Castle Rock – They say the first one is tough, the second even more difficult.
Jeff Ketron says they’re correct.
The coach at Douglas County is living it. His first-hand experience includes leading the Huskies to the Class 5A Colorado football championship a year ago, their first since the school opened in 1897. In 2006, Douglas County is trying to do it again.
“We can all say this, ‘Until you try to repeat, you have no idea how hard it is,”‘ Ketron said.
It’s a failure to turn two.
A check of big-school annals offers proof: Over the past 50 years, the defending champion has defended seven times – four by Cherry Creek (1982-83, 1990-91 and 1994-96) and Columbine (1999-2000), Fairview (tie in 1978 with Westminster and outright in 1979) and Wheat Ridge (1966-67) have repeated once.
“My hat’s off to (Andy) Lowry and those guys,” Ketron said referring to the Columbine coach and others who have been able to have stay in command of big-school football for consecutive years.
There’s no help button, computer program, energy drink or free trial passes to a light-rail system that ensure the inside track to the 5A championship.
Ketron isn’t fool enough to cry or complain about his team’s situation. The Huskies have won 24 of their past 25 games. On Saturday, they will have a home game in the semifinals against Mullen, 5A’s top seed, undefeated and primarily composed of key figures in 2005’s inaugural game at Invesco Field at Mile High, where Douglas County won the biggest trophy and, by the way, kept Mullen from repeating.
In truth, he said, it’s a different kind of fun.
A year ago, Douglas County lost its opener by a point, then won 13 games in a row to become one of Colorado’s most unlikely champions. They had been 23-38 the previous six years, not a whole lot better the 100 or so before that. If players can still rate as so-called darlings of their towns in today’s 5A football, then the Huskies were as fuzzy in Castle Rock as it gets.
This season, Douglas County (11-1) ran its winning streak to 20 games and is coming off redemption – it beat Mountain Vista, which downed the Huskies in Week 8, in last weekend’s quarterfinals. Two different results were by a combined three points.
The hunter becoming the hunted tends to make it more interesting.
“You see teams playing at another level,” Ketron said.
It’s not as if Castle Rock suddenly turned into Odessa, Texas, although the innocent expectations prior to attaining a first-ever goal differ greatly from the feelings and pressures of attempting to do it again.
Don’t consider Douglas County (11-1) a flash in the pan. It welcomed 14 starters from a year ago, eight on defense, where the first unit has permitted an amazingly stingy five touchdowns. The Huskies tied for the 5A Continental title, were seeded fifth in the new 32-team postseason bracket and have had just about everything thrown their way to stop them from going back-to-back.
“We’ve seen it all,” Ketron said.
Mullen’s all, which includes five Division I-A commitments on offense, is next Saturday, and don’t be fooled by its F’s, as in further fuel from the freshest failure to form fastidious football flags.
Obviously, Mustangs coach Dave Logan said, it’s difficult to win consecutive titles because “there’s tremendous turnover in high school.” A team’s core players predominantly change every year, he said, as “does the personality of your team.”
Logan, whose teams have been in at least the semifinals nine times since his debut in 1993 and didn’t repeat at Arvada West (1998) and Chatfield (2002), said the upcoming round can be the most-confounding for repeat hopers as well as first-timers.
“I’m not so sure it doesn’t hurt more to lose in the final four (than in the final),” he said. “This is the game that if you win, you at least have a chance to play for a championship.”
The Huskies have longed for that chance since last December and it’s here.
“Our kids have handled the whole thing,” Ketron said. “They haven’t been cocky, not boastful and very much like last year, when they were humble.
“They’re learned a great lesson how to handle success in life. It’s hard to teach that to young kids … it’s hard to teach it to an adult.”
Ketron has heard them say that, too.
Staff writer Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
CLASS 5A | SEMIFINALS
(1) Mullen (12-0) at (5) Douglas County (11-1)
It was sweet a year ago, so why not again? No matter if it’s Saturday or next month in the title game, this was must-see. So many of the same important faces have returned – Mullen, the 2005 runner-up, has nearly a regiment of them, notably wide receiver Devin Aguilar, quarterback Clint Brewster, defensive back Nolan Brewster, offensive lineman Shawn Daniels, running back Phil Morelli, linebacker Kyle Theret and tight end Steve Watson; for defending Colorado champion Douglas County, it’s offensive lineman Ethan Adkins, linebacker Luke Diehl and quarterback Keiffer Garton as the leaders. Mullen’s top-rated offense has all but scored at will and in most manners, including on special teams. It averages seven touchdowns per outing and missed more time in the fourth quarter than fans who leave early to avoid traffic. Douglas County’s top-rated defense has a front wall of Nick Hernan, Ian Reither, Marcus Richtel and Mike White, and permitted only 33 playoff points. Conversely, the Huskies know they have to be able to run the ball and test the Mullen defense inside, and throw to keep it loose. “They have as much talent as I’ve seen,” Ketron said of the Mustangs. “And they know how to execute.” Mullen is nationally ranked in multiple polls, and its seniors are working on their third consecutive championship game. The Mustangs also made the semifinals three years ago, losing on the district field at the Huskies’ site. Douglas County, a winner in 24 of its past 25 games and seven in a row in the postseason, is “an outstanding team, certainly capable on offense,” Mullen coach Dave Logan said. “They can run it and they can throw it. And their defense has dominated everybody they’ve played this year. They give up (6.7) points per game and you have to be pretty darn good to have a number like that. That’s the most important for every team, that’s the category, not the yards.”
(2) Fort Collins (12-0) at (6) Columbine (11-1)
No matter what happens, Columbine can’t have this taken away – it will be the Rebels’ first game not against a South Metro League foe, after nine league foes in regular season, three of which they saw again in postseason. “I’ve got a different feeling this morning,” coach Andy Lowry said on Monday. “I don’t know if it’s good or bad.” Fort Collins’s second consecutive trip to Jeffco Stadium may be without two-way senior star back Zach Donaldson, who severely sprained an ankle in the quarterfinals against Bear Creek. So it will be up to a Matt Yemm-led offense to keep the points coming against the Rebels. Making run-oriented Columbine play from behind always is a good idea, yet doesn’t happen much. The Rebels like – and have enjoyed – controlling the game’s pace. “Oh, man, their line is as good as any in the state, they fire off the ball hard,” Fort Collins coach Eric Rice said “That’s the first thing you’re trying to combat and you have to play your most physical game to date. They’re such a machine when they run the ball. And every time someone has come up with a quote, scheme, unquote, to stop it, it hasn’t worked.” C.J. Gillman, also a brute in the secondary, has been the Rebels’ leader (quarterback) by improving his work with backfield mates Orenzo Davis, who Lowry called “our best halfback all year,” Chad Korodaj and Jeff Cicchinelli. The Columbine lines, so vital to its success, sport the likes of Curtis Cunningham and Ryan Miller. Lowry, Rebels coach since 1994, has earned his first-ever meeting against the Lamb- kins, who have fared well up front, fought off exhaustion by multiple players going both ways and displayed enough speed to make anyone worry. Lineman-fullback Dan Byers and wide receiver Garret Houts are other Lambkins keys, as is kicker Phil Welch, whose particular talents may prove uniquely effective.
