ARVADA — Pomona senior running back Tyler Pace is closing in on a 2,000-yard rushing season. Senior quarterback Nathan Grimes threw for 178 yards and ran for 167 in Saturday’s Class 5A semifinal victory over Fairview.
Chances are, neither player will sign a letter of intent with any major-college school come February. You’ll more likely see them playing college ball next year in front of crowds that more resemble the Pomona Panthers’ following than the Pitt Panthers’.
“We have what we call a team with NAIA players,” Panthers coach Jay Madden said. “But together we can do something special.”
They already have. Pomona is headed to the state championship game Saturday in Colorado’s largest classification against defending state champion Mullen, a squad loaded with kids who have already committed to Football Bowl Subdivision schools and a couple who might sign Division I scholarships. At Pomona, most of the college recruiters who stop by are from the NCAA Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, although Madden has a couple of players who might end up getting an FBS offer.
Once known as Big, Bad and Black, in reference to the football team’s size, physical style and dominant school color, Pomona is more like the Little Big School Program That Could these days, a school boxed in geographically in a neighborhood that hasn’t grown much in more than a decade.
Young men who run scout-pleasing 40-yard dash times usually aren’t Panthers.
“We’ve become more blue-collar,” said Madden, who attended Pomona from 1982-86. “When I was there, it was called Cherry Creek North.”
It was an appropriate tag. Before assorted waves of prep expansion extended the Denver area, Pomona rivaled Arvada West for king of the northwest corner. Off 81st Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, the school built in the early 1970s became super-sized, with an enrollment of about 2,800 students, a high percentage from affluent families. The sports programs were often exceptional, with the football program producing handfuls of front-line prospects. Hence, the reference to Cherry Creek, which remains Colorado’s largest school, and tops in all-sports state titles with more than 150.
In 1983, Madden’s sophomore year, the Panthers made it to the state title game. They won it all in 1988 and lost by a point to Boulder in 1992.
During the past 17 years, however, additional new schools in the area, such as Ralston Valley and Standley Lake, have cut into the enrollment. Pomona is about 100 students under the 1,640-student cutoff for 5A.
“To be one of 5A’s smallest schools and make the championship is a dream come true,” said Pace, who has run for 1,848 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Said 6-foot-5, 305-pound offensive tackle Chris Stefo: “We’re a little neighborhood school. We’re just a bunch of guys going to school, lifting weights and playing football.”
Stefo and linebacker Daijon Tyler are the only Panthers attracting sniffs from major-college recruiters.
The Panthers, however, believe they have what it takes to bring home the state title. They lost to Big 8 League rival Columbine in the past three playoffs and have remained competitive while playing up in classification. Stefo is one of multiple starters who passed up playing Class 4A football.
“I was supposed to play in 4A (at Standley Lake), but I said I would go down the road and win some games,” he said.
Mullen coach Dave Logan, a Jeffco product from Wheat Ridge, realizes his Mustangs will be facing a versatile, physical team that welcomes the underdog role.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Logan said.
Grimes hopes he can keep doing what he has been doing throughout the playoffs, leading a versatile, high-powered offense that put 42 points on the board in the semifinals against Fairview.
“For us to be in the championship is great,” he said. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be awesome.”
Madden would enjoy winning a title not only for his alma mater, but for his area.
“Our neighborhood is older, but still has quality,” he said. “We don’t have anyone moving in, but no one’s moving out, either. It’s a nice area.”
As for his team, he said: “It’s about the journey, and we don’t talk about winning state championships. Just as long as we have fun. We have a bunch of kids who can be great high school players. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
Saturday’s title games
AT INVESCO FIELD AT MILE HIGH
CLASS 5A, 2:30 p.m.
Pomona (12-1) vs. Mullen (13-0)
Pomona looks to pull off historic upset.
CLASS 4A, 11 a.m.
Longmont (11-2) vs. Heritage (12-1)
Battle of gunslinging quarterbacks.
AT LEGACY STADIUM, AURORA
CLASS 3A, 2:30 p.m.
Steamboat Spgs. (13-0) vs. Valor Christian (13-0)
Valor the talk of 3A in its second varsity season.
CLASS 2A, 11 a.m.
Kent Denver (11-2) vs. Faith Christian (13-0)
Battle of private-school powers.
Neil H. Devlin, The Denver Post
