Notebook: Cheyenne Mountain's Vander Ploeg likes similarity of Northern Arizona

Janae Vander Ploeg likes Colorado. The Cheyenne Mountain three-sport athlete expects to live the rest of her life here after college.

It’s one of the reasons she verbally committed to play volleyball at Northern Arizona.

“It still looks like Colorado,” Vander Ploeg said. “There are trees everywhere, a lot of nature.”

Vander Ploeg verbally committed in April and went for her official visit over the weekend. She stayed in the dorms and got to better know her future teammates. They agreed with her about Flagstaff’s similarity to Colorado after a recent trip to Air Force.

“They said Colorado is like Flagstaff, but a little bigger,” Vander Ploeg said. “I like the small-town aspect of Northern Arizona, as well.”

Vander Ploeg, who said she expects to play basketball and soccer for the Indians in her senior season, was in talks with several other schools. Among those showing interest were Denver, Rhode Island, Stephen F. Austin and Coastal Carolina. But the Lumberjacks, who were the first to offer a scholarship, won out.

“When I went on my official visit this weekend there, I stayed in the dorms,” she said. “It was like I could see myself there next year, and I was excited to be in that environment.”

Quick start

It’s been a while since the Doherty boys’ soccer team made the playoffs. After losing at least 13 seniors from last season’s squad, Spartans coach Jon Shub wasn’t sure what to expect.

“You definitely are worried when you lose that many players and that many starters,” Shub said.

The worry has vanished quickly. Doherty was off to a 4-1 start before Wednesday’s 5A Metro League opener against Rampart.

“You always hope you’re going to have a great run throughout the season, and you hope the ball is going to bounce your way,” Shub said “We’ve been fortunate enough that the ball has bounced our way a lot so far.”

The Spartans need to finish in the top three in league to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

“None of these kids have been to playoffs,” Shub said. “That’s one of the biggest goals is to do that, to show that, hey, we’ve been borderline the past few years. Now’s the time to take a step forward.”

Offense need not apply

Mesa Ridge’s Grizzlies didn’t get much scoring from their offense last week. They didn’t need to. And the offense didn’t get much chance to.

Mesa Ridge scored five touchdowns, only one via offense, on Friday in a 35-21 win over Legend.

The Grizzlies scored on the opening kickoff, a blocked punt, two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a 52-yard run by Devante Johnson. They managed 135 yards of total offense, yet Grizzlies coach Rob Braaten said that doesn’t tell the story.

“(The offense) never got a chance,” Braaten said. “We kept scoring on defense. There was a stretch of about 25 plays where the offense didn’t touch the field.”

With the defense on for so long, the Grizzlies tried to adjust.

“Even though they were tired they were still having a good time,” Braaten said. “We tried like crazy to keep subbing kids in and out. They got tired physically and they got mentally tired. It was taxing. Legend was grinding the ball. It was a weird game.

“I don’t think (a team I’ve coached) has ever scored four nontraditional touchdowns.”

Where are they now?

Palmer alumnus Dominic Rufran is making an impression at Wyoming.

The true freshman has played in all three Cowboys’ games, helping the team go unbeaten so far.

Rufran caught his first collegiate touchdown in Wyoming’s win Sept. 17 against Bowling Green. His touchdown put the Cowboys ahead 28-14, and they held on to win 28-27.

Rufran is averaging 14.1 yards per catch and has the team’s longest reception, a 49-yard catch against Texas State on Sept. 10.

The Cowboys get a big test Saturday when No. 9 Nebraska (3-0) visits Laramie.