Eagle Valley football stays steady in the points chase
So if we’ve got this straight, Eagle Valley football beat Delta, 19-7, on Friday, and its ranking in the wild-card points didn’t move?
The Devils were 11th overall going into last week’s game and are 11th after beating a team that went to the state semifinals last year.
That makes sense.
Discovery Canyon, Evergreen, Lutheran, Roosevelt and Pueblo South all stayed put as the top five in the points. They would be in the state playoffs, regardless, because they lead their assorted conferences. Holy Family, second in the Northern League, hopped over Rifle, the Slope’s current leader.
Delta dropped from ninth to 14th, while Canon City jumped to ninth with a 49-14 win over Mitchell, which is 35th in the rankings. Meanwhile, Eagle Valley, which beat the No. 9 team in the points, stayed at No. 11.
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Let’s try not to shoot the messenger.
Either way, the Devils are the fifth of 10 teams in the playoffs after the conference leaders or eventual conference champions are taken out of the list.
Regardless of wild-card math, Eagle Valley took a huge step toward the playoffs. Seven wins in 10 games all but does it for the 3A playoffs. The Devils are 6-2 with two to go (home for Palisade and at Grand Junction Central).
Conservatively, Eagle Valley gets to seven with a win at Central. Of course, likely no one outside of the Eagle Valley locker room thought that the Devils would beat Delta, so who knows what happens against Palisade in this week’s Ramunno Bowl?
HUSKIES, SAINTS OUTLOOK
The news is not good for Battle Mountain. The Huskies stayed put at 24th. The Huskies are one game (at Coal Ridge on Friday) from winning the 2A Slope North outright, one of the conditions CHSAA laid down for them to make the playoffs, but they’re not getting enough points playing 2A teams.
As an example, the Huskies beat 2A Basalt, which has a 2-6 record. Battle Mountain got 69 points for beating a two-win 2A school. It’s 79 points for beating a two-win 3A school. Hence, no movement in the 3A points rankings. The second condition for the Huskies to make the playoffs is being in the top 16 in the points.
Let’s try not to shoot the messenger.
Eight-man football is the only division in Colorado that doesn’t use wild-card points. It wouldn’t matter for Vail Christian anyway. The Saints (8-0) clinched the Central League and the accompanying berth into the state playoffs. Vail Christian is at West Grand on Friday.
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.
