Pigskin Preview 2009

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MONTROSEInside:

Montrose IndiansMontrose Indians

Olathe PiratesOlathe Pirates

Nucla MustangsNucla Mustangs

2 August 26, 2009 Pigskin Preview 2009

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Call us at (970) 249-9664

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Despite a tough economy, theMontrose High Community StadiumProject is moving forward.

The latest accomplishment can beseen in the concession stand areawhere a new restroom facility is cur-rently being built up.

"The stadium committee has beencommitted to getting it done and youcan see some of the progress made, butin difficult economic times it can be achallenging project” Montrose Highfootball coach Todd Casebier said.“But we're making progress and Ithink it's something Montrose shouldbe proud of."

Completed renovations include astate-of-the-art all-weather track sur-face that was installed in 2002.

More recently, 800-plus stadium seatswere added; and revised facilities forhandicapped accessibility. Those proj-ects were completed in 2007.

The following is a list of current andfuture projects, according to the pro-ject's Web site:

• Replace all bleacher seating withall-weather aluminum seating.

• Install permanent, on-site, well-lighted and appointed, sanitary rest-

room facilities.• Replace and update press box and

broadcast facilities.• Replace and update concession

stand and food service area.• Renovate stadium entry for easier

public access• Upgrade field lighting.

• Expand locker rooms/classroom fa-cilities.

• Install all-weather, multi-purpose,low- maintenance field turf.

The project is being funded by com-munity and business donations, not tomention the volunteer work that hasgone into the stadium.

Some of the uses for the stadium in-clude:

• High school physical education pro-grams (intramurals, cheerleading).

• High school athletic teams competi-tions (football, soccer, track).

• High school music programs(Marching Band).

• School convocations & gradua-tions.

• Charity events (American CancerSociety’s “Relay for Life”).

• Community athletic events (Spe-cial Olympics®, Senior Olympics).

• Competitions & Convention gather-ings (Drums along the Rockies).

• Open-air concerts.• Auto and motorcycle shows.• Art shows.• Craft fairs."It's a place where people can come

and celebrate whatever happens to begoing on here, not just football games,"Casebier said. "It's a reflection, a placeto celebrate things in this communityand the community deserves that. It's abenefit to not only football, but thecommunity too."

To find out more or to donate or vol-unteer for the stadium project, visitthe Web site: www.montrosecommuni-tystadium.org.

Pigskin Preview 2009 August 26, 2009 3

Stadium project making strides in tough economyBy Bill Swaim

Construction continues on the new phase of the MHS stadium project, which includesnew bathroom facilities, concession stand and front entrance.

(PHOTO BY WILLIAM WOODY)

MONTROSE

INSIDE

Daily Press Football Preview StaffBill Swaim, Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design, StoriesWilliam Woody, Photojournalist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover Photo, PhotosJoel Blocker, Sports Writer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stories, Photos

Olathe HighPreview

Includes Schedules, Overview,Position Breakdown

Pgs 4-6New Play Caller

For PiratesVincent takes over asoffensive coordinator

Pg 7Montrose High PreviewIncludes Schedules, Roster, Overview,

Position Breakdown, Features(Breaking down film)

Pgs 8-14New year, newlook for NuclaPalmer takes over as

head coach of Mustangs

Pg 15


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toGlory

H ead football coach Ryan Cornknows the Pirates will begin the seasonwith a target on their backs.

“We won state last year and we knoweverybody is going to want to come outand get us,” Corn said.

The 2008 Class 2A state championshave set high expectations this seasonin hopes of building off the successfrom last year, when they finished 14-0,and won the Class 2A state champi-onship game in overtime, 22-21 againstErie.

“We’re trying to stay focused on theseason and not get cocky,” OHS corner-back Kris Nieto said. “Right now wedefinitely need to work on getting inbetter shape and have better disciplineon the offensive and defensive lines.”

The Pirates still have more than a

week to prepare for their openeragainst Eagle Valley and Corn believesthere’s plenty to be done before Sept. 4.

Some things coach Corn is really try-ing to stress are team speed, and gettingthe summer kinks out of the players.

Corn doesn’t believe losing quite afew seniors who were major contribu-tors and defensive coordinator BenJohnson, will deter his team.

“We have a good number of playersthat played on this team last year andall of them have a lot of experience,” hesaid. “All the junior varsity playershave game experience as well.”

