Valor Christian has eight banners in Highlands Ranch and the newest one is old enough to be in middle school. Cherry Creek has the last two, and it is coming down I-25 on Friday night to try to take a third.
That is the Out West Game of the Week, and it is the first time the label has gone to a Colorado game. We widened the footprint this week. The state did not have to wait long for a reason.
The particulars
Cherry Creek of Greenwood Village, our 39th, plays at Valor Christian of Highlands Ranch on Friday at 7:00 PM Mountain, at Valor Christian High School. Valor is home. Its own athletics site, an On3 schedule release and MaxPreps all agree on the direction.
Cherry Creek is 3-0. It opened by surviving Chatfield 28-15 at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, then handled Ralston Valley, the team it beat for last season's Class 5A title, and then needed overtime to get past Legend. Dave Logan is the coach and the Bruins are chasing a third straight championship.
The number that frames the whole night: Colorado Preps reports Cherry Creek has not lost to a school from its own state since the 5A championship game against Columbine on December 2, 2023. Whatever else Friday is, it is a rare invitation.
Valor is 2-1 and the loss travels well
Valor beat Kinkaid of Houston and Faith Lutheran of Las Vegas, then went to California on September 4 and lost 38-22 at Mater Dei.
Read that again with the rest of this week in mind. Mater Dei is our 10th and it is carrying the National Game of the Week card on the same Friday night. Valor went into Santa Ana and lost by 16 to the team the country is watching, which is not the same as losing by 16.
Our movement ladder says a close loss to an elite opponent barely moves a team. Valor is not on our national board, so there was nothing to move. That is a gap in our coverage rather than a verdict on the team, and it is worth saying out loud in the week we start covering the state.
What we are watching
Valor is the name and Cherry Creek is the team, and Friday is the night that sentence either holds or stops being true. If Valor wins, we will have to seat a program that was never on the board, and we would rather say that now than explain it on Monday.
