ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
Roaring Fork Valley prep football programs put on pads for the first time just a few days ago, but for three out of the four, it’s a quick turnaround before game action starting on Friday.
Across the span of 40 miles up and down the valley is an equally-long spectrum of programs: One is looking to take the next step after years of strong play, all the way down to a program looking to reestablish itself at the varsity level altogether.
But they wouldn’t be athletes and coaches if they didn’t expect to win and hope springs eternal in August. Here’s how things are looking out of training camp at Aspen, Basalt, Glenwood and Roaring Fork high schools:
(Stats and spelling of names are sourced via MaxPreps.com.)
For head coach Eric McCready, who is entering his third season as the head coach of Aspen, it exemplifies the problem that Aspen is more than happy to have.
“No. 1, the thing you see out here is bodies for the first time,” McCready said, noting 61 players turned out for the first official week of practice. “I don’t know that we’ve ever had this many guys, and we have a couple of guys that were here with (former AHS head coach Mike) Sirko’s time, and they said they had about 50 kids, but never in the 60s.”
With so many kids turning out for the first week, Aspen ran out of gear and had to order more. Until it arrives, they’ve got some help from their downvalley neighbors.
McCready credits some of his player leadership for rallying the players and making it exciting to be a Skier football player again. Part of it too, undoubtedly, is the promise of last season. Sure, Aspen finished with a 3-6 record, but the program has clung to one stat to motivate themselves to work harder and become a more fit team: They held a lead at halftime in seven of their nine games last year.
“Last year we did really good in the first half, but every game, second half we would just lose it, and that was obviously due to just a lack of conditioning, lack of strength,” incoming senior lineman Blake Johnson said. “Which we’ve totally changed around this year, should see a huge difference. So hopefully we can finish out in the second half and win games.”
Johnson, a former center turned guard after an injury, figures prominently along with Blake Contreras — a sophomore figuring to slot in at the other guard position — and Burton Pendarvis to lock down the pocket and help incoming junior Dylan Mika improve on his 497 rushing yards last year.
The natural choice for biggest offensive weapon is senior wide receiver/tight end Henry Hurd, the Division I Brown University commit, named one of the top 10 overall player candidates for the class of 2025 by Colorado Prep Report and the No. 15 ranked player overall in Colorado — and No. 1 on the Western Slope — by Prep Redzone. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound senior racked up 803 receiving yards last year.
Of course, a good receiver needs a QB to put a ball in his hands, and there will be a learning curve after the graduation of Tanner Benson last year. Incoming junior Carter Kuhlman and senior Calvin Delaney have been taking snaps in camp, with neither having any previous experience at the position. Still, they have inspired confidence in the players so far.
“Both have worked their butts off in the summer and in the offseason, so excited to see what they do and see what happens when we go live,” Hurd said. “We’re going to be a balanced offense like we were last year. We want to be a dominant team on the ground and in the air as well. … Last year we had one quarterback. This year we have two, so that allows us to do more dynamic things.”
On the defensive side, the team lost its leading tackler in Eli Kissel, but is moving all-conference safety senior Landen Thurber to middle linebacker alongside Andrew Palmaz (an all-conference honorable mention last year) to hold down the center of the defense.
“Our middle linebackers are going to be the strength of this team,” McCready said. “As they go, we’ll be successful, and we put our two toughest dudes in there.”
The high numbers also mean that McCready can platoon an offense and defense with no overlap for the first time, giving the players rest on the other side of the ball, increasing practice intensity and helping them hone in on their roles.
The Skiers get going against Grand Valley on Friday at 7 p.m. at home. Then they’ll get a couple weeks off for Experiential Education before heading to Steamboat on Sept. 13.
They return to the friendly confines of Aspen on Sept. 20 against Summit before a three-week road stretch. On Oct. 18, they come home to face last year’s undefeated state champion Delta before wrapping up the home season on Oct. 25 against Coal Ridge. The Battle of the Frying Pan will be played at Basalt on Nov. 1 to wrap up the regular season, hopefully preceding a playoff berth, which would be the program’s first since 2018.
“I’m tired of losing,” Hurd said. “I think we have a good chance to make a deep playoff run. We’re aiming for the moon.”
With Rifle moving to 3A for the season, Basalt’s biggest obstacle to a conference championship is out of the way, even with the introduction of a new big-time challenger, Delta. Of course, the Longhorns will have to handle their own business, getting bigger and stronger and getting the next man up to replace departing seniors.
Basalt continued setting the standard for valley football programs last year and into the offseason, with 29 of 33 returning players in a zero-hour weight training class. A little more than half of both the offense and defense is coming back, longtime head coach Carl Frerichs said.
As has been the style for the Longhorns over their past few successful seasons, they’re going to keep playing a physically dominant style, relying on their athleticism and size.
“One thing we take pride in is being a very physical, tough team,” Frerichs said. “Not trying to out-x-and-o anyone. Trying to out-hustle and out-play guys. … We don’t really care who gets the ball as long as all guys are working hard.”
