With all the head-scratching about the first of two years of realignment for Class 5A football — such as schools in specific leagues only for football, teams joining leagues and playing out of their areas, and minimal shift in enrollment cutoff from 4A — at least one group used its imagination when coming up with a name.
Say hello to the Big 8 League, formerly the South Metro (which didn’t work), a contingent primarily composed of Jefferson County, plus Aurora’s Regis, and Westminster.
The latter two schools probably have no business heading to the west side of the metropolitan area, but this is Colorado high school football.
At the outset, there’s little question Bear Creek (Zach Thenell) and Columbine (Danny Spond) are the favorites. Both have size, speed and know-how, although in different ways — the Bears like to chuck it, and the Rebels like to pound it on the ground.
Chatfield (Sam Stratton) and Pomona (Donovan Bowens) are the next-best bets, both itching to take either of the Big 8’s top spots.
Arvada West (David Thurston) will be replacing 19 starters. Meanwhile, Lakewood (Connor Eppard) has players weighing at least 200 pounds for the first time since 2006.
Westminster (Matt Edwards), which will temporarily have its lower levels housed at Ranum in a joining of the two schools that will make it one of the largest in the state, is moving up from 4A. And Regis (Jordan Aguilar), late of the Continental, passed on joining the Centennial.
