Stop your whining.
Valor Christian did not kill prep football in Colorado.
It brought the sport back to life, with a much-needed kick in the pants.
By rampaging undefeated in 26 playoff games since 2009, the name of Valor has often been taken in vain by foes claiming the upstart private school enjoys too extravagant facilities, too many sons of NFL stars and too many lopsided victories.
For example: What educational worth was possibly learned from Valor routing Pine Creek 66-10 in the Class 4A championship game of 2011?
“We don’t want to play Valor anymore,” said Pine Creek coach Todd Miller, the pain of defeat subsided enough for him to laugh three seasons after the fact.
But this is no joke: Valor has done more to raise the quality of high school football in Colorado than any other factor of the past 30 years.
Legendary Broncos quarterback John Elway might have inspired a generation of young boys to strap on a helmet and take the field. But Valor, which has won five consecutive championships, has demanded players across the state pick up their games or get blown off the field.
Once upon a time, from 1982-96, Cherry Creek was believed to be too big, too rich and too powerful to be beaten. In 1996, the Bruins won their eighth state title by 15 points, whipping an Arvada West team then coached by Dave Logan.
“We lost the game. There was more than 1,100 yards in offense. We were behind 41-33 with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. But we could not get a stop,” said Logan, whose day job includes duties as a play-by-play commentator and talk-show host for KOA. “After the loss, I had a guy call up on the radio and really rail on Creek about unfair advantages and all this stuff. I stopped him on the air. I said: ‘What we have to do is raise our expectation level. We have to get better as a program. It’s not about anyone having unfair advantages. That idea to me, with respect to an unhappy caller, was a loser’s mentality.’ “
In 1997, Arvada West came back and won the state championship. Mission accomplished.
Times change. Dynasties fall. Cherry Creek has failed to win a championship since it beat Logan 18 years ago. Maybe that’s a major reason the Bruins recently hired Logan to give the program new-found glory.
Since 1983, the year Elway and I moved to Colorado, prep football has never been much to write home about. Oh, there have been outstanding players, from Scott Lockwood to Jeff Byers, but never enough local preps to be the foundation for winning teams at CU or CSU.
Against howls from jealous detractors, Valor raised the bar by winning five state title games by an average margin of 32 points. But I would argue the Valor program might have actually gained more respect by losing to Grandview and Cherry Creek during the 2014 regular season, which reminded how hard it is to go undefeated.
“The name on the helmet isn’t enough to win football games,” Logan said.
“Or in our case,” agreed Valor coach Rod Sherman, “it’s more than a letter on the helmet.”
V is for victory. “But it takes more than that,” said Logan, who toppled the Creek dynasty during his stint at Mullen, where he owned a 13-1 record against the once-mighty Bruins.
It has never required more of a prep team to be No. 1, which has encouraged teenage athletes to rise before dawn to lift weights and elevate the level of football throughout the state with every drop of sweat.
“In high school sports, it’s really, really good to lose,” Sherman said. “We use Scripture as the foundation on our team. You look back at Scripture, and the Lord didn’t use smooth sailing to teach lessons. He used the storm. That’s when you get a chance to really see what you’re made of and grow and improve.”
When the Class 5A title game kicks off Saturday, there will be players and parents with allegiances to other schools cheering for Creek, the fallen prep bully, to take down Valor, a private-school behemoth with all those unfair advantages.
Yes, Cherry Creek. Now playing the role of lovable underdog.
Who would’ve thunk it?
Count it as another little miracle created by the magic of Valor football.
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or