To defend their state title, the Piratesneed to replace nine seniors, most no-tably David Rhodes (RB/DL), ChrisBrummitt (LB/FB) and Marvin Rivera(RB/LB).

However, the Pirates do return 14 sen-

iors who were all on last year’s teamand helped contribute to the state title.

“We’re pretty much going to go outand work and play the same way we didlast year,” senior middle linebackerCamren Harris said. “We still have a lotlearning to do and we’ve got someyounger kids coming up who still needto learn the ropes, but our expectationsare always the same and that’s to win.”

The Pirates will have the help ofhome-field advantage at the beginningof the season. Four out of their first sixgames are played at home. Their firstroad game is against Monte Vista onSept. 18.

“I really think we’ll play good footballthis season,” senior wide out PabloPayan said. “I think as the seasonmoves forward, we’ll start to play betterand better.”

Pirates workingtoward encorepresentation

By Joel Blocker

t 2009 ScheduleSept. 4 EAGLE VALLEY 7 p.m.Sept. 11 MEEKER 7 p.m.Sept. 18 @ Monte Vista 7 p.m.Sept. 25 @ Roaring Fork 7 p.m.Oct. 2 COAL RIDGE 7 p.m. Oct. 9 CEDAREDGE 7 p.m.Oct. 16 @ Aspen 7 p.m.Oct. 23 @ Gunnison 7 p.m.Oct. 30 BASALT 7 p.m.Nov. 6 GRAND VALLEY 7 p.m.*Schedule subject to change

t 2008 ResultsREGULAR SEASON

Aug. 29 @ Eagle Valley W, 32-7Sept. 5 @ Meeker W, 18-2Sept. 12 MONTE VISTA W, 35-0Sept. 19 ROARING FORK W, 38-9Sept. 26 @ Coal Ridge W, 50-21Oct. 3 @ Cedaredge W, 59-20Oct. 10 ASPEN W, 36-7Oct. 17 GUNNISON W, 56-14Oct. 24 @ Basalt W, 55-21 Oct. 31 @ Grand Valley W, 36-14

PLAYOFFSNov. 8 BUENA VISTA W, 55-10Nov. 15 @ Kent Denver W, 27-6Nov. 22 FAITH CHRISTIAN W, 14-6

CHAMPIONSHIPNov. 29 ERIE W, 22-21 OT

QB Garhett Jurgens (WILLIAM WOODY / DAILY PRESS)

NOTE: Roster was not available at press time

The BackfieldThe Pirates are definitely going to notice

a huge presence missing from their back-field. David Rhodes, who accounted for agood portion of the Pirates’ rushing andscoring attack, graduated. He is attendingMesa State on a football scholarship.

“We’ll never be able to replace a playerlike Rhodes,” Corn said. “That’s just one ofthose things, you can never replace any kidyou lose. We just hope with the kids wehave, that we can continue to play at thesame level we did last season,” he said.

This season the Pirates will be switchingfrom their usually “I” formation to a “Fal-con set,” which is a spread offense. Thewings will be Dylan Markley and Pablo

Payan with Kyle Piatt in the fullback role.Who will start at quarterback for the Pi-rates this season has yet to be determinedas two are vying to lead the offense. GarhettJurgens was the starting quarterback lastseason, but is in a fight to keep that job.

“Garhett Jurgens is back, but we’re stillin question on who is going to start for us,”Corn said. “We have a battle going on rightnow between him and Keifer Wollert for thestarting spot.”

The LineThe Pirates are going to have a whole

new look to the right side of their offensiveline this season. OHS lost center TylerHawk and tackle Eddy Ramirez to gradua-tion, while Seb Wollert, who is a senior thisseason, was lost for the year after season-ending surgery.

“Wollert had a shoulder injury last sea-son and played through it,” Corn said. “Butsurgery didn’t go as planned and he had tohave the surgery again and that’s why hegoing to be out this season.”

That’s going to be one less senior leaderon a line that now only has two seniors.

“It’s going top hurt us to lose an all-con-ference player like Wollert, but we havesome kids that can take his spot,” he said.

But even with a new right side, coachCorn still believes he’s got plenty of depthon the offensive line.

The ReceiversThe wide receiver position for the Pi-

rates is pretty solid. Senior Roger Pachecowill solidify one receiver position, whilethe other spot will be taken up by the loserof the quarterback battle between Jurgensand Wollert. Junior Zach Cosper and sen-ior Devon Brown are among players thatare also in the mix for playing time at theposition.

