HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
The 2A State Playoffs begin this Saturday and the Grand Valley Cardinals earned the 5th seed and a home game. The Cardinals will host Middle Park in Parachute at 1 o’clock. Basalt will be on the road to battle 4th seeded Florence and number 15 Aspen will head northeast to take on the number 2 Eaton Reds.
3A FOOTBALL
The Rifle Bears clinched the Western Slope Championship with last Friday night’s hard fought 21-nothing win over the Delta Panthers and Palisade’s 35-7 win over Eagle Valley. Rifle will close out the regular season this Friday night against Eagle Valley. The Glenwood Demons took a final bow before the home fans with an impressive 48 to 3 victory over the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers. Junior running back Henry Hill gained 123 yards on 15 carries to put him over 1,000 yards for the season. Junior quarterback Travis Lundin was an efficient 6 of 10 passing for 97 yards and 3 touchdowns that included a 46 yard scoring strike to the electrifying Auston Tribble. Tribble also had a 49 yard punt return for a TD. The Demons close out the season this Friday night in Edwards against the last place Battle Mountain Huskies.
3A VOLLEYBALL
The Roaring Fork Lady Rams took three out of four matches at this past weekend’s league tournament at Grand Junction Central High School. The Lady Rams await the state tournament bracket to be released today. Grand Valley and Coal Ridge both went 2 and 2 at the tournament while the Rifle Lady Bears were 1 and 3.
HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER PLAYOFFS
The Coal Ridge Titans knocked off Denver Collegiate on Friday and on Saturday beat Telluride to advance to the elite round of 8. The Titans will battle Frontier Academy this Friday afternoon at 1. Roaring Fork lost to the Classical Academy in round 2 while in the same round, Basalt fell to number 8 Faith Christian.
NFL/Denver Broncos
Peyton Manning threw for 305 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Broncos to a dominant 35-14 win over Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. The Broncos are now in first place in the AFC West and travel to Cincinnati next Sunday to take on the Bengals.
Elsewhere in sports…
DETROIT (AP) – Marco Scutaro (SKOO’-tah-row) delivered what proved to be the game-winning run with a two-out RBI single in the top of the 10th inning and San Francisco held on for a 4-3 victory in Detroit, completing a four-game World Series sweep of the Tigers. It is the Giants’ second championship in three years and seventh overall for a franchise that won five titles as the New York Giants.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The Falcons are 7-0 for the first time in franchise history and remain the lone unbeaten team in the NFL. Matt Ryan threw touchdown passes on Atlanta’s first three possessions of a convincing 30-17 road victory over the Philadelphia Eagles and new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – You shouldn’t expect tonight’s NFL matchup in the Valley of the Sun between 4-3 Arizona and 5-2 San Francisco to be a high-scoring affair. The 49ers have the No. 1 defense in the league while the Cardinals sit at No. 7 in the rankings.
UNDATED (AP) – Alabama and Kansas State are one-two in the latest BCS standings. Notre Dame moves up to No. 3, ahead of Oregon. Alabama and Oregon are one-two in the AP poll, followed by Kansas State and Notre Dame.
ZHENGZHOU, China (AP) – Rory McIlroy shot a 5-under-par 67 and beat Tiger Woods by a stroke today in China. It’s the first time golf’s two biggest names have paired for a one-on-one exhibition match and Woods says he hopes it helps spur their budding rivalry.
