Name: Mark Robinson
School: Class 5A Lakewood, South Metro League
Record: 1-0 in 2006; 38-44 career
Coaching résumé: Fourteen years on the job, all at Lakewood; assistant from 1993-97; head coach 1998-present
Life lines: Age 38. Native of Topeka, Kan. Graduated from Lakewood High School in 1986. Earned degrees in sociology and business at Northern Colorado, master’s degree in public administration from University of Phoenix.
Back in his day: Fullback and linebacker from 1983-85; all-state by The Denver Post in 1985, when Tigers won the 4A (the state’s largest classification) championship over Cherry Creek, one for the ages – with fewer than three dozen players, Lakewood waxed Colorado’s largest school 47-8; running back at UNC from 1986-90.
What he has done lately: Lakewood’s 18-3 victory over Columbine, ranked No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News preseason poll, Friday night was so unlikely and heartfelt, it’s difficult to know where to begin to describe it.
“Are you kidding me?” Robinson wondered. “I was playing my idol (Columbine coach Andy Lowry) and friend. I look up to him.”
The irony, happenstance and outcome was of considerable interest. It was Lakewood’s first game in the big schools since the 1980s. Lowry, once the coach at Lakewood, never had faced his former team. And the Tigers limited the Rebels to just a field goal, tying the lowest offensive output of a Lowry-coached team since he took over at Columbine in 1994.
In addition, Lakewood, which has made the playoffs only twice since 1992, handled a program that was a three-time state champion the past seven years and a regular playoff challenger.
“We just tried to make sure they didn’t drive us down the field,” Robinson said.
Behind big games from quarterback Lawrence Montoya and linebacker Jared McKay, the Tigers, who have been outmanned in most games since Robinson assumed control of the program (when he inherited an 0-10 program), took advantage of the Rebels’ miscues and showed the spunk that has kept them competitive for years.
Tigers fans were so excited about the victory that a fence, used to separate players from fans, somehow ended up on the ground.
According to Robinson, an eyewitness told a school official that the fence simply fell down.
It was that kind of night, one the Tigers will gladly take.
Note
The Denver Broncos high school coach of the week award, in its 11th year, will have 10 honorees during the regular season. NFL Charities will present a check for $1,000 to the school’s program.
A coach of the year will be announced at the Broncos’ Dec. 31 game against the San Francisco 49ers at Invesco Field at Mile High and receive $2,000. Coaches are selected from a panel consisting of Neil H. Devlin, The Denver Post;
Billy Thompson, the Broncos; Marcia Neville, KCNC-4; and Andy Lindahl, KOA 850 AM.