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Coach confident his offense can run the tableBy Joel Blocker

Coach’s Take: “This season we’re going to be running the old run-and-shoot offense.”

Taylor Kelso(PHOTO BY JOEL BLOCKER)

(PHOTO BY JOEL BLOCKER)


The LineThe Pirates were dominant

on the defensive side of the balllast season. Olathe’s defenseonly allowed an average of 11.2points per a game on its way toa Class 2A state title. This sea-son they’ll have to replace theirentire defensive line, who werelost to graduation.

“So far we have a few guysfighting for positions,” headcoach Ryan Corn said.

According to coach Corn theonly spot on the defensive linethat is secure is the left end po-sition with Colby Corey.

The LinebackersThe Pirates for the last three

seasons have been very strongat the linebacker position andthis year seems to be followingthe same pattern.

“Our linebackers are reallylooking solid so far this sea-son,” Corn said. “They’re ath-letic (linebackers) — that’swhy we run this defense, wehave a lot of linebackers,” he

said.The linebacker position is all

but set with Cameron Harrisplaying the middle backer and

Kyle Piatt playing the strongbaker. Both are great athletesfor the Pirates. The weak-sidelinebacker position is still upfor grabs and that’s going to bea battle between Casey Davis,Zach Stansberry.

The SecondaryOHS will have a veteran

secondary for the first timein a few years. All four of thePirates’ defensive backs re-turn will lots of playing expe-rience.

“We’re going to have a pret-ty good veteran secondarythis season,” Corn said. “Allof our starters played a lotlast season.”

One of those veterans isstarting cornerback Kris Ni-

eto, who was a constantstarter from last season.

Special TeamsThe special teams unit for

the Pirates will look the sameas it did last season. The Pi-rates will return kicker Ser-gio Salazar and punterZachary Stansberry. SeniorDylan Markley will handle allkickoff and punt returningduties.

“We’re not missing any-thing special teams wise thisseason.” Corn said.



By Joel Blocker

Olathe defense bolstered by returning playersCoach’s Take: “We have quite a few defensive players returning from last season.”

OHS sophomores, Ronnie Mumm, left, and Blaine Sinks, go after the ball while running cover drills. (PHOTO BY JOEL BLOCKER)

SeeYOUR Photoat montrosepress.com just click on photos.

All photos that didn’t make it into the Pressare available to view or purchase at

montrosepress.comjust click on photos.

Levi Nation, right, tackles JoshKelso during the first day of con-tact practice.

(PHOTO BY JOEL BLOCKER)

See the Daily Press for coverage of Olathe High School football,including photos, stories and live webcasts all season long



Vincent to take over play-calling duties for PiratesThe Pirates will have a new play-caller

on the offensive side of the ball this season.Tyler Vincent, who coached the fresh-

man and junior varsity squads as well asthe varsity team last year will be calling theshots for the Pirates this season.

The Olathe coaching staff took a majorblow in the off season when they lost defen-sive coordinator Ben Johnson. Johnson,who spent 14 years coaching high school inNevada and the last three years in Olathe,accepted the vacant head coaching job withDelta High School.

“Coach Johnson was a great coach, hejust had an opportunity he couldn’t passup,” OHS head coach Ryan Corn said aboutJohnson’s departure.

With Vincent now taking over for theplay-calling duties, Corn will be shifting

over to the defensive side of the ball to re-place Johnson.

Vincent believes that after workingthrough the mini-camps and working hard

through practices this off season, his of-fense will be ready to compete against Ea-gle Valley for the Pirates opener.

“The whole face of our offense haschanged quite a bit,” Vincent said. “We justneed to go out and utilize the personnel thatwe have.”

The Pirates will return four starters froma senior-heavy offense from last season.Three of those starters, quarterbackGarhett Jurgens and slot receivers DylanMarkley and Pablo Payan were major con-tributors from last year’s championshipteam, along with offensive lineman An-drew Steckel and Colby Corey. All areprimed to help lead the Pirates’ attackagain this season.

Vincent admitted that the offensive linewill be the only glaring weakness that hewill have trouble replacing.

“We definitely lost some key players to

graduation including our center and ourtackles,” Vincent said.

But with even those losses and the loss ofsenior running back David Rhodes, Vin-cent believes that OHS will still have a dy-namic team.

