MEAD — Martin Clark had opening-day patience.
After the Mead High School football coach elicited help Monday afternoon to mark and sort new textbooks for social studies, he made his way through a crowded hallway to open the locker room door for about four dozen antsy hopefuls.
Within seconds, he led the parade into the area that already was permeated with the unmatched aroma of sweaty kids. The coach answered questions concerning lost mouthpieces, incomplete athletic forms, whether spikes were permitted and a sob story or two about players tardy to practice. He also unlocked several lockers, carried a bag of footballs and implored wide-eyed teenagers, sporting buzz cuts to shoulder-length hair, to assemble on the artificial surface of the second-year high school’s field that has Interstate 25 to the east and Longmont and the Rocky Mountains to the west in the middle of farm country.
“This isn’t about me. I’ll be playing through you,” Clark said to end his short remarks in an opening-day speech to players, assistant coaches, student managers and even a couple of curiosity seekers in the meager stands.
And with that, Mead’s Mavericks, 50 years removed from their last varsity game, were prominent in opening the 90th fall sports season in state history. Athletes in nine sports from the mountains to the plains Monday had the go-ahead for opening drills.
Summer’s over, and none of them seemed to care.
Clark, a native of Greeley, directed Mead’s first varsity football practice since 1960. Old Mead orange has given way to new Mead burnt orange.
“These kids are aware of what we have here,” said Clark, who played at Greeley Central in the late 1980s. “They want to be in the first practice, make the first varsity team, play the first play, make the first tackle, make the first rush, score the first touchdown . . . It’s exciting.”
Mead, which opened a new building the past year after having its doors closed following the 1960-61 school year, will try to add to its meager trophy case.
Then known as the Bulldogs, Mead won a 6-man football title in 1949 and a boys basketball crown in 1957. A half-century of dormancy later, anticipation is high in a rural portion of the St. Vrain Valley for the varsity opener at Valley on Sept. 3. The team will play with three classes: freshmen, sophomores and juniors. The Mavs will have a senior class next year.
“This one should be pretty fun,” junior Eric Rademacher said. “It’s the one that will set everything up and, hopefully, do it right.”
A year ago, the Mavericks played freshman and junior varsity (it went 1-9, but was competitive). Now, their varsity, which also finally has a weight room, is staring at Class 2A, where nonleague play includes a matchup against powerful Platte Canyon and the Flatirons League that contains Faith Christian, the perennial state challenger.
Freshman Nick Staiano, all 5-feet-4, 110 pounds of him, foresees opportunity.
“From listening to guys who played last year, it sounds like a much different game,” he said of turning toward varsity. “Now, Coach is saying freshmen can make the varsity and play special teams. It’s another goal to work for.”
Said sophomore Tate Aragon: “A lot of people think we’re not going to be able to make an impact without seniors, but we’re determined to go as far as we can.”
Team manager Kelsey Moretti, a junior, agrees it will be “different, but we’ve grown as a team and will be a lot better.”
The new school born of growth in the area for students who primarily would have attended Skyline or Frederick seems set to make its mark, and Clark, whose stints have ranged from Horizon and Northglenn to Northridge and Brighton, wants his team to be at the front of it.
“The big keys are hard work, understanding and discipline,” he said. “Starting a new program is what every coach dreams of.”
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
