So many top-flight schoolboy football games in Week 4, so little time or space to detail them.
I will waste no more:
Today
* Mullen, ranked No. 2 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, will be at No. 6 Cherry Creek in the Centennial. Anyone who follows the level is well aware of the rivalry, including the Bruins, who have dropped six of their past seven games to the Mustangs by an average of more than 22 points.
* Boulder and Fairview will meet for the 44th time, a 5A Centennial matchup at fun and fabled Christian Recht Field.
* No. 2 Loveland, which didn’t play a game until Week 2, is cruising at 2-0 and will be at Broomfield in the 4A Northern.
* Yes, sir! No. 5 Dakota Ridge versus No. 2 Ralston Valley means high-end play in the 4A Mountain Plains.
Friday
* Smoky Hill, coming off a victory in its Centennial opener for the first time in 17 years, next gets district and league rival Overland, No. 8 in 5A, and probably ornery after fading late last week against Cherry Creek.
* It’s quite possible 2007’s first game in the obscure 5A Denver Prep/Southwest will prove to be the best matchup. East and No. 9 Thomas Jefferson enter with a combined seven nonleague victories, four by the ranked Spartans.
* Good news. The first of the big games in the top-heavy 5A South Metro is here – No. 10 Pomona at No. 5 Bear Creek.
* Add up their records and it’s a .500 mark through three weeks, but bet that the stands will be filled at J. Ray French Field for the 5A Front League affair between Fort Collins and Poudre.
* Trust me, defending 4A champion and No. 7 Wheat Ridge hosting top-ranked ThunderRidge in the Mountain Plains is well worth your time.
* New Aurora versus old Aurora, or No. 10 Cherokee Trail against Aurora Central, in the 4A Skyline.
* Defending 3A champion Alamosa will roll into town with a sweet 16-game winning streak. Mean Moose will be spotted at Englewood in the nonleague game.
* Play hooky from school or work and get to a 2A Colorado game between No. 5 Platte Canyon at Kent Denver (3:30 p.m. kickoff) in Cherry Hills Village, where the current seasonal change on its grounds is as beautiful as any in or near Denver.
* One of those great Colorado Friday nights in mid-September, lots of fans in a small-town setting and smashmouth football. … that would involve No. 7 Wray at top-ranked and defending state champion Akron in the 1A North Central.
* Two-time defending 6-man champion Idalia, back at the top of the rankings, has a 25-game victory streak in in-state play and will be at Deer Trail in the East Central.
Saturday
* No. 3 Douglas County, winner of 27 of its past 30 games, will be at Rangeview in the 5A Continental.
* At a relatively quiet and usually workmanlike 3-0, defending 5A champion and top-ranked Columbine – No. 24 in the country, according to the National Prep Poll – hosts Lewis-Palmer in the 5A South Metro.
* 8-man’s Plains Division, a standard in the class, will have No. 3 Sedgwick County at No. 5 Dayspring Christian.
