When Rangeview athletic director Erick Swanson found out that Boulder didn’t have the Raiders on their schedule for Week 5 of the football season as expected, he had to put up a Hail Mary of sorts.
Putting out feelers to replace the game it had expected to play with the Panthers — who instead have Mountain Range on their schedule — Swanson didn’t see much hope in finding a substitute that late for coach Chris Dixon’s team.
But then he got a call from Northridge, a 3A program in Greeley that also needed a game when its scheduled contest against Eagle Valley got canceled. So the schools were able to make it work and the Raiders will travel north for a 6 p.m. contest Saturday on the Grizzlies’ home field.
“It’s better for us to have that game than nothing,” Swanson said. “Now, we have the chance to have a full schedule depending on what happens with the Central game.”
Rangeview comes into the game officially at 2-1 with the resolution of its Week 4 game against Aurora Central still undecided. The Raiders led the Trojans 14-7 early in the fourth quarter when a play spilled onto the sidelines and caused a reaction of fans in the stands that resulted in the suspension of the game.
Northridge is 4-0 thus far, including a 52-0 victory over another Aurora Public Schools program — Gateway — in the opening week of the season.
— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes
