AURORA | A breakdown of the 2023 season schedule for the Cherokee Trail football team:
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHEROKEE TRAIL: Coach Justin Jajczyk’s Cougars finished the 2022 regular season with a 4-6 record that was good enough to qualify them for the Class 5A state playoffs in which they lost to Rock Canyon in the opening round. In 2023, Cherokee Trail plays the identical schedule and goes against the same 10 opponents, which finished with a combined 60-54 record and saw seven teams make the 5A postseason (Chatfield, Rocky Mountain, Columbine, Cherry Creek — the state champion — Eaglecrest, Arapahoe and Grandview). The Cougars opened last season with a victory over Chatfield and play host to the Chargers to open the new campaign on Aug. 25. Cherokee Trail gets a chance to take on a Rocky Mountain team it lost to by three points last season in a Aug. 31 road game, while non-league play is rounded out by matchups with Columbine (a 2022 5A quarterfinalist, Sept. 8), Fort Collins (Sept. 14) and Castle View (Sept. 21). Centennial League play opens for the Cougars with a road matchup against three-time defending champion Cherry Creek Sept. 28, followed by a Homecoming contest Oct. 6 against Eaglecrest. League play concludes with two tough matchups against Arapahoe (Oct. 12) and Grandview (Oct. 20) come before an Oct. 26 regular season finale against a Smoky Hill team that it played to an intense five-point victory to end last season.
Cherokee Trail 2023 schedule — Home games all caps (played at Legacy Stadium unless otherwise noted): Friday, Aug. 25 — CHATFIELD, 7 p.m.; Thursday, Aug. 31 — vs. Rocky Mountain at French Field, 7 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 8 — COLUMBINE, 7 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 14 — vs. Fort Collins at French Field, 7 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 21 — at Castle View, 6 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 28 — at Cherry Creek, 7 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 6 — EAGLECREST, 7 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 12 — vs. Arapahoe at Littleton Public Schools Stadium, 7 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 20 — GRANDVIEW, 7 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 26 — SMOKY HILL, 7 p.m.
