“Everybody’s talking about it,” Ryan Hollingshead said.
And they should be. Last weekend, his Castle View made its spot more visible on the in-state schoolboy map with a 28-13 decision of perennial Class 4A power Wheat Ridge.
“As far as Castle View goes, this is the biggest win in school history,” the coach said. “This is the first time we’ve beaten a team we weren’t supposed to.”
Granted, we’ve played just two full weeks of football and it’s easy to get carried away, but he has a point. We may be watching further metamorphosis of Douglas County football.
Hollingshead likens it to an appealing Jefferson County of decades ago. But Colorado’s largest school district really has nowhere to go or grow.
Conversely, the SaberCats have front-row, participatory seats for an area south of Denver that continues to expand in nearly every direction, doesn’t appear to be limited and can keep it fed with new talent.
For 86 years, Douglas County was the lone school in Castle Rock. Ponderosa in Parker was next, then Highlands Ranch (where Hollingshead attended) was the new city’s first school that quickly led to ThunderRidge, Mountain Vista, Rock Canyon and the private Valor Christian. Castle View opened in Castle Rock in 2005, the year Douglas County won its only title. Parker added Chaparral in 1997 and Legend in 2008.
What a difference a couple of decades can make.
“Castle Rock was a one high school town for 100 years,” Hollingshead said. “Now, it seems like (the county) has a new school every year.”
There’s speculation that the area’s 4A schools may jump to 5A for the next two-year cycle, but the SaberCats seem focused on attaining new heights as well as further establishing a winning tradition. Don’t forget, even with their 2-0 start in 2011, the program is 18-36, was 0-10 in 2008 and had a 16-game losing streak.
However, Castle View, which has completed four passes but rushed for more than 600 yards, is bordered on its offensive front by 285-pounders Parker Kitching and Nate Shepherd. Plus, Ben Miele had two interceptions against Wheat Ridge, returning one for a touchdown.
The SaberCats must deal with defending 4A state champion Valor Christian for the South Metro League crown, but qualifying for the playoffs a third year in a row, then advancing, is realistic.
“Oh, man, we’re feeling good about where we’re heading,” Hollingshead said.
Footnotes.
Grandview coach John Schultz is a former aerospace engineer who briefly toiled for what is now Lockheed Martin. A reason for the switch, he said, “was it took seven to eight years to see (the result of) what I was working on. . . . With teaching and coaching, I can see it every day.” . . . The longest football winning streak in Colorado belongs to defending 8-man champion Hoehne. The Farmers have won 15 games in a row. . . . Pomona may have found someone in ninth-grader Conner Pierson. The 5-foot-10, 220-pound 14-year-old has started both games for the Panthers and coach Jay Madden said Pierson “had six pancake blocks (last week) against Mountain Vista. He’s a fiery redhead, freckles, the whole deal . . . and he makes all of the line calls.”
