4A state football preview: Pueblo South, Pine Creek taking in title game appearance differently
DENVER — Pine Creek coach Todd Miller is no stranger to Tuesday’s gathering at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
Four days ahead of the Class 4A football state championship game, Miller sat in the Denver Broncos’ postgame press conference area and answered questions about his team’s advancement in the tournament. This is the fourth time in the last four years he’s done it.
For Pueblo South coach Ryan Goddard, the experience was brand new. Not just for him, but for everyone involving his program. The Colts have never won a state football championship. They haven’t even played in a state title game.
So prior to Tuesday’s press conference, Goddard made sure to tell his team to soak in the experience of being at Mile High as much as possible.
They toured the facility. They walked on to the field and they snapped as many pictures as they could either before their phones ran out of storage or it was time to move inside.
“I think they took full advantage of that opportunity,” Goddard said.
The Colts need to get the novelty out of the way. Come Saturday, the only thing that matters is what they do on the football field for 48 minutes. Miller’s Eagles have the benefit of knowing the feeling that comes with playing on the same field that have been navigated by the likes of Peyton Manning, Von Miller and Demaryius Thomas.
The three-time state championship winning coach knows that a fresh team like the Colts might be able to ride the energy wave that comes with playing in the game, but at the end of the day it’s no different than any of the 13 games that both teams have played this season.
“I don’t about the psychology of all that, but at the end, it’s football,” Miller said. “When the ball is kicked off, everything goes out door. All that focus and energy that you’ve wasted comes down to four quarters of football.”
And what a four quarters of football it is set to be. South boasts one of the state’s most potent offenses. He has a quarterback in Zach Cozzolino that can distribute the ball to any of the playmakers on the field.
And Cozzolino knows this game means more to just those at Pueblo South. The Colts are playing this game for the entire Pueblo community, who will have no problem rallying and traveling up to Mile High.
“It his us when we walked into school and heard it on the announcements, the congratulations,” Cozzolino said. “Now that we’re here, it’s a really cool experience.”
“We’re representing more than our program, more than our school,” Goddard said. “A lot of people have reached out this week.”
For Pine Creek to come away with their fourth title in five years, their opportunistic defense will have to find a way to make plays.
In their win over Rampart in the quarterfinals, they lacked a spark until Xavier Hill was able to recover a fumble and return it for a touchdown. From that point on, Pine Creek controlled that game.
Those are the kinds of plays that Pine Creek will need to slow down Cozzolino and company.
“Practice makes perfect,” Hill said. “We’re not going to be perfect this game, but we’re going to be deep in film and making sure that we’re prepared.”
And if Pine Creek has been one thing over the course of their last three games at Mile High, it’s prepared. Even though they’ve had plenty of turnover since even last year, this is a team that comes into every game knowing exactly what the game plan is and how to execute it.
In doing so, the Eagles have not given up many points since postseason play has begun.
“What have you given up, seven total points?” Goddard asked Miller during the press session.
And he’s done it with a young group on both sides of the ball. Miller pointed out that the turnover from last year’s team has left him with a good chunk of underclassmen that have seen time this year.
But Pine Creek underclassmen have a habit of looking far more seasoned than might actually be.
“(Miller) says they play 10 sophomores, but looking at film I can’t see that,” Goddard added. “They look full of experience.”
Among those sophomores is running back David Moore III. The featured back ran for 211 yards against Pueblo West in the semifinals and 155 against Rampart in the quarterfinals.
Moore was a big piece of Pine Creek’s state championship in 2016 and is among those who know what the expectations are when the ball is kicked off on Saturday.
He doesn’t need to rush for 200 and score three touchdowns. He just needs to do what he can to help his team win the game.
“They work hard and the expectations have set by the guys that were here before them,” Miller said. “We put the team first and not individual accolades.”
The Eagles and Colts will go after that one final team goal at Sports Authority Field Saturday morning. Kick-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. The game will be streamed live on the NFHS Network.
