It was a long time since Arvada won a football game. In fact, it was 18 games in two years since an Arvada victory — until Friday night.
In a game where junior cornerback Deondre Gordon jumped a slant route and walked into the end zone, the Bulldogs broke their long losing streak, beating Sheridan 27-14 at Trailblazer Stadium in Lakewood.
Arvada’s last win had been a 48-47 overtime victory over Skyview on Sept. 13, 2013. And since 2004 the Bulldogs have an 18-94 record, going 0-10 in four of those seasons.
“Our overall theme for the week was ‘resilience,’ ” said first-year Bulldogs coach Richard Bortner. “We used a quote to describe that — ‘I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.’ ”
Bortner, who is a head coach for the first time, knows what it takes to rejuvenate a struggling program.
Bortner coached with current Ponderosa coach Jaron Cohen in 2013 at Hinkley. At that time Cohen was a first-year head coach, earning praise for his success that year while leading Hinkley to its first state playoff berth in Class 5A football in more than a decade.
This year Bortner’s 25 players are barely enough for a varsity roster, especially when competing in the tough 3A Metro North conference.
“Defensively we focused on breaking down to tackle and not overrunning in our pursuit,” Bortner said. “Offensively we focused on execution and being at our best during the breaks in the game.”
Remember how the theme of the week was resilience?
Late in the third quarter starting quarterback Ian Colman and backup quarterback Levi Mair left the game because of injuries — on the same play.
“Our offensive line, running back Micheal Lechuga and QB Todd Nelson — he hasn’t taken a snap in practice this year — came together to run the ball down the field and close out the game,” Bortner said.
