Greeley West football has gone from 1-9 in 2013 to 7-0 and ranked No. 4 this season. (Martin B. Hamilton/CHSAANow.com)
GREELEY —
A 7-0 start this season certainly has distanced Greeley West from its football fortunes of a year ago.
Make that misfortune, since the Spartans won just once in 10 outings last fall.
Now in a new league, West is atop the Class 4A Longs Peak Conference with a 2-0 record following last Friday’s 44-6 victory at Adams City. The Spartans share first place with Longmont (4-3, 2-0), with a head-to-head meeting coming up later this month.
They are ranked No. 4 in CHSAANow.com’s latest 4A poll, and sit at No. 3 in the Wild Card points.
Much of their roster endured a disappointing season just a year ago, which begs the question, What’s changed?
Coach Jason Renouf, now in his eighth year coaching football at GW and second as the Spartans’ head coach, said, “That first year was rough,” adding that his team lost four times by seven points or fewer.
“We were close in a lot of games if you look back,” he said while watching his team in a walk-through practice Monday. “But the kids made so much improvement as we were going. Morale was surprisingly high.”
It got better as many team members participated in offseason training and weightlifting, both coaches and players said, and morale remained on an upward trend when the Spartans attended the CSU-Pueblo team camp last summer.
“We had a great camp. We banded together,” said quarterback Javier “A.J.” Lopez, who started last year as a sophomore. “We’ve had fire in our bellies since the team camp.”
“During our offseason, we went a lot harder,” added senior defensive back Matt Bruning. “It’s a different atmosphere.”
That means West is playing differently, too.
While the defense established a foothold a year ago, the offense went from electing to pass to emphasizing the run.
Senior running back Alex DeLaCroix (pronounced “deh-la-quah") has already rushed for 893 yards and 13 touchdowns. That includes a 244-yard performance in a 49-35 win over Northridge to start the season and a 199-yard night in West’s 31-14 win over cross-town rival Greeley Central.
The Spartans’ ground-based attack has amassed 2,070 yards on 290 rushes and scored 25 touchdowns.
Greeley West players gather around coach Jason Renouf, left, and offensive coordinator Travis Peeples, center, after practice on Monday. (Martin B. Hamilton/CHSAANow.com)
Renouf credited Travis Peeples, who coordinated last year’s defense but is now the offensive coordinator, for much of the turnaround.
“We run 10 jillion formations,” Renouf said. “But the emphasis is to establish the run instead of pass.”
Renouf said the Spartans “threw a ton last year, but our statistics were pretty good until we got to the red zone. We’re a lot better this year.”
Looking to take control of games early, West has outscored opponents 72-9 in seven first quarters this season and is winning games on average by more than 26 points per game.
Renouf said it’s defense and the running game that’s set the tone.
Lopez hasn’t thrown more than eight passes in any one game but is 27-of-37 for 547 yards and 10 TDs. West’s top receivers are Joel Huskerson (eight catches, 147 yards, six TDs) and Darren DeLaCroix (six for 120, three TDs), the latter the little brother of the senior running back.
“The spread offense doesn’t fit our set,” the elder DeLaCroix said. “We’ve been put in a better position to win by our coaches. We rely on defense and try to run the ball to maintain the clock.”
That’s a tried-and-true method, kind of “old school,” Bruning said, adding, “It’s the kind of kids we’ve got. Our offense (last year) couldn’t get going, but our defense was always good.”
This year’s defense averages 48.6 tackles per game. It’s led by Alex DeLaCