Rock Canyon must hit on opportunities
The Denver Post
The following is an inside look at Chaparral and Rock Canyon ahead of their Mount Evans showdown 7 p.m. Friday at EchoPark Stadium in the Post Preps game of the week. The action will be live streamed on DenverPost.com as well as the Denver Post Preps Facebook page.
Brian Tinker’s first season as the Rock Canyon head coach has been marked by a few missed opportunities — including close losses to ThunderRidge on Sept. 21 and to Cherokee Trail last week — but in all, the Jaguars have already taken steps forward from last year’s 3-7 campaign.
“I think we’ve left a couple W’s on the table in some close games,” Tinker said. “But it’s just a process — the kids have to learn how to win and how to compete all the time — and I think they’re getting there and we’re starting to put it together.”
Prior to arriving at Rock Canyon, Tinker led Fossil Ridge to two straight playoff showings in 2014 and 2015 — the only 5A postseason appearances in the program’s history — only to not have his contract renewed.
The Poudre School District was tight-lipped about the dismissal, although it was clear the dispute over the Sabercats’ desire to put the names of fallen soldiers across the back of the team’s camouflage uniforms — a request PSD had denied — likely played a role in Tinker’s contentious exit from Fort Collins.
Fast forward two years, and Tinker believes he’s found a new longterm home on McArthur Ranch Road, where he’s also a P.E. teacher.
“I was looking to build that foundation at Fossil Ridge, but obviously ran into a wall,” Tinker said. “So now I’m restarting once again, and I’m looking to plant my roots — I’ve got a young family and we’d like to really grow with this program, and hopefully take it to the level of competing for a state championship in the next three, four years.”
Tinker’s been pleased with the talent he inherited — he notes senior tail- back Alec DeRose, senior defensive end Vincent Curci, senior defensive end Tanner Stopkoski and senior middle linebacker Zach Hanna have been crucial — but says that in the age of open enrollment, he and his staff must work extra hard to make Rock Canyon an appealing football destination.
“I think the location’s great, and there’s a lot of good athletes around if I can talk them out of going to Valor,” Tinker said with a laugh. “We can see Valor from our practice field, and when you have so many great programs around you, you’re going to have to compete for kids.”
To do that, Tinker put the program through “a complete overhaul.”
“We changed up just about everything — our practice schedule, the way we do things over the summer, the weightlifting, all of it,” Tinker said. “We even brought in an MMA coach and a yoga coach, so the kids learned how to breathe under duress, mental toughness and balance.”
That mental toughness will be key Friday night against Chaparral, a team that flattened the Jaguars 52-32 last fall.
“It’ll be a test,” Tinker said. “But I think our guys are prepared for it, and our confidence had continued to grow even though we’ve lost our last two games.”
While Rock Canyon (29th in the latest RPI) needs a win to revive its postseason hopes, a victory on Friday for Chaparral (13th) would go a long way in shoring up the Wolverines’ playoff positioning.
Fourth-year coach Rod Dobbs knows his team has a formidable task ahead in the Jaguars, and emphasized the Wolverines must stick to their ‘everything counts’ mantra in order to prevail.
“We have to really minimize the mistakes that put us at a disadvantage, and we have to continue to improve on the things that we can control,” Dobbs said. “That’s an aspect where I feel we’re really starting to hit our flow.”
Despite high turnover at the quarterback position — junior Kurt Gallup was initial starter, but injuries to him as well as sophomore backup Konnor Ruth now has senior Peyton Ross under center — junior running back Dylan Smithwick and his mates were able to light up the scoreboard for 74 points combined over the last two weeks.
“We’ve suffered some illtimed injuries on offense, and we’ve been without a number of key players on offense,” Dobbs said. “Yet, we’ve been able to hang in there, and that’s a credit to (offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach) Bruce Speegle and his coaching staff, because this offense is very adaptable.”
The Chaparral defense, too, has been doing its job during the Wolverines’ four-game win streak.
In particular, senior outside linebackers Jacob Stanton (79 tackles) and Tristan Dietz (68) set the tone as three-year letterwinners who, along with junior outside linebacker Isaac Wilson and senior outside linebacker OLB Doug Wick, have Chaparral feeling confident on that side of the ball.
“Stanton’s stepped up at times he needed to, and he leads by example,” Dobbs said. “His counterpart, Dietz, is another guy who has performed remarkably game after game after game for us. They’ve both been anchors and spokesmen for our defense.”