The Glenwood Springs Demons football team had a short week of practice and have a tough opponent tonight in Palisade.

The Demons, who won their first homecoming game in more than a decade last Friday by a 10-0 margin over Montezuma-Cortez will likely need a similar defensive effort tonight, along with a much higher offensive point total.

The Western Slope Conference kickoff is as 7 p.m. at Stocker Stadium.

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The Palisade Bulldogs enter the game with a 1-1 record in conference (4-2 overall), but their loss was to No. 1-ranked Rifle. The Bulldogs are the only team so far this season to give Rifle a game, pushing the Bears into overtime before falling 34-31.

Also, Palisade is coming off a victory over perennial power Steamboat Springs. And the Bulldogs will put points on the board. Palisade scored over 30 points in five of its six games.

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With three touchdowns in the last three games, quarterback-turned-running back Mike Hoban has supplied much of the offense for the Demons (1-1 WSC, 3-2 overall).

Defensively, Glenwood’s front seven will be busy trying to slow Palisade fullback Travis Bounds. Bounds is fourth in Class 3A with 763 yards on the season. A positive for Glenwood, however, is that he will be running against the Demons’ defensive strength. Linebacker Jeremy Ureche leads what Glenwood coach Craig Denney calls his “front seven.”

The winner of tonight’s game will move into a tie for second place in the WSC.

IN OTHER 3A FOOTBALL ACTION this weekend, Rifle will try to maintain WSC supremacy over the only other team unbeaten in conference. Rifle (2-0, 6-0) faces Moffat County (1-0, 4-1) at 7 p.m. in Rifle.

Moffat’s record is somewhat misleading, however. Moffat County’s only victory over a 3A squad came against Glenwood two weeks ago at home. Its other victories came against 2A teams Cedaredge and Bayfield, and Rawlings, Wyo.

Rifle’s Troy Weiss will try to add to his Class 3A-leading 1,076 rushing yards. He is also averaging 11.7 yards per carry, tops for runners with over 300 yards on the season.

ON THE 2A WSC SCHEDULE for Roaring Fork is another conference unbeaten in Gunnison. The Rams (3-0, 4-1) travel to Gunnison (3-0, 3-2) for a 7:30 p.m. Friday night start at Western State College.

Gunnison has strung together three decisive conference wins, outscoring Basalt, Hotchkiss and Aspen by a combined 116-21, but the three opponents have just one win between them.

Running back Justin Leonard leads the Rams with 630 yards on the season, good for fifth in Class 2A.

The winner is ensured at least a tie for first in the conference. Eagle Valley, also 3-0 (5-0 overall) faces Basalt (1-2, 1-4) Friday in Basalt at 7:30 p.m.

Soccer

The second-place 4A Western Slope League Glenwood soccer team faces the league’s first and third-place teams beginning tonight.

Second-place Glenwood (4-1-1, 7-2-1) kicks off against Battle Mountain (4-2, 7-4) at approximately 6 p.m. tonight at Stubler Memorial Stadium, then travels to league-leading Steamboat Springs (5-1, 7-4) Saturday for its final road game of the regular season.

Glenwood is undefeated against the two teams, beating Battle Mountain on the road 2-0 and edging Steamboat 7-6 in a wild, high-scoring affair at Stubler.

Rifle (3-3-1, 4-6-2), travels to Moffat County for a 1 p.m. contest on Saturday.

In 3A WSL play, Basalt will try to bounce back from its first league loss of the season Saturday in Basalt at 11 a.m.

On Tuesday, Roaring Fork (1-5, 2-8) shocked the Longhorns with a 2-1 victory in Carbondale. No. 7-ranked Basalt (6-1, 8-3) will have its shot at revenge against its neighbor and a chance to atone for the loss.

Volleyball

Glenwood had its toughest stretch of the season last week against the Western Slope League-leading Steamboat Springs and third-place Palisade.

The Demons (5-1, 11-1) came out with a win. This week they play a pair of teams with one win this season between them.

Glenwood hosts Delta (0-7) tonight at approximately 7 p.m. and faces Moffat County (1-5, 1-8) Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

In other 4A action, Rifle (1-6, 1-10) plays host to Steamboat Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

In 3A volleyball play, Roaring Fork travels to Hotchkiss Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and then travels to Gunnison Friday for another 5:30 p.m. tilt.

Cross Country

Rifle, Alpine Christian and Glenwood all compete at the Aspen Invitational cross country meet Saturday at 10 a.m.

Glenwood’s boys team is ranked third in Class 4A and should see the return of top runner Marco Salmen, who ran in last week’s Glenwood Invitational, but not at full speed.

The girls’ competition should be stiff with Aspen ranked No. 1 in 3A and Alpine Christian ranked No. 2.

Softball

The Rifle softball team, currently first in the WSL standings, faces second-place Palisade on the road Friday at 4 p.m.

Rifle enters the game 5-2 (12-6 overall).