That physicality, naturally, lends to a strong ground game, where the Longhorns have thrived over the past few years. Basalt graduated two strong offensive linemen last year, including first-team all-state player Dayton Schenck, but returns its center and “gigantic” guards in front. Incoming senior William Daniel and junior Will Tarallo return at running back; each broke four digits in rushing yards last year, combining for 2,323 yards and 31 touchdowns. Both received all-conference recognition with Tarallo landing on the second-team all-state roster.
Daniel ran for fewer yards but had 21 of the touchdowns, and is ranked No. 138 in the state by Prep Redzone. According to a tweet from the team’s strength trainer Jordan Ebel, he’s put on 15 pounds of muscle and added 80 pounds to his deadlift and 50 pounds to his squat. He’s also shaved nearly half a second off his 40-yard dash.
He also was third on the team in tackles last year and will play an even bigger role after the graduations of Mav Dombrowski and Noah Johnston, who were first and second, respectively, in the stat.
Fellow incoming senior Kody Barton is going to play a key role on both sides of the ball as well on the line. He was fifth on the team in tackles last year out of the defensive end position with 19. All-conference honorable mention Owen Lindt is back for his senior year on the line as well. Helping to fill in some of the gaps lost to graduation on the line is Luke Murray, who was praised by both Daniel and Barton as taking steps forward over the offseason.
Just like everyone else in the Roaring Fork Valley, Basalt lost its starting QB in Johnston to graduation. However, incoming junior Karson Schneider is getting the early look in camp; his teammates are excited about a balanced offense this year.
“I don’t want to give any secrets away, but we definitely have more of a throwing quarterback this year,” Daniel said. “So expect to see more of that and just continuing to pound the ball, pound the rock.”
Schneider went 8-for-19 in passing attempts for 123 yards across four games last season as a sophomore. He’ll be helped by the return of big receiver Taylor Hays, who was last year’s receptions and yards leader in the air, going for 291 yards on 22 catches.
Basalt starts with Arvada at home on Saturday before facing Rifle in a pre-conference matchup on Sept. 6 and hosting Glenwood Springs on Sept. 13. They travel to Delta on Oct. 4 to kick off league play in the shuffled 2A West league. Then, they host Coal Ridge (Oct. 11) and Moffat County (Oct. 18) before heading to Middle Park the next week. Afterward the will return home to host Aspen.
For the steady Basalt program, it’s business as usual.
“Our mentality as long as I’ve been here is we want to go as far as we can,” Barton said. “We want to kick butt and just keep going.”
Entering their fourth year as Glenwood Springs football players, the seniors on the Demons squad will be playing for their fifth head coach. Mike West, who was an assistant for the program for several years, hopes to bring stability and sustainability to a program that has shown resilience in the face of adversity, particularly last season.
The Demons learned a lot about themselves last year after an intense rollercoaster of a season. The fire of a 3-0 start under the lead of boisterous rookie head coach Hunter Holmes was quickly dampened by a dramatic 22-20 loss to rival Rifle to kick off a five-game skid that saw them outscored by 110 points. Holmes and his father, who served as an assistant coach, were fired before season’s end, an action that followed the coach’s combative approach to officials and the arrest of his father on campus in connection with a Texas warrant.
Eric Bollock, formerly a coach at the Roaring Fork program to begin the season before the Rams’ canceled their varsity campaign, slid into the role and the Demons got somewhat back on track, immediately scoring a season-high 50 points in a win over Summit and shutting out Palisade to win two of their last three games. The Demons sneaked into the playoffs.
They learned that the ball is in their hands.
“It’s mainly on us,” incoming senior Matty Obrochta said. “It’s how we play. Coach could tell us to play but it’s how we run it. I think we picked it up pretty good with all that drama and played pretty hard.”
With some exits but a strong turnout of players, Glenwood wants to rely on motivation, athleticism and fresh perspective to keep building momentum.
“It’s really coming together,” incoming senior Mason Markovich said. “We got our new weight room done, so we’ve had a lot of kids showing up consistently. More seniors have come out to play for the team. We’re installing some new offenses because we’ve got a new coaching staff. It looks pretty promising so far.”
There were a fair share of exits from the team following the season, some from graduation and some from the return of Roaring Fork players back to their own school. The most notable, however, is Joaquin Sandoval, a Swiss army knife of a football player that held down the QB spot since his freshman year with top-level speed, returning kicks and punts, holding down the backside of the defense at safety and even kicking on kickoffs, field goals and punts. The 2023 3A Western Slope League Special Teams Player of the Year and second-team all-state selection is off to Wyoming, where he’s listed as a defensive back.
West said the team can’t find someone to fill that exact bill, and it’s been “kind of a rotating monster” trying to fill that void.
The team also lost Max Bollock to graduation after coming over from Roaring Fork, who played some QB and rushed for 105 yards, and incoming senior Hunter Noll, who led the team in receiving yards per game but only suited up four times, as he heads back to Carbondale.