“We’re going to utilize more weapons thisseason and that will allow us to be more dy-namic in regards to the personnel that wehave this year,” he said. “We’re going to useour speed a lot more to get to the outside, in-stead of our usual power running gamethat we’ve had in years past with (David)Rhodes.

The Pirates also lost assistant coachBrent Wareham, who was also the athleticdirector for OHS, to retirement. To fill hisvacancy, Corn brought on Thomas Godfrey.Godfrey will coach the freshmen as well asthe varsity running back and linebackerpositions.

Vincent

By Joel Blocker

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(Roster as of Aug. 23)No. Name Grade HT WT1 Travis Duffle SR 5-6 1502 Justin Trujillo SR 5-8 1703 Corey English SO 5-11 1504 David Harthan SR 5-8 1605 Nick Brennan SR 6-0 1856 Austin Willis SO 5-5 1317 Jake Bolstad SO 5-8 1608 Dylan Morris SR 6-0 15010 Braxten Franz SR 6-0 19811 Nathan Robertson JR 6-2 19512 Mike Elder SO 5-6 14017 Josia Bussing SO 6-2 17020 Glayden Berry SR 5-9 18021 Roland McLaren JR 6-1 18522 Kordell Bradshaw SO 5-3 13523 Jordan Passehl SR 6-2 20024 Tanner Stuart SO 5-11 18526 Bryce Gaber JR 6-0 18528 Jamon Carter SR 5-9 16530 Nolan Johnson SO 5-7 14032 Camaron Jones SO 5-11 17533 Justin Briskey SO 5-10 16035 Luke Frost SO 6-1 16136 Chris Sandoval JR 5-6 16037 Kioki Medina JR 5-11 15246 Andres Soto SR 6-0 18450 Cameron Medina JR 6-1 21351 Troy Frigetto SR 5-10 19852 Cole Panter SO 6-1 18553 Taylor Reed SR 5-9 18854 Cody Luth SO 6-1 16155 Garret Franz SO 6-3 18056 Francisco Saenz SO 5-8 23062 Anthony Morgan SR 6-0 23763 Ross Krabbe JR 6-0 21264 Kyle Miller SR 5-11 25065 Brian Kolowich SR 5-9 20066 Jeremy Tungent SO 5-10 17068 Lyle Wright JR 5-10 16573 Chance Davidson SR 6-2 22074 Troy Ryder JR 6-0 29579 Josh Mora JR 6-2 30081 Jonathan Sierra JR 6-0 19083 Daniel Northcutt SO 5-11 18084 Tyler Johnson JR 5-10 15085 Corey Stewart SR 5-10 19188 Sawyer Firkins JR 6-1 15889 Seamus O'Connor SR 5-11 162

The Arrival

Five years ago if someone hadmentioned Montrose High football,three-time league champion, title con-tender and elite program in the samesentence, they probably would have beenlocked up in a padded cell. The team wascoming off an 0-10 regular season andthere seemed to be little hope for the fu-ture as a winless season was becoming anorm and not an aberration.

But five years later, that person wouldnow look like a visionary.

And that is just the place the MontroseHigh football program has arrived head-ing into the 2009 season. The Indianshave three straight league titles, fourstraight playoff appearances, and with

the weapons the team returns on of-fense, they are being mentioned as a titlecontender and one of the elite programsin the state.

“I think we’re one of the best pro-grams in 4A and certainly, over the lastfour years, we’re one of the top five pro-grams in wins, league titles and playoffappearances,” head coach Todd Casebiersaid. Casebier took over the program fol-lowing the 2004 season. “Which is good— it’s where you want to be. The onlything we haven’t done is win a state title,but that is a big ‘only.’”

The 2009 team, however, is trying tokeep things in perspective. The scheduleprovides a daunting task and has theteam focused on the short term and try-

ing to let the long term goal take care ofitself.

The Indians face defending Class 3Astate champion Glenwood Springs on theroad in the season opener. Last season, theteam faced the defending Class 4A champPueblo West and won 34-6. If that wasn’tenough, the team hits the road twiceagainst its Grand Junction rivals whenleague play gets underway in October.

“We’re really focusing on Glenwood.There is really not a whole lot of room toworry about anyone else other thanthem,” the coach said. “I think that isgood for us because we don’t have to wor-ry about the big picture — we havethings we have to deal with right in frontof us.”

