COLORADO SPRINGS — Pine Creek football isn’t defined by a particular style of play.
Whether it’s defense and a ground-and-pound run game, or a throw-it-around-the-field aerial attack, Eagles head coach Todd Miller is game for anything.
What does define Pine Creek? They almost always win.
And when they don’t, they obsess over it.
That’s why Miller hasn’t had a good nightap sleep since mid-November — after his Eagles suffered a shocking one-point upset loss against Skyline in the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
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“I’m afraid of failure and that motivates me a lot,” Miller said. “I have joy in the pursuit of perfection. I sit back and say this is fun when I realize these kids are doing special things but the anxiety of losing pushes me forward.”
A hungry group of kids has Miller even more on edge than normal this fall. He’s afraid he won’t coach the clear-cut 4A favorites to their potential.
“A loss can be very sobering, especially when the expectations are what they are for us,” Miller said. “I can handle a loss when we do the things that got us there, but we did a lot of things that were out of character leading up to that game (against Skyline). … It was evident in the games before and we didn’t take the time to correct that as coaches and thatap why I’m still upset. Itap our fault.
“We had lipstick on the pig. The kids knew and held us accountable too.”
It was the team’s core group of seniors who did the talking — quarterback Gavin Herberg, top receivers Eddie Kyle and Max Lofy, two-way standout Rece Rowan, kicker Luke Wieland and elite running back David Moore III.
Itap a star-studded cast ready for a championship run.
“We’re more ready than we were last year. We’ve come into the season more prepared,” said Moore, who has amassed 5,000 career yards rushing. “We have the experience, we’ve been in big games before, so we’re ready to dominate Colorado football.”
At the very least the Eagles will light up scoreboards. Their run game can be devastating so they’ve spent much of the offseason taking to the air.
“We’ve been a running team thatap thrown in spots,” Miller said. “But we’ve been able to adapt our coaching style over the years and we have the best core of receivers we’ve ever had, a two-year starter (at quarterback) and an offensive line that can keep him up.”
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Itap Pine Creek’s immense talent thatap allowed them to focus on things most football teams can’t.
“We’ve always been talented, which in the past made it easy to overlook the basics,” said Rowan, a tight end and defensive lineman. “When your basics aren’t right, everything’s off and that throws the whole team off. Thatap one thing that we’re doing differently this year. We know that we’re talented so we’re getting back to the fundamentals and the basics and just focusing on that. If we do that, we’re gonna be all right.”
En route to what they hope will be Pine Crest’s fourth state title under Miller, the Eagles are out to prove they’re the best team in the state. An early-season matchup against 5A No. 1 Valor Christian offers that opportunity.
“That game means everything,” Moore said. “Valor Christian are the big dogs. Beating them would mean all the dedication we put into this game and into the offseason paid off. It’ll mean everything if we beat them.”
Valor won last year’s matchup, 28-7.
“Itap dynasty vs dynasty, 5A vs 4A,” Rowan said. “Thatap the best in the state right there. That’ll determine who’s the best in the state. But they have to come down to Colorado Springs this year.”