Returning, however, is Markovich, one of the top two-way players in the state, ranked No. 37 in Colorado by Prep Redzone and No. 3 at the linebacker position. He also had 1,090 rushing yards last year, averaging just shy of 100 per game, with 10 touchdowns.
Another returning player is Zack Bollock — who reportedly transferred to Glenwood for his junior season — who got some reps at QB at the beginning of training after leading the Demons with 265 receiving yards last year. One of his primary targets in the air figures to be incoming sophomore Cale Sollars, who was second on the team in receptions despite being a freshman last year.
The center of the defense figures to be held down by Markovich and fellow incoming senior/all-conference selectee Oliver Walz. Obrochta, after notching three sacks last year, will be a player to step up after all-conference players Jake Croissant and Shai Bello graduated from the line corps.
“It’s not just going to be one guy that we’re going to rely on,” West said. “Being sound at all of our positions and being aggressive, especially at our outside backers and our middle backers and just letting those guys go play football.”
It’s a balanced roster, class wise, with an equal number of seniors and juniors hovering around a dozen each; more sophomores and even more freshmen. For a coach that plans to stick around for a while, West likes that he can work with some top-end upperclassmen while still molding the next generation.
“We get into this because we’re competitive, because we want to compete, but ultimately, are we getting better, not only with our wins and losses, but are we getting better with what our production is on the offensive side of the ball, with the number of yards allowed on the defensive side of the ball?” West said. “We’re just trying to create a new standard.”
The learning curve ahead of the first game was accelerated for Glenwood after Battle Mountain canceled its varsity program this week. Not wanting to have a free loss tacked onto their schedule, Glenwood added a week zero game at Elizabeth — southeast of Denver — on Friday.
The Demons will start the home season against Summit on Aug. 30. The league schedule starts with a home contest against Eagle Valley on Oct. 10 which also is the home finale. They head to old-rival-turned-conference-foe Rifle on Oct. 18, Steamboat on Nov. 2 and Palisade on Nov. 8.
Rams head coach Scott Noll doesn’t like the word “rebuild,” even if, by definition, that’s what’s happening at Roaring Fork this year by simply fielding a team.
It’s been a trying period for a program with three state championships under its belt from back in the day. Roaring Fork only won three games between 2021 and 2022, and none in the 2020 and 2017. But players are turning out, and varsity football is back in Carbondale.
After a strong stint in junior varsity and a team-building experience through a camp through Rapport Leadership, the Rams are ready to hit the ground running.
“There’s a lot more excitement for Roaring Fork football than there has been,” junior Donny Read said.
A year after canceling their varsity season after practices began due to low turnout, the Rams list 36 players on their MaxPreps roster. One-third of them are freshmen.
Many of them are familiar with coach Noll after his time with the middle school’s program. The team has been sparked by a good junior varsity season that had big wins over rivals Basalt and Glenwood Springs in particular, with the latter coming on a “Monday Night Lights” well-attended game that Noll and players thought galvanized the school and community around the program.
“Everybody wants to play on a winning team, that’s just the way it is in today’s sports and I get that,” Noll said. “I think showing that we can win games — the last game against Glenwood where got a good crowd in the stands and there was an energy there — I think helped. I think JV was a big part of it.”
The team sees strengths across the board at skill positions, on the line and in depth. Noll highlighted the line, which he says has size and skill that the program hasn’t had before.
“There’s a team within a team on that line, and that’s what I’m super excited about,” Noll said. “That’s the big difference for me: we’re going to have time now. We’ve always been a hurry-up offense and quick passes because that’s what we could do. I’m excited to see what maybe a little time can offer us here.”
On that line are players like Sean Braudis, a senior listed at center, Ethan Gardner, also a senior, Neo Eshelman, a senior listed at 250 pounds, and junior William Scherrer, who doesn’t necessarily have the bulk of some of the others, but has a 6-foot-1 frame and adds some length to his 210 pounds.
“We’re all a lot closer and we’re all more willing to rely on each other,” Scherrer said. “We’re less of an independent player sport than we have been in previous years and we’re more of a team than we’ve ever been.”
Coming off injuries to both a knee and a shoulder last season, Scott’s son Hunter and Balaram Koss are the players coming back after stints with Glenwood Springs. Noll and his little brother Ben will play safety positions of defense, while Koss will play some linebacker.
Read will play some running back and linebacker.
The QB position is still in the air, coach Noll said. Junior Kenny Riley has been working at the position after some previous experience there at other levels. Freshman Emmit Nieslanik has shown potential, but Noll doesn’t want to rush him into varsity competition yet.
Roaring Fork gets going on Aug. 30 at Ellicott, and opens the home season against Yuma on Sept. 6. The league season begins at home against Grand Valley on Oct. 4 and Meeker at home the following week. After a two-week road stint, they’ll close out the season at home against North Fork on Nov. 1.