They play eight-man football at Gilpin County High School, but they know that is not a roster restriction, right? For most of August, they had only eight men.
So the Eagles would set up their offensive formation at practice, quarterback Kevin Robertson would call a play and they would run it. Against no one.
“There’s nothing to go against,” coach Eric Goodlett said.
Last year, the team didn’t win a game. This year, the team almost wasn’t even a team. One player nearly quit — conjuring up the movie “Hoosiers,” when Buddy abruptly leaves, looks at the diminutive Ollie and says, “Have fun trying to win with five, coach — well, make that four and a half.”
But the boys at Gilpin County talked the player into staying — and picked up three new players once school started and — how about this? — won their first game 50-0.
It was Gilpin County’s first victory since Sept. 11, 2009.
“During halftime, I looked at the scoreboard and we were up 40 points,” senior Jamey Peterson said of the season-opening win Aug. 27. “It was an unbelievable feeling.”
Goodlett is a Gilpin County graduate, the new coach of his old team. The tiny school, an hour northwest of Denver in Black Hawk, has “30 to 35 boys,” the coach said.
“I think they’ve had potential before, but it’s always been a lack of caring on the student body’s part, in my opinion, from keeping grades up and everything else,” Goodlett said. “I’m going to certainly hope that I have enough influence on them this year (for them) to care.”
Goodlett runs his practices as if there was nothing weird about playing offense against no defense — and you’re the weird one for thinking there was. The boys feed off each another, motivated by chatty tri-captain Michael Barngrover, who plays center and middle linebacker.
“I just want to make it clear: These guys have more heart than any other team in Gilpin County,” Barngrover said. “Even though year after year we lost, they came out and made what we’re doing now possible. They just work, all the time.”
They work — all the time — in un- usual circumstances. Without practicing eight-on-eight, they just go eight- on-zero, meticulously running the plays. While they can’t simulate the banging and blocking — or Robertson practicing a needle-thread in double- coverage — Goodlett gets creative in drills, and in special-team scenarios the coach serves as kicker.
Nabbing the three extra players helps in one-on-one drills and gives players a breather on Friday nights. It wasn’t easy, though. Once school started Aug. 15, the Gilpin eight were suddenly like fraternity rush chairs, pulling aside every student with an Adam’s apple.
“All the time, every class period,” Barngrover said.
Said Peterson: “Every time we saw someone.”
And now, Gilpin County’s team has 11 — Cody, Vince, Ivan, Kevin, Michael, the other Michael, Luke, Jamey, Andrew and the Dziedzic brothers.
On offense, Gilpin lines up with two tight ends, two guards, a center, a quarterback and two running backs. “I’m trying to run a similar-paced offense — which I’m probably crazy for — as the University of Oregon. Basically, it’s no- huddle,” Goodlett said.
The Eagles dominated Rocky Mountain Lutheran in the season opener, prompting Barngrover to state: “We got this. Our season, I really feel like we can go undefeated. Honestly, we will do great.”
Obviously, it’s a little tougher to scout and gauge the talent of eight-man opponents. But in sports, optimism is optimal, and darn it if Gilpin didn’t have a school bus full of it two nights ago.
The coaches and players (and cheerleaders) rode two long hours to Kiowa, home of the Indians, to play under the Friday night lights. But minutes before the 7 p.m. kickoff, lightning bolts popped in the distance. Soon, old men in cowboy hats and young boys with Bieber-y haircuts were dodging raindrops. It started to storm. The U.S. flag furiously flapped, the whipping wind going at it like linemen in trenches. The Gilpin players sat inside the Kiowa gym “just waiting and waiting,” said Peterson, describing the pigskin purgatory.
Some fans huddled under umbrellas — two little girls sat under a table — while others retreated to their pickup trucks, staring at the field, waiting for some sign of activity, some signal that this September Friday night would become a true September Friday night.
Alas, at 8:30 p.m., the officials called the game.
The rain had ceased but the lightning continued to crackle as the glum Gilpin players moped on their walk toward the bus.
“I was so pumped to play,” Peterson said. “The whole team was. So it’s a huge disappointment.”
But at Gilpin, they have waited quite a while to get some momentum, so one more week shouldn’t be too maddening. And so, it’s back to practice, where the Eagles will prepare for this weekend’s opposing defense, without practicing against a defense.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
Always busy
With only 11 players, it’s difficult for Gilpin County High School to practice eight-man football. Here’s a glimpse at how the Eagles practice on Wednesdays (their all-offense practice):
First, the team breaks down into individual groups. The linemen work on run blocking and pass blocking — primarily by hitting blocking dummies.
The tight ends, running backs and quarterback work on pass routes and practice handoffs. Later, the ballcarriers work on gripping the football by running through what Eagles coach Eric Goodlett calls “a tunnel of hands” — the other players and coaches reaching out, trying to strip the ball.
For the final 30 minutes of practice, the team runs through most of its offensive plays — going against a phantom defense.
