Football: CCSD teams split in week 3
Cherry Creek School District football teams went 3-3 in their matchups last week.
Smoky Hill 42, Overland 12 – The Wagon Wheel Game – At the Stutler Bowl
The 41st edition of the Wagon Wheel Game last on Sept. 8 saw the Buffaloes (1-2) hold on to the prize for the fifth straight year. First-year Head Coach Brandon Alconcel’s charges scored 28 first-half points on the way to the Buffs' first win of the season. Smoky was led by senior quarterback Tyliq Bowers, who scored four rushing touchdowns. Sophomore John Bass and junior Kaiden McElhiney also got into the end zone for the Buffaloes. The Trailblazers (1-2) got touchdowns from sophomore Jarrius Ward and senior Komari Owens. Owens returned a Smoky kick-off 90 yards for the score. Up next, Overland is on the road on Sept. 15 to take on Heritage at Littleton Public Schools Stadium and Smoky Hill heads to Monument and Don Brees Stadium on Sept. 16 to take on Palmer Ridge.
Columbine 35, Cherokee Trail 7 – At Jefferson County Stadium
Earlier on Thursday afternoon, Cherokee Trail faced 5th-ranked Columbine at Jefferson County Stadium. The contest saw a scoreless first quarter, but the host Rebels scored 21 second quarter points and 14 more in the second half to defeat the Cougars 35-7. CT’s only score came late in the game as sophomore Eliot Ming connected with senior Noah Greer for the touchdown. Up next, Cherokee Trail hosts Fort Collins on Sept. 16 at Legacy Stadium.
Eaglecrest 18, Highlands Ranch 15 – At Legacy Stadium
In the final game last Thursday, the Eaglecrest Raptors stayed unbeaten with an 18-15 victory over visiting Highlands Ranch at Legacy Stadium. Even though the Raptors were outgained in total offense by the Falcons (260 yds. to 217 yds.), Head Coach Mike Schmitt’s club came away with the victory. EHS senior Jacob Schmitt passed to junior Logan Ryan for an 18-yard touchdown and senior Diego Cearns got into the end zone from five yards out – both in the first quarter of play – to take a 12-0 lead. HRHS came back with scores in the second and fourth quarters to take a 15-12 lead with four minutes left in the contest. But senior Peyton Taylor answered with a 78-yard kick-off return for the touchdown and the Raptor defense shut down the Falcons late, keeping EHS undefeated. Next Friday, the Raptors are on the road to French Field in Fort Collins to take on Rocky Mountain.
Cherry Creek 28, Chatfield 5 – At the Stutler Bowl
The Cherry Creek Bruins bounced back from a loss out of state on Sept. 3 with a 28-5 win over visiting Chatfield last Friday night. A steady, misty rain fell with temperatures in the 60s throughout the contest, which saw the Bruins improve to 2-1 on the campaign. Senior Bubba Tann ran for scores of 5 and 73 yards in the victory. On Sept. 16, the Bruins will be back at the Stutler Bowl for a Homecoming tilt with Arvada West.
Ralston Valley 33, Grandview 21 – At Legacy Stadium
The last game of the weekend saw the Grandview Wolves take their first loss of the season at the hands of the Ralston Valley Mustangs last Friday night at Legacy Stadium. The Wolves found themselves down 20-0 after one quarter of play. Grandview scored 14 second quarter points as junior Liam Szarka ran for a touchdown and passed for another and the Wolves were back in the game trailing 20-14 at the break. Szarka connected with senior Simon Kibbee for the go-ahead score late in the third, but that closed out the scoring for the Wolves, who fell to 2-1 on the season. Next, GHS is on the road to Grand Junction and Lincoln Park Stocker Stadium to take on Fruita Monument on Sept. 15.
Cross Country: Cherokee Trail and Cherry Creek do well at invitational
The Liberty Bell Invitational took place at Heritage High School last Saturday. 90-plus teams competed 
in six divisions. Five Cherry Creek School District clubs participated.
The Cherokee Trail boys team took top honors in the elite Sweepstakes division, with Cougar senior Hunter Strand taking 2nd in the 5,000 Meter Run Final. CT junior Brady Smith finished 16th and senior Reuben Holness finished 25th. Grandview took 15th in the Sweepstakes team standings.
In the Division 1 event, Cherry Creek took second overall in the team standings, while Grandview finished 11th overall. Bruins junior Daniel Hruska took the top spot in the Division 1 5,000 Meter Run, while sophomore Alex Gilbert finished 12th and senior Vole Spring finished 24th.
On the girls’ side, Cherry Creek took first overall in the Sweepstakes team standings, while Cherokee Trail finished 15th. Bruins senior Addison Price took third overall in the Sweepstakes 5,000 Meter Run final, with freshman Emily Cohen finishing 10th and junior Kinley Wolfe 21st. CT senior Mckenna Mazeski took 18th.
Field Hockey: Smoky Hill snaps a streak of futility
The Smoky Hill field hockey team made history last Tuesday night at the Stutler Bowl. The Buffaloes won their first game since 2016 (a stretch of 75 games) with a 1-0 shutout of the Poudre Valley School District team. Sophomore Darian Smith’s early third quarter goal was the difference in the contest. Head Coach Lisa Griffiths said the evening was special.
“It was a great win,” she said. “I was pretty excited, but the girls, it was like they won a national championship. They’re a group of kids that just don’t give up, and when they went 1-up, they knew they could hold that lead by just continuing to play hard and they did,” she added.
The Smoky defense had a special night as well. Junior goaltender Meghan Bird didn’t even come into contact with the ball.
“They (Poudre) didn’t get any goals. I will say - while technically a shutout, Meg did not touch the ball, and that’s actually the first game she’s played in high school where she hasn’t touched the ball, which was a big achievement,” Coach Griffiths said.
Congratulations to the Smoky Hill field hockey team!
Softball: District clubs battle within the conference this week
Softball teams from the Cherry Creek School District were busy last week. Grandview (5-6 overall) went 4-3, including a 12-0 shutout win over Smoky Hill in the Wolves' first league contest. GHS also went 3-2 in the Dave Sanders Memorial Softball Tournament hosted by Columbine and Lakewood last weekend. Wet weather delayed the start of Saturday's games, but participants got all their games in. The Wolves finished the tourney with a win over conference rival Eaglecrest 6-4.
The Raptors (6-5 overall) got their first conference win over Arapahoe in a 5-4 decision in 8 innings last Wednesday. Eaglecrest then went 2-3 in the Dave Sanders Tourney, losing to Grandview on Saturday.
The Cherry Creek Bruins went 1-1 last week, falling to Bear Creek 12-4 in extra innings and defeating Mullen 19-6 in the Bruins’ first league game.
Cherokee Trail and Smoky Hill each went 1-1 last week. The Cougars (6-3 overall) got a 9-2 win over Ralston Valley last Thursday, and the Buffs (4-7 overall) lost their first league game to Grandview last Wednesday, and defeated Dakota Ridge 15-5 on Thursday.
Play in the 4A/5A Centennial League gets into full swing this week.
Posted 9/12/2022.
