Sand Creek’s best season in decades is ending with the Scorpions missing the Class 4A state playoffs — and from home.
The Scorpions went 9-1 and finished 12th in the 4A seeding and selection index, which under normal circumstances would’ve been more than enough to make the 24-team playoff bracket. But because of a unique CHSAA rule, Sand Creek, along with two other teams in its league — Cheyenne Mountain (16th in the index) and Centaurus (20th) — are not eligible for the postseason.
In Sand Creek’s 4A I-25 League, only the conference champion can make the playoffs, regardless of RPI seeding. It’s one of just two CHSAA leagues set up this way, along with the 5A Metro North.
The reason for this rule is because those leagues were formed as rebuilding leagues, filled with programs struggling both with numbers and competitiveness. CHSAA football commissioner John Sullivan expressed sympathy for the affected teams.
“I feel awful for those three schools,” Sullivan said. “When you look at the 5A Metro North and how that worked out, that was kind of the intent with these leagues. For example, a school like Westminster goes 8-2, wins the league, and they get into the playoffs as the 24th seed. Then none of the other schools from that league qualify. That was the thought process — that if you’re playing all schools in your league that may be struggling, it could potentially inflate your RPI values.”
However, Cheyenne Mountain football coach Jay Saravis pointed out that CHSAA might not have anticipated recent improvements.
“I don’t think CHSAA or the football committee expected that four of us in the I-25 league would get pretty darn good,” Saravis said.
Sand Creek, led by star junior running back Ethan Mangrum, has improved significantly, going 16-4 over the past two years under coach Eric Mitchell. This is notable, considering the program had not had a winning season (excluding the 2021 spring season) since 2013.
Similarly, fellow Colorado Springs school Cheyenne Mountain has also turned its program around, posting a 15-5 record over the past two seasons. Centaurus’ trajectory is also trending upward, and back-to-back league champion Grand Junction is headed to the playoffs for a second straight season after winning just five games total over the previous four seasons.
Grand Junction’s resurgence has been helped by about a 50% increase in football participation since 2021. This influx can be partly attributed to increased enrollment following the Mesa County Valley School District 51’s redrawing of high school boundary lines.
Despite missing the playoffs, Mitchell doesn’t blame CHSAA for Sand Creek’s situation after the Scorpions lost to Grand Junction in the regular-season finale — the de facto league title game — 56-13 last week. Grand Junction finished 13th in the index and will host Highlands Ranch in a first-round playoff game on Friday.
Before the current two-year CHSAA cycle, each participating school in the 5A Metro North and 4A I-25 leagues agreed to join the rebuilding leagues with the understanding that only the league champion would make the playoffs. This rule is part of the football bulletin created by the football committee, which is then approved annually by CHSAA’s Legislative Council, where any member can object.
“We knew coming in we had to be league champs, and we didn’t get the job done,” Mitchell said. “It’s just one of those deals where we plan on building off this season. There’s truly no disappointment on my end. We just want to see continued growth in our program, and we saw that this year. We expect more next year with many key players returning, including Mangrum, who was the classification’s leading rusher with 2,001 yards.”
Football leagues designed to group programs trying to find their footing have been part of CHSAA since 2018, when the Class 5A Metro 10 debuted. That 10-team league was allowed one automatic qualifier — the league champion — with the possibility of a second at-large bid as determined by the seeding committee.
In 2021, two six-team rebuilding leagues in 4A and 5A were introduced, with only the league champion eligible to earn a playoff bid.
Mitchell, Saravis, and Grand Junction coach Landon McKee all said that joining the rebuilding league and accepting the playoff limitations was the right move for their programs.
Saravis described his coaching approach at Cheyenne Mountain: “When we get to Week 6, I tell my players, ‘Welcome to the playoffs,’ because it’s basically a survive-and-advance mentality from there.”
“This league was a good opportunity for Sand Creek to get back on track,” Mitchell added.
Looking ahead to the next two-year CHSAA cycle beginning in 2026, Sullivan noted that there will no longer be any one-bid playoff leagues. The football committee is meeting soon to start organizing leagues for that cycle, with the goal of creating leagues that are more competitively balanced.
Colorado high school football has witnessed what Sullivan described as “an inordinate number of blowouts and running clocks” in league play this year.
“For those leagues without top teams in them, we’re not going to put stipulations on how many teams can make the playoffs,” Sullivan said. “That was planned to go away prior to this season’s situation with Sand Creek in 4A.”
As the landscape of Colorado high school football evolves, the focus remains on competitive balance and opportunity for programs to grow and succeed.
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/11/03/sand-creek-football-chsaa-rpi-playoffs/
