5A, 4A football finalists prepare for rematches in championship games
DENVER — The finalists in the Class 4A and 5A state football championship games have each met before. Though, they’re quick to tell you, don’t read too much into the rematch.
Pomona and Valor Christian, the 5A finalists, played on Sept. 4, a 28-14 Panthers win. Windsor and Loveland, the 4A finalists, met on Oct. 22, when Windsor won 6-0.
“You get ready, and you go play football. It doesn’t matter who you’re going against,” Loveland coach Wayne McGinn said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Yeah, we know each other pretty well, and that’s going to make it an even better game.”
“The fact that we beat them the first time means nothing this time. We all know that,” added Pomona coach Jay Madden of his team’s matchup. “It does seem like (the game) was two years ago. Literally, it was forever ago.”
McGinn and Windsor coach Chris Jones actually talked about the possibility of a rematch recently.
“We were sitting down having some pizza, and Wayne said, ‘Hey, Chris, wouldn’t it be neat if we met each other in the finals?'” Jones said. “I said, ‘Coach, we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’ve got to win six games — three each.’ Then, at the end of our game last week, they told us you guys were winning, that was the first thing that popped into my head: ‘You told me all about that.'”
Windsor and Loveland both play in the Longs Peak Conference, which produced three of the four semifinalists in 4A. The schools are about 25 minutes apart in the Northern part of the state.
“The advantage of playing each other is, yes, you have film and you can look at tendencies,” Jones said. “The disadvantages, you know, what are each of us going to do to exploit something the other hasn’t seen? So do we want to spend time on something new or just stick to the old? It is neat that we have a common opponent, but it is even better because we have a good relationship.”
Valor Christian and Pomona have played three times in the past two seasons, including a quarterfinal game last season.
“The reason we schedule teams like Valor and Creek, and we played Grandview, and we scrimmaged Cherokee Trail, is to try to toughen our kids up,” Madden said. “Because this is the cream of the crop. If you’re going to be a state champion, you’re going to have to beat Centennial League teams. We know that.”
Pomona led the first matchup 21-0 after the third quarter, and “Frankly,” Sherman said, “they probably deserved to win by more than they did.”
“You can probably look back and say, ‘Oh, I wish I would’ve done that differently,'” Sherman said. “Coach Madden and I were saying earlier that it seems like our game in early September was sure a long time ago. You look back at that game and you see a Pomona team that came into our game and beat us physically, and frankly beat us in all three phases of the game, and deserved to win that game.”
Madden said his players were fired up after that win, which was a Week 1 matchup.
“Because when you beat Valor, that’s a big deal,” Madden said. “How many times does Valor lose in Colorado? Once in a decade, or so? So you celebrate that.”
But, the coach added, “I told them, ‘You know what? If you want to be champions, you’re going to have to beat them again.’ Here we are.”
Coaches talk playing multiple spots
Each of the four coaches were asked if they thought it was important for high school athletes to play multiple sports. And all of them stressed that it was.
McGinn: “I think there’s an advantage. I tell all my players to play as many as you can, because you only get to play them for three years in high school. But they learn how to be competitive in those others sports, they learn how to move. They continue their lifting, yeah, but lifting isn’t everything. You’ve got to be active. I know I was a three-sport athlete, and I just love it. I’m totally for that, and think that’s the only way to go.”
Jones: “I also believe that being involved in another sport, there’s that academic component where these kids are being held accountable to the academic standards of CHSAA and also Windsor High School. … And another thing is, they get to experience different leadership. You can’t all just follow Coach Jones, there are other coaches in our building who have great ideas and great ways to motivate these young men on and off the field. I think you can be exposed to different kinds of leadership so you can pick and choose and mold your own way.”
Sherman: “I think it’s one that’s one of the thing that’s worst about our youth sports culture, is the early push for specialization. I think that’s why you see more student-athletes burn out as they get older. I look out here at our young men and I see a young man that’s a scholarship lacrosse player to the University of Delaware. And I would actually encourage that it’s not just about multiple sports. It’s about multiple activities. We have a young man on our team that’s in the school play. I see many young men travel across the world on mission trips.
“I see some of our coaches who were able to play at the highest level, in the NFL. And none of them woke up everyday and just thought about football and worried about football. They were able to be young men that grew in wisdom and stature in multiple sports and activities. And I think that kids should do that more. But I think, unfortunately, there’s a push from, at times, outside trainers, parents, to specialize earlier.”
Madden: “I agree 100 percent. I look out here at my players I have here, and all of them play more than one sport. And if I could get them to play three, I would. You’re only young once. Life is all about experiences, and experiences is not lifting in the weight room. … (It’s about) basketball practice, or wrestling practice, or track. Obviously, my brother’s a baseball coach, so I love all the other sports. I wish this club sports thing would disappear, but obviously we know it’s not going to.
“With all of the scholarship money out there and everything that everyone thinks you’re going to get by specializing — great athletes are great athletes. You don’t create a great athlete, folks. It doesn’t happen. If you’ve got the talent, you’ve got the talent. Christian [McCaffrey, the Valor graduate who is now a Heisman Trophy candidate at Stanford] played three sports, didn’t he? And he’s probably going to make money playing sports someday. But most people are not. So why not play as many sports as you can while you’re young?”
Notes:
- This will be the 11th time the 4A and 5A football championships have been played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
- Valor Christian will be the designated home team in the 5A game against Pomona. In the 4A game, Windsor will be the designated home team against Loveland. That was based on the coin flips which were released last week.
- Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance of gameday. They can be purchased online via Ticketmaster, or at the Sports Authority Field ticket office, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Long lines are anticipated at the ticket window on gameday.
- The 4A and 5A games will be live on Altitude 2, and also broadcast over the radio on 104.3.
