NoCo Nine: Windsor, Wellington rivalry wins and Pawlak's 4 scores lead week's best in local sports

This week's edition of NoCo Nine is starting to sense the postseason approaching.

That's true for boys golf and tennis, at least.

This past week featured some awesome scenes, from a quintessential "Friday Night Lights" experience in Wellington to a classic local volleyball showdown and a star turn from Fossil football.

Here's a look at the best in Fort Collins-area high school sports moments over the past week:

Note: If you have nominations for future NoCo Nine editions, please send them via email to ChrisAbshire@coloradoan.com for consideration.

Wellington wins Boxelder Cup rivalry

We have to start here, because what a scene it was in Wellington.

The Eagles hosted rival Timnath with the Boxelder Cup on the line in Colorado's Game of the Week. It was practically a rout from the beginning.

Wellington ran for 469 yards (210 and three TDs from QB Tanner Gray), got a pick six from Tyler Shaffer and moved to 4-0 with a 50-14 win in front of 3,000-plus fans.

Windsor volleyball wins 5-set classic

This early-season, cross-classification showdown lived up to the billing, with Windsor pulling out a tight five-set match.

The teams traded easy game wins, but the fifth was an instant class that the Wizards won 15-13. They're now 11-1 and No. 1 in CHSAA's Class 4A seeding index, sitting in great shape to get back to the state title match after a runner-up finish last season.

Colton Pawlak stars again vs. Windsor

What a way for Fossil Ridge to get its first win of the season — and new coach Chris Tedford's tenure. The SaberCats survived Windsor's close-game magic in a 35-30 win, and it took a star performance.

Junior running back Coltown Pawlak ran for 197 yards and a whopping four touchdowns, including a 77-yard TD on the game's second play that set the tone.

Combined with his breakout game vs. Windsor last season, Pawlak has accounted for 543 total yards and nine TDs in two games against the Wizards.

Fort Collins, Rocky Mountain get local wins

We're just getting into the meat of soccer season this fall, but two local teams got some big wins in local matchups last week.

Fort Collins (3-1-2) went on the road to a game Windsor squad and got a 3-2 win, led by goals from Noah Tiley, Guy Curtis and Ethan Arabasz.

Rocky Mountain (2-1-1) also went east of I-25 and had a prolific offensive day, beating Severance 4-1.

Fossil Ridge, Poudre roll on the diamond

After a slow start, Fossil Ridge is really getting things rolling on the diamond.

The SaberCats have won six in a row, highlighted by a 7-5 win over then-5A No. 1 Erie and a 12-0 rout of Mountain View last week.

Poudre is also on a two-game winning streak, including a 12-8 shootout win over local foe Loveland last week, led by Sienna Duran's three-RBI game.

Highlights from a busy race weekend

Here are some highlights from a busy weekend for local cross-country teams:

• Poudre's Leah McDonald won the girls race at the Andy Meyers Invitational in Greeley with a time of 18 minutes and 1.60 seconds. The Fort Collins girls also finished second as a team.

• Timnath's Izzy Schimmelpfennig took runner-up honors in the 2A/3A girls race at the St. Vrain Invitational in Longmont. Teammate Addison Geraets placed fifth, and Liberty Common's Ella Howe took fourth.

• The Liberty Common boys placed second in the team standings, while the Heritage Christian girls finished third.

• Three Fossil runners had top-10 finishes in the St. Vrain 4A/5A race. Carter Brazelton posted eighth place in the boys race, while Tatum Berg finished eighth and Mia Williams took 10th in a stacked girls field.

Fossil Ridge golf wins FRL title

It's been another strong season for the defending Colorado 5A boys golf champions.

Fossil Ridge won the Front Range League conference title last week at Coal Creek, firing a team score of 303. It wasn't the only accolade, as Austin Barry and Landon Houska also earned first-team all-FRL honors for their performance this season.

The SaberCats head into regionals this week before defending their state championship in two weeks at Collindale Golf Course.

Windsor softball surging again

The Wizards have a powerful offense and it showed up again with a couple 13-run outbursts last week.

Most impressive was a 13-7 win over Mead, which ended Windsor's season in the 4A state tournament last year. The win made it double-revenge, since the Wizards also beat Mead 11-9 to open the season.

They followed it up with a 13-1 win over local rival Severance on Saturday. Windsor is 12-3 and rated third in CHSAA's 4A softball seeding index.

Games of the Week

It's another busy week as we hit the midway point for large team sports and the postseason for boys golf and tennis.

• Golf regionals (Tuesday-Thursday): The Fort Collins city teams plus Windsor and Timnath are competing in regionals this week, determining which players and teams qualify for the state tournament.

• Front Range League tennis championships (Tuesday-Wednesday): Fossil Ridge will be the favorite here as all four city teams compete for an FRL title at Loveland High School.

• Mead at Windsor boys soccer (Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.): This will be a tough test for Windsor to open league play, as the Mavericks are 5-1 and among the 4A top 10.

• Fossil Ridge at Rocky Mountain softball (Saturday, 10 a.m.): This is the biggest city rivalry game of the softball season. The SaberCats enter the week on a 6-game winning streak, while the Lobos are 10-3-1 with four straight wins by at least five runs.

Editor's note: This story has a correction. Poudre's Sienna Duran had a three-RBI game. Duran's first name was spelled incorrectly in a previous version of this story.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado high school sports: Best Fort Collins performances for Sept. 10-16