Francisco Lujan
School: Jefferson Saints, Edgewater, Class 2A Flatirons League.
Record: 1-1, first year.
Coaching resume: Assistant at Mesa State, 2003-06, and arenaball’s IFL Odessa Roughnecks, 2006; head coach, Cineplexx Blue Devils, 2007; assistant coordinator at Dana College in Nebraska, 2007.
Life lines: Age 26, native of Denver. Graduated from Holy Family High School and Mesa State, degree in business management; works in family business of construction and remodeling.
Back in his day: Wide receiver and safety at Holy Family, 1999 2A all-state honorable mention by The Denver Post; receiver at Mesa State, 2000-02.
Last week: Until last Friday night’s 26-6 victory over Manual, the Saints hadn’t won a game since before any of their current players were old enough to attend high school. Jefferson’s last victory was 30-6 over Summit in Week 6 of the 2003 season — 45 games ago, the longest such streak in the state.
“It was amazing,” Lujan said. “It was very exciting and could turn our whole season around. It’s a different world.”
The Saints ended their slide against a Manual program that is in its second year of regrouping — Denver closed the school for a year — and has just freshmen and sophomores, but Jefferson has been fighting difficulties of its own for more than a decade. Among them was forfeiting half its season in 2007 because of a poor turnout.
“We have a lot of less fortunate kids, kids who have to watch their sister because nobody’s watching her, or they have to work or their parents are working two jobs, so they’re needed at home,” said Lujan, whose players also deal with eligibility problems.
The week before, his Saints, who were paced against Manual by Joe Martinez and Jacob Chapa, were surprisingly high and loud after dropping their opener 40-0 to Sheridan but had their reasons.
Said Lujan: “I told them, ‘Fellas, everybody will know us as the team that’s 0-45. The one thing that will wipe that out completely is the day that we win a game.’ ”
It was the past Friday.
Neil H. Devlin, The Denver Post
The Denver Broncos high school coach of the week award, in its 13th year, will have 10 honorees during the regular season. NFL Charities will present a check for $1,000 to the school’s program. Lujan joins ThunderRidge’s Joe Johnson as winners in 2008. A coach of the year will be announced at the Broncos’ game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 21 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; and Andy Lindahl, KOA 850 AM.