Montrose High program looking to take next step

RB Jordan Passehl (WILLIAM WOODY / DAILY PRESS)

By Bill Swaim

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The big picture is a fourth straightleague title, a high seed come playoff time,and a possible run toward astate championship.

For the team to take that nextstep, it comes down to one thing:avoiding the mistakes thatplagued them in two losses lastseason.

Montrose finished 10-2 in 2008,which included a playoff win,but in their season-opening lossto Glenwood and their season-ending loss to eventual Class 4Astate runner-up Greeley West,the Indians committed 10turnovers. In the 10 games in be-tween, the team didn’t have 10turnovers total.

“You can’t make mistakes in big games.High school football is a series of mistakes— mistakes happen on every play from oneteam or the other and sometimes both aremaking them,” coach Casebier said. “It’s

just a matter of when you make them andhow big they are.”

Some of what has allowedthe team to maintain a highprofile in 4A competition is thecontinuity on the coachingstaff. Casebier has the samestaff he had when he startedfour years ago, plus new addi-tions, including a former play-er Matt Luttrell, who joins thestaff this season.

“You don’t get those leaguetitles and playoff appearanceswithout a great staff. I’ve toldeverybody who will listen thatthis is the best staff there is,”the coach said. “We have great,

hard-working coaches and they have greatvalues and are teaching our young men inthis community some great lessons.”

The team opens the season 7 p.m., Friday,Aug. 28, at Glenwood Springs. The homeopener is Sept. 18 against Adams City.

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The CoachesTodd CasebierEric HandkeSteve GaberJim ScarryTom West

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Team optimistic about upcoming season

There are high expectations ridingon the 2009 Montrose High football teamand rightfully so. The team is coming off a10-2 season, a fourth-straight playoff ap-pearance, and their third straight South-western League title.

The target is painted squarely on theirbacks heading into the 2009 season. But theteam appears poised and ready.

“Our goal is to win league and go fartherthan we did last year,” said MHS seniortailback Jordan Passehl. “What makes thisteam special is we’ve always had greatteam chemistry. We’ve all been playing to-gether since flag football.”

Montrose returns nearly every starter onoffense, including the skill players, and the

middle portion of the offensive line re-mains intact to help pave the way for aleague and playoff run.

The only question mark concerning theteam is on the defensive side of the ball,where Montrose lost eight starters and willhave to replace the likes of all-conferencestandouts Mac Alexander, Brian Rum-baugh and Taylor Neill.

“We have some good players back from avery good team last year,” MHS head coachTodd Casebier said. “We feel like we havegood players in place to take over for theplayers who graduated, but time will tell.Every good program loses good playersand we’re no different.”

The Southwestern League should also bemore competitive than it was last season,which presents another task for the Indi-ans. Montrose rolled through the league

last year with the closest game coming in a34-17 victory over Fruita Monument.

“I don’t anticipate those games being farout of reach this season as those were,”Casebier said.

And there is always the size disadvan-tage concerning the number of playersavailable compared to the Junctionschools.

“It’s simple mathematics. Every time weline up against a Junction school, we haveour hands full,” the coach said. “It (size)gives them a chance to reload quicker andif they have injuries, more players to pickfrom.”

But the team is ready to pick up where itleft off last season, and the coach said he isvery optimistic this could be a specialteam, especially if players shore up theholes on defense.

By Bill Swaim

(PHOTO BY WILLIAM WOODY)



The LineThree starters return up the middle for

Montrose, led by all-conference standoutKyle Miller at right guard. With center Bri-an Kolowich and left guard Taylor Reedback, the only void left to fill is at tackle.The Indians will look at Chance Davidson,Troy Frigetto and Josh Mora to step up onthe line. Of the team’s five captains, threeare lineman.

“If you look at the the four-year runwe’ve had, it’s because of our line and any-one who knows anything about footballknows this,” the coach said. “They don’tget the attention that the skill players do,but the O-Line is what we celebrate. Wecan’t do it without those guys.”

Three players will also share the tightend duties with Nick Brennan, CoreyStewart and Bryce Gaber in the mix.

The BackfieldAll of the Indians’ skill position players

return for the 2009 season, including all-conference quarterback Nate Robertsonand all-conference tailback Jordan Passehl— both of who are also garneringstatewide attention.

