HIGHLANDS RANCH — In 2006, Rod Sherman traveled to Colorado to interview for a position at a new parochial high school south of Denver that announced it would be prestigious in everything it did, including athletics.
Coaching at Orange Lutheran in California at the time, Sherman, who would land the job as athletic director at the school that would be known as Valor Christian, decided to get a peek at a local football program that also had caught his attention.
“I went to a Mullen football game, and Dave (Logan) was coaching,” Sherman said. The Mustangs, who rolled through state competition at the time, “were the only Colorado team that was ranked ahead of us nationally.”
Logan is now the coach at Cherry Creek, which will be making its 16th championship-game appearance Saturday, when the Bruins face Valor Christian in the Class 5A final at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Sherman, who remains AD for the Eagles, is in his second year as head coach after assisting since the school’s inception. He leads a program that will be going after its sixth consecutive title.
A Valor victory would match a Colorado mark for consecutive championships set by Limon from 1963-68.
However, Sherman insists his school and players ignore that streak, which includes a 3A title in 2009, two in 4A in 2010 and 2011 and the past two 5A championships.
“We don’t get caught up in a streak like that,” he said. “I know teams that play us enjoy the talk about that, but for us, these kids didn’t come to school here for that. Even when we were in 3A and beginning, for us it was about creating memories for this group of kids.”
The memories keep coming. Since the school’s opening in 2008, when the Eagles had no seniors and finished 4-6, they have gone 74-9, including 26-0 in the postseason. This season they are 10-3.
In championships, Valor’s average margin in finals victories is 32 points.
After taking hits against a powerful Chandler, Ariz., team, as well as Cherry Creek and Grandview to end the regular season, Sherman predicted his guys “would be a tough out in the playoffs.” Through four postseason games, their average winning margin is 27 points.
Over the past several seasons, only the Broncos have played more games at Mile High than the Eagles.
“I’m excited and at a loss for words,” Valor quarterback Dylan McCaffrey said after last week’s 14-7 victory over previous undefeated Grandview. “To be a sophomore and be able to do this …”
The best of everything
Since their doors opened, the Eagles have received waves of scrutiny for everything from their facilities, which rival that of a college program, to the make and model of cars in the student parking lot. It’s not unlike what Cherry Creek, the state’s largest school, initially went through as the first suburban power.
There also were state sanctions against Valor for recruiting that led to league removal for the two previous school years as well as attention toward rosters full of size up front and speed and skill in the backfield.
This season’s group had to replace more than a dozen starters from a season ago in addition to joining the Centennial League, by far Colorado’s best conference.
“It’s just the dedication and preparation we put into the game week in, week out,” senior safety Brian Dawkins Jr. said. “And the mental aspect — we just bonded as a team.”
Added two-way back Eric Lee Jr., who has committed to Nebraska: “It’s great for what we’ve done for the seniors, to be able to be there for the fourth time. … It’s another chance to enjoy the opportunity.”
Winning with hard work
In perhaps the streak that is most remarkable, Sherman pointed out that every senior to play at the school has played for and won a state championship, “and we don’t take that for granted.”
In fact, he added, the Eagles couldn’t wait for the annual pregame news conferences at Mile High before the finals, then the chance “to take them out to lunch, all the seniors, to a pizza parlor off campus. We had life-on-life talks.”
The next challenge: taking down what’s still regarded as the premier program of the modern era, which knew what it felt like to be Valor before there was Valor. Cherry Creek won 33-17 on Nov. 17 to snap the Eagles’ 28-game in-state winning streak.
“We’re fully aware of what we’re getting ourselves into,” Logan said.
It’s reciprocal.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for us,” Lee Jr. said. “We can’t wait to compete against Cherry Creek.”
Maybe the Eagles will extend local and national history. Maybe they won’t.
“We never started with the expectation of ‘here’s what we want,’ ” Sherman said. “We just wanted a program to impact kids and be with the faith and mission aspects of the school.”
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
Five golden rings
A look at Valor Christian’s five-year run as state champions:
2009: Beat Steamboat Springs 41-14 in Class 3A championship to complete 14-0 season.
2010: Beat Wheat Ridge 38-8 in Class 4A championship to complete 11-3 season.
2011: Beat Pine Creek 66-10 in Class 4A championship for a 14-0 season.
2012: Beat Cherokee Trail 9-0 in Class 5A championship and finished 12-2.
2013: Beat Fairview 56-16 in Class 5A championship to finish 13-1.
