Casey Coons
School: Arvada West Wildcats, Class 5A Big 8 League.
Record: 5-2 overall, 3-2 league in 2008; 53-24 career.
Coaching resume: Assistant at Gateway High School from 1981-82; Black Hills State College, 1983-84; Western Oregon, 1985-87; Western State, 1988- 94; Port Charlotte (Fla.) High School in 1995; and North Dakota, 1996-98. In seventh season as Wildcats head coach.
Life lines: Age 49, native of Inglewood, Calif. Graduated from Denver’s Abraham Lincoln in 1977; earned degree in physical education at Western State in 1981 and master’s degree in education from Oregon State in 1986; teaches physical education at Arvada West.
Back in his day: Linebacker and guard at Abraham Lincoln, all-Denver Prep League as a senior; second team all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference guard at Western State in 1980, when he also was the RMAC scholar-athlete of the year.
Last week: The first shot across the upper end of the big schools’ bow in 2008 was fired by the Wildcats. Their 30-24 win over previously undefeated Pomona gave the high-scoring Panthers their first loss of the season. The elite of 5A, including Grandview, Mullen, Columbine, ThunderRidge, Cherry Creek and Rocky Mountain, had yet to take an in-state hit outside their circle.
Plus, the Wildcats were trying to regroup after they lost by a point to Regis, despite intercepting three passes down the stretch, and getting thumped by Columbine before handling Westminster.
“We kind of had to pick ourselves off the mat,” Coons said.
The Wildcats used a 23-point second quarter to erase a 10-0 deficit and gain their most significant victory of the season.
“For confidence, it was such a big factor,” Coons said. “We spread the ball out. Our kids thought they could do it, and now they know they have a shot.”
A-West entered 2008 with zero returning starters on defense, only three on offense.
“It was a big thing for us,” Coons said of the win. “There was a big crowd there. It was great, the way it should be.”
Neil H. Devlin, The Denver Post
