One-year turnaround from 2-7 to 6-3 – nearly worthy of a Class 1A State Playoffs berth, to boot? Check.
Players recognized accordingly by their coaching peers? After Centauri’s 32-24 loss at Paonia on Saturday, Nov. 23, deciding Colorado’s best in its smallest-scale 11-man division for 2013: check, at last, with the Nov. 25 release of the All-Southern Peaks Conference teams.
And though the Falcons may have had a state-caliber quarterback, First Team choice K.C. Jarvies, leading their flight to the championship, Ignacio had the signal-caller who, for much of the season, was the state’s best.
First Team junior Adison Jones helped IHS finish 3-2 in conference, good for third place behind CHS and Monte Vista, which eventually fell to PHS early in the playoffs – but with nearly 2,000 yards through the air and an outstanding 25:6 TD-to-INT ratio. First Team senior Clayton Jefferson finished with a team-high 51 receptions, 11 going for touchdowns, for nearly 750 yards. He also picked off five enemy passes.
Junior Blaine Mickey scored a pair of touchdowns rushing, but along with fellow First Team junior Josh Gallegos, used strength as his calling card in protecting Jones, clearing the way for Second Team picks Adam Herrera (senior; 886 yards total offense, 17 total TD) and Miguel Perez (junior; 180 yards, 3 TD rushing), or pounding away defensively on the opposition.
Mickey was credited with 49 total tackles (Jones was in on 42 and Perez 41) for the season, with Gallegos recording 16 in the trenches alongside Honorable Mention All-SPC junior Alex Lopez (25 tackles).
After guiding his squad to the SoPeaks’ title, and then an impressive postseason run through Eastern Plains powers Wray, Burlington and Limon, CHS’s Kyle Forster was named Coach of the Year while senior First Team-er Jason Buhr earned Offensive Player of the Year for the 11-2, 5-0 Falcons.
Center senior First Team-er Luis Mariscal was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year, helping Lee Flood’s Vikings to a 6-3, 2-3 (fourth place) finish.
MORE FIRST TEAM: Centauri – Jareb Aziz, Mitchell Wilson, Clay McCarroll, R.J. Ruybal; Monte Vista (8-3, 4-1) – Mitch Vanderpool, Jacob Vance, Matt Barnes, Michael Sanchez, Daniel Borunda; Center – Jose Angel Chavez III, Jeremiah Moreno; Dolores (1-7, 1-4) – Ethan Upton, Evan Moore; Del Norte (0-9, 0-5) – Cody Paine, Paul Atencio.
MORE SECOND TEAM: Centauri – James Richardson, Jensen Hamilton, Kody Smith; MV – Brenen Ramirez, Mike Valdez; Center – Jeremy Moreno, Nabor Quintana; D – Kellen Gatzke, Deano Valdez; DN – Mac Mondragon.
MORE HONORABLE MENTION: Centauri – Matthew Jarvies, Shane Wilson; MV – Isaiah Duran, Simon Schaeffer, Presley Garcia; Center – Gustavo Nungaray, Mauricio Paez; D – Tristan Medina, Rusher Ammon; DN – Matthew Mueller.