |
| 3 | Coronado (1) | 6-0 | 121 | 5 | W |
| 4 | Silver Creek (1) | 3-1 | 96 | 1 | L |
| 5 | Discovery Canyon | 5-1 | 92 | 8 | W |
| 6 | Holy Family | 3-1 | 89 | 7 | W |
| 7 | Mead | 4-0 | 51 | – | W |
| 8 | Evergreen | 4-1 | 45 | 10 | W |
| 9 | Elizabeth | 3-2 | 33 | 4 | L |
| 10 | D’Evelyn (1) | 5-1 | 26 | – | W |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Lutheran 23, Roosevelt 15, Frederick 14, Erie 7, Eagle Valley 6, Delta 5, Conifer 3, The Classical Academy 2. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| Lutheran (6), Delta (9). | |||||
| Class 2A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Brush (12) | 4-0 | 120 | 1 | W |
| 2 | Kent Denver | 4-1 | 92 | 2 | W |
| 3 | Manitou Springs | 5-0 | 88 | 5 | W |
| 4 | Platte Valley | 3-1 | 85 | 3 | W |
| 5 | Lamar | 5-0 | 78 | 7 | W |
| 6 | Faith Christian | 4-2 | 53 | 8 | W |
| 7 | Strasburg | 4-1 | 46 | 6 | L |
| 8 | Florence | 3-2 | 42 | 4 | L |
| 9 | Denver West | 4-1 | 12 | 9 | L |
| 10 | Bennett | 3-2 | 11 | – | W |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Eaton 9, Olathe 7, University 7, Aspen 5, Gunnison 2, Bayfield 1. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| Aspen (10). | |||||
| Class 1A | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Buena Vista (12) | 5-0 | 161 | 1 | W |
| 2 | Limon (4) | 5-0 | 142 | 2 | W |
| 3 | Hotchkiss | 4-1 | 123 | 4 | W |
| 4 | Centauri | 4-1 | 113 | 5 | W |
| 5 | Wiggins | 4-0 | 80 | 7 | W |
| 6 | Monte Vista | 4-1 | 75 | 8 | W |
| 7 | Cedaredge | 3-2 | 61 | 3 | L |
| 8 | Paonia | 4-1 | 37 | – | W |
| 9 | Jefferson (1) | 6-0 | 31 | – | W |
| 10 | Meeker | 5-0 | 30 | 10 | W |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Holyoke 27, Lyons 20, Crowley County 16, Wray 6, Cornerstone Christian 5, Resurrection Christian 5, Rye 3, Center 1. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| Holyoke (6), Wray (9). | |||||
| 8-man | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Hoehne (6) | 5-0 | 78 | 1 | W |
| 2 | Dayspring Christian (2) | 5-0 | 73 | 2 | W |
| 3 | Caliche | 5-0 | 53 | 3 | W |
| 4 | Akron | 4-1 | 51 | 5 | W |
| 5 | Simla | 5-0 | 50 | 6 | W |
| 6 | Norwood | 4-1 | 45 | 4 | W |
| 7 | Kiowa | 5-1 | 27 | 7 | W |
| 8 | Granada | 4-1 | 21 | 8 | W |
| 9 | McClave | 4-1 | 19 | 9 | W |
| 10 | Dove Creek | 4-1 | 11 | 10 | Bye |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Fowler 8, Sargent 4, Soroco 1. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| None. | |||||
| 6-man | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Liberty/Stratton (8) | 5-0 | 44 | 1 | W |
| 2 | Hi-Plains (1) | 5-0 | 31 | 2 | W |
| 3 | Arickaree | 5-0 | 25 | 3 | W |
| 4 | Briggsdale | 4-0 | 20 | 4 | W |
| 5 | Eads | 4-1 | 15 | 5 | W |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| None. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| None. | |||||