“I’m really excited, it’s the first time inmy career that the QB, tailback and full-back are back,” coach Casebier said. “Wejust have some outstanding people thereand they proved it last year, and we expectthem to be better this year. I feel very goodabout our guys who carry the ball.”

Added to the mix are Glayden Berry,who tallied 13 touchdowns last season, anda healthy Braxten Franz.

“I’m approaching this season the sameway I have others,” Passehl said. “I’m ex-

cited for everything. I’m really workinghard for a good senior year.

The ReceiversThe only area of concern on offense

might be the receiving corps, where the In-dians lost starters Shane Hedrick andAlexander.

The team will look to Grand Junction

High School transfer Justin Trujillo aswell as Jonathan Sierra and RolandMcLaren to fill the void, which the coachsaid he is confident those guys will step up.

Coach’s Take: “The 11 weput on the field this year

will be as good as orbetter than the 11 weput on the field last

season.”

Montrose High players run through playsduring practice. The offensive line shouldpave the way for big days for the Indians’backfield of QB Nate Robertson andbacks Glayden Berry and Jordan Passehl.

PHOTOS BY WILLIAM WOODY



t 2009 ScheduleAug. 28 @ Glenwood SpringsSept. 4 @ Piedra VistaSept. 18 ADAMS CITYSept. 25 GOLDENOct. 2 @ Pueblo WestOct. 9 ROCK CANYONOct. 16 @ Grand Junction CentralOct. 23 FRUITA MONUMENTOct. 30 @ Grand Junction HighNov. 6 DURANGO

All Friday Games are at 7 p.m. with the ex-ception of Golden, which starts at 6 p.m.

*Schedule subject to change

t 2008 ResultsREGULAR SEASON

Aug. 22 GLENWOODSPRINGS L, 31-26Aug. 29 PIEDRA VISTA W, 42-0Sept. 13 @ Adams City W, 54-0Sept. 20 @ Golden W, 42-9Sept. 27 PUEBLO WEST W, 34-6Oct. 4 @ Rock Canyon W, 37-7Oct. 11 GJ CENTRAL W, 45-13Oct. 18 @ Fruita Monument W, 34-17Oct. 25 GRAND JUNCTION W, 35-0 Nov. 1 @ Durango W, 42-8

PLAYOFFSNov. 8 NIWOT W, 21-14Nov. 15 GREELEY WEST L, 22-8

The LineWith eight defensive starters gone

from the team, the line was one of theunits to take a big hit, and unlike theiroffensive counterparts, will have someholes to fill.

Franz and Reed should fill some of thevoid on the line, making the team strongonce again up front.

The BackersAnother area hit by graduation was

the linebacker unit, but like the D-Line,the unit could be strong once again asthey add speed with McLaren and Gaberstepping in.

“On one hand, we lost some great kids,but on the other, theses guys have achance to be real good,” the coach said of

the new players stepping into the lineand at linebacker.

The SecondaryThe strength of the defense could very

well be the secondary as Passehl, Robert-son and full-time starter Travis Duffle re-turn to lead the defensive backs. Addedto the mix is GJ transfer Trujillo, whothe coach said will have an immediateimpact on the team and this unit.

Special TeamsWith the graduation of Hedrick, who

handled the PAT and field goal duties, theIndians will look to replace him with Dy-lan Morris. Passehl, who handled puntduties last season, will do so again in 2009.

Coach’s Take On The Defense: “Will the defense be as good as last year? It’s too early to tell, but Ithink in some ways it could be better because we just have speed ondefense - it’s the fastest defense I’ve ever had. We all know speed

translates to wins in football games.”

PHOTOS BY WILLIAM WOODY


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that you deserve.

YOUR linemen will beworking for YOU to makesure the power stays on.

While fans get to see two-plushours of exciting football under the Fri-day night lights, many probably aren’taware of the amount of effort and workthat goes on to make those thrilling mo-ments.

Two to three hours of practice eachday in the Montrose heat, the constantpounding from the hits taken in prac-tice and the game, and the time spent infront of the television.

And no, the time spent in front of the

TV isn’t catching Saturday’s collegegames or Sunday’s NFL package, it’stime breaking down film for the team’snext game.

Coaches on the Montrose High stafftypically spend at least 10 hours eachweek watching film and probably muchmore than that.

“We look at it two different ways, as astaff and individually,” MHS headcoach Todd Casebier said. “On Sundayswe spend a minimum of three hours.Probably another hour to two hoursevery day between games.”

