Alamosa, Centauri and Sanford poised to start their seasons

VALLEY — Fall sports are knocking at the door and teams are raring to get things going all with dreams of extending their seasons and experiencing championship glory. Tonight has a slate of three different football games each with their own intrigue.

Sanford at McClave

6 p.m.

These two teams met last year and even opened the season against one another, the result a 58-22 victory for McClave, in which Cardinal Jake Trujillo ran wild for 254 yards and 4 touchdowns. Meanwhile Sanford put all of their 22 points up in the second quarter off three separate rushing touchdowns from Chase Holman, Dalton Gartell and Thad Jackson. Sanford broke even at 3-3 in division play and totaled a 3-6 record while McClave closed out the season 6-4 suffering a shut out loss to Sedgwick County in the playoffs. The Indians will look for similar performances from Dalton Gartrell who was the Indians' leading rusher last year and Chase Holman will look to return from his 19-reception 299-yard season last year. The Cardinals saw Trujillo graduate and may look to Ken Cox to supplant the running game.

Alamosa at Florence

7 p.m.

Alamosa will go on the road today to face the Florence Huskies. These two teams also met last September in a 21-16 contest with Alamosa coming out on top. Ryan Brubacher led the Mean Moose with 3 touchdowns, 2 rushing and 1 passing.  Florence got two touchdowns of their own thanks to Alec Lucero and Michael Zotto. Alamosa will be missing Ryan Brubacher’s services for this season but may look to Angelo Ramirez to wear a few hats in his senior year being that he led Alamosa with 918 yards from scrimmage last year. Florence graduated their playmaker in Alec Lucero, and may look to Dixon Lawson to shoulder the load this year. Alamosa and Florence shared a 5-5 record at last year’s conclusion. Both teams making playoffs while Alamosa fell to third seeded Classical Academy, Florence met their end at the hands of Bayfield

Paonia at Centauri

7 p.m.

The Falcons play their home opener tonight against Paonia. The last time these two teams met it was in 2015.  Paonia took that contest by a score of 48-6. The Eagles’ Taylor Waltors sounded off with 2 rushing and 1 passing touchdown with 194 yards from scrimmage. Nate Anderson connected with Brandon Buhr for Centauri’s lone touchdown.  Both teams would see Buena Vista in the playoffs, Centauri in a first round loss, and Paonia in the State Championship where they would lose 20-27. The following year for the second straight year Paonia lost to the eventual champions falling to second seed Strasburg in the Semifinals. Centauri failed to make post-season. Paonia will be pinning their State Championship hopes on dual-phase threat, Jaden Miller.  Last year Miller accounted for almost 1,100 yards from scrimmage, 8 offensive touchdowns, 45 tackles, 8 sacks and a pick that went to the house.  The Falcons will look to seniors Nate Anderson and Brandon Buhr. Anderson registered a team high 1,410 yards from scrimmage, 5 touchdowns and 18 tackles, And Buhr tallied 451 yards off 33 receptions.