MyMullen

New league for Mullen in '22 and '23

12/6/2021

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director

Changes in 5A for the next 2-year cycle will have Mullen in a loop with Brighton, Horizon, Legacy, Prairie View and Rangeview; no more Jeffco.

Colorado schoolboy football will sport yet another makeover for the next two-year cycle.

And Mullen will be in the middle of the changes.

For the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the Mustangs will be in another new league. They will be in an as-yet-to-be named group in Class 5A with Brighton, Horizon, Legacy, Prairie View and Rangeview, all of which will require considerably longer road trips than if the Mustangs were in the Jefferson County or Centennial leagues, their most-recent and usual designations.

According to coach Jeremy Bennett, who admitted that “geographically, this league doesn’t make a lot of sense,” the Mustangs were the odd team out of the 5A Jefferson County League when 4A Chatfield jumped from 5A.

Plus, he said, “we had some schools coming back up (from a lower class) and they just shuffled everyone around ... that’s just where we were put.”

Originally, Bennett added, officials had dropped the Mustangs from 5A to 4A, but said he inquired and was comfortable competing with big schools even with losing a large senior class.

”I think it gives us an opportunity to play young for a couple of years and I’m OK with that,” he said.

There will be 42 teams among big schools over the next two seasons, seven leagues with six teams in each. Here’s the league breakdown:

League 1

Arvada West, Chatfield, Columbine, Lakewood, Pomona, Ralston Valley.

League 2

Brighton, Horizon, Legacy, Mullen, Prairie View, Rangeview.

League 3

Boulder, Fairview, Fort Collins, Fossil Ridge, Poudre, Rocky Mountain.

League 4

Arapahoe, Cherokee Trail, Cherry Creek, Eaglecrest, Grandview, Smoky Hill.

League 5

Castle View, Highlands Ranch, Mountain Vista, Rock Canyon, ThunderRidge, Valor Christian.