Coaches will typically receive twogame films for each opponent (one high-lighting a game last year and anotherfrom the current season). Sometimes,as will be the case when the Indiansopen the season against Class 3A statechampion Glenwood Springs, the teamwill just have last year’s tape.

It makes it that much more crucialthen to catch tendencies and cater agame plan to stopping that team. Break-ing down film is an art form of its own.

“There is an art to it. You can’t justwatch the game. You have to watchwhat you are trying to attack,” thecoach said. “On defense, you are look-ing at tendencies. Which way do theyrun, do they run behind certain play-ers, do they throw to a certain guy?Does their quarterback throw more tothe right than the left?

“What are their tendencies on the oth-er side of the ball - how much do theyblitz, what are their coverages? Person-nel - who can you exploit? Where aretheir weaker kids? Which corner is bet-ter? How does free safety support?”

And those were just a few things tolook out for in coming up with a game-

plan for the opponent.“There are a lot of things we look for

and it takes years to get it right,” Case-bier said. “You really have to have beenin the game and our coaches have.”



By Bill Swaim

Reel timeThe art of breaking down film

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Special Event Photos available include: Olathe & Montrose GraduationsMontrose County Fair & RodeoOIathe Sweet Corn FestivalPresidential Inauguration

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First-year Nucla High footballcoach Jeff Palmer is looking to bringbalance — literally — to the eight-manfootball program this season.

The Mustangs have had a new coachtake the helm each of the last few years,but Palmer is hoping to instill a new atti-tude to the program.

“We’re preaching family. And theseguys are out there helping each otherout,” the coach said. “We want the atti-tude of everyone working together, andwe’re doing it.”

The Mustangs have just four seniorsand will turn to the junior and sopho-more players to step up. Palmer saidthose players played a lot last year andhave experience heading into the season.

Senior quarterback and linebacker Er-ic Galarza returns and will help lead theteam while getting help from junior line-men Bryce Steffans and Justin Goforth.Both will also line up in the trenches onthe defensive side of the ball. Joiningthem on the defensive line and lining upas fullback is fellow junior Seth Knob.

When Galarza looks to air it out, he’llbe throwing the way of sophomoreDestry Smith, who will play at safety on

the defensive side.“The seniors have been real receptive

to me, and have helped the others buy in-to our system,” Palmer said.

Palmer coached 10 years in Ohio as anassistant coach at Elyria High beforetaking over the defensive coordinatorduties the last five years at two schoolsin North Carolina (South Meck andNorth Stanley).

Palmer said it was an easy decision tocome out to the Southwestern corner ofColorado for his first head coaching gig.

The coach will implement balance onoffense and an aggressive, attackingstyle on defense as the team looks for

early success. He said the team will tryto keep things simple too.

“Our goal is the same goal as every oth-er team — we want to win the confer-ence, win every game, advance to theplayoffs and win a title,” the coach said.

The team also has another advantage— playing in a four-team Class 1A SanJuan Basin League.

However, Palmer said it was importantfor the team to focus on the now — win-ning the first game.

“We’ll start with the first one and buildfrom there,” he said.

The Mustangs open the season at homeagainst Sorenson Ranch Sept. 4.


1501 E. 3rd St., PO BOX 10100Delta CO, 81416-5003

970.874.768www.deltahospital.org H

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EMERGENCY874-2222See the Daily PSee the Daily Prress for coveress for coverage ofage of

MontrMontrose Highose HighScSchool football,hool football,

including photos,including photos,storstories and ies and

live webcasts alllive webcasts allseason longseason long

NNNNuuuuccccllllaaaa HHHHiiiigggghhhh MMMMuuuussss ttttaaaannnnggggssss

By Bill Swaim

New year, new look for MustangsCoach hopes to bring balance to Nucla

t 2009 Nucla High Schedule

Aug 29 MANCOS (Scrimmage)Sept 4 SORENSON RANCHSept 12 @ Moab (Utah)Sept 19 SANGRE DE CRISTOSept 25 SOROCCOOct 2 @NorwoodOct 9 @ Mancos

Oct 16 PLATEAU VALLEYOct 23 @ Dove Creek

All Friday Games are at 7 p.m.Moab is an 8/11 split game at 3 p.m.Sangre De Cristo is a 1 p.m. game*Schedule subject to change


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