Although Horace Greeley is credited with telling young men to go west, there’s zero proof he text-messaged Greeley West High School football players about taking over Colorado’s Northern League.
The Class 4A Spartans have overrun the rub-some-dirt-on-it league, winning or sharing the title in four of the past five seasons. A victory Saturday over visiting Thompson Valley would make them outright Northern champions and 9-1 overall. The blemish wasn’t so bad. It was a 6-0 home loss to Legacy, 5A’s No. 6 postseason seed.
Coach Mark Roggy has seen most kinds of seasons in his 31 years roaming the Greeley sidelines, the past 17 at West. The truth? Almost always, coaches know what they’re holding. In 2008, Roggy wasn’t so sure.
“You always hope you’ll do well, but this has been the kind of season where we’ll see how it works out,” he said.
It works. Entering Week 10, Greeley West stands fifth in postseason wild-card points, trailing 4A’s three unbeaten teams (Pine Creek, Wheat Ridge and Pueblo South) and 8-1 Montrose. The Spartans’ accomplishments also include a 27-24 victory over Broomfield in Week 2, a shutout of Loveland, a convincing 41-13 wipeout of Longmont and a gritty 31-27 decision at Niwot.
As a result, Roggy now calls this year’s Spartans “a very special bunch that works well together, plays well together and has a great desire to excel.”
They appear back on board. After a no-playoffs 7-3 in 2007, Greeley West, featuring senior linebacker Gavin Miller, has improved to 59-14 since 2002, including two state semifinals showings (2004 and 2006). The Spartans have won 35 of their past 39 league games.
Execution and trademark Greeley toughness have been Spartans trademarks over nine weeks that must continue if the search for the school’s first football championship is to progress.
It won’t be easy — 4A may not be Colorado’s most difficult to win (it’s 5A, I mean, really), but it’s clearly the most difficult for which to qualify. Since statewide expansion in 1990, big schools have had multiple seasons, including this one, in which they let everyone and his brother in. Meanwhile, 4A is the classification that more often than any other has more than 50 schools. And it has been regularly sprinkled with schools that should be competing in 5A. This season, 4A’s top 10 teams have a combined 83-7 record, better than any other classification’s top 10.
Roggy only hopes the Spartans understand it.
“It goes on and on and on,” he said of the class depth. “It takes that kind of heart and drive. Then you make some plays.”
If you don’t, more than likely you’re all done. Elimination rounds are here for four of the state’s classes, while 4A, 3A and 2A are due final regular-season games this week. One is The Denver Post game of the week, undefeateds Erie and Faith Christian, for the 2A Flatirons championship Friday night.
And ponder this as you sift through the games marked below: The World Series almost outlasted the Colorado high school football regular season:
Today.
Ralston Valley, which began back in Zero Week and dropped its first three games, is seeking its seventh victory in a row, which would secure the 4A North Metro title. The Mustangs have a date with Littleton, and there could be a three-way tie for the top, including Monarch.
Friday.
Suddenly, Heritage, which had cruised through the first eight weeks of the season, is in a fight. The Eagles will meet Dakota Ridge for second place in the 4A West Metro. . . . Longmont against Niwot will be for second place in the rugged 4A Northern. . . . Very large — Pueblo South at Sierra for the 4A Foothills championship. . . . Glenwood Springs at Steamboat Springs should decide who has the most marbles in the 3A Western Slope, with Palisade in that picture, too. . . . Olathe at Grand Valley is for the 2A Western Slope championship.
Saturday.
A Wheat Ridge triumph over South means the 4A West Metro belongs to the Farmers. . . . Pikes Peak, but not necessarily bust for Pine Creek. If the Eagles down the visiting Sand Creek Scorpions, the league title is theirs as well as an undefeated regular season.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
