WHERE
Shea Stadium, 3270 Redstone Park Circle, Highlands Ranch
WHERE THE TEAMS STAND
The Ponderosa Mustangs are unranked. The Mountain Vista Golden Eagles (Highlands Ranch) are No. 5 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A preseason poll.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
The opener for teams that will play all Continental League games in the regular season for the second consecutive year comes with this tidbit: The Golden Eagles easily won 33-12 a year ago, when they were playing in their first big-school game.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
It has been official for a while – Douglas County is a prime schoolboy football area and experiencing all that comes with it. Currently, there is a wave south of Denver and hopefuls are in line to ride it.
KEY MATCHUP
It depends on the point of view. Friday will be the first outing for much-ballyhooed and heavily recruited Ponderosa senior linebacker Jon Major, and his jets are ready to fire, so the Golden Eagles must know where he is at all times and deal with him. On the other side, a quicker, shiftier Mountain Vista defense that loves to cause trouble will be ready to perpetuate all kinds of opening-night jitters for the Mustangs’ offensive wall.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Ponderosa, just the county’s second high school as a result of the boom heard in all Denver suburbs a couple decades ago, grew to became a regular big-school challenger in the 1990s under previous coach Jamie Woodruff and won it all in 2003. The Mustangs are 18-13 the past three seasons. Newer Mountain Vista, part of the southern metro area’s resulting growth (read: Highlands Ranch), joined 5A a year ago after taking steps on lower levels. It caused some head turns. The Golden Eagles tied for the league title and made the quarterfinals to finish 10-2.
COACHSPEAK
“We have to handle their front and we didn’t do it last year. They surprised us and we weren’t ready for them.” – Randy Huff, Ponderosa coach
“More than anything else we have to handle (the hype) and just play ball and be aggressive in our own right, and play with confidence.” – Ric Cash, Mountain Vista coach
