4A South Metro: Valor Christian, Rock Canyon set to start league play

Valor Christian is more than ready, but Rock Canyon has grown quickly in the five weeks of non-conference football.

In Class 4A South Metro action, Valor Christian High School football plays host to Rock Canyon at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at Valor Stadium in Highlands Ranch. Valor put up a 52-0 final over Pueblo South in Week 5 to remain undefeated at 5-0. The Jaguars went 4-1 last week over Pueblo West with a 41-6 win at home and walking into the Eagles’ home with a four-game win streak.

“RC was able to come out confident and aggressive versus Pueblo West,” Jags coach Tom Lynch said. “We had a real good feel for what we would see and it was dead-on. We didn’t catch the ball particularly well early in game but found our groove as the game progressed.

“Solid effort all the way around by Jaguars.”

This week against Valor, the defending 4A state champion, may be the team’s biggest challenge in the league, with the exception of the also undefeated Sabercats of Castle View.

“Whoa, nellie. Valor. Big. Fast. Strong. Very athletic and confident as they should be,” Lynch said. “What a challenge. RC is planning to just focus on what we do well and compete at top level like we try to do every week.”

Both teams average almost equal rushing yards and the Jaguars average almost 90 yards more in their pass game. Canyon averages just over 38 points per game and Valor averages a little more than 40.

For the Jags, Eric Williams is obviously the kid to try and stop since he rushes for 190 yards a game and is most frequently in the end zone. Quarterback Chris Sauer puts up 190 in passing yards.

The Eagles’ rush leader is Christian McCaffrey who averages about 80 per game. When he has played quarterback, Wes Tabor averages 114 yards passing.

On defense, Williams is also the Jaguars’ leading tackler, and A.J. Isenburg is the same for the Eagles. Both average about the same amount of hits per game and with the usual help can bring down a run game in convincing fashion.

This South Metro match-up is going to be won at the line of scrimmage. Linemen for both team will want to hit the gym this week, cause there’s a lot of power and confidence on both sides of the ball up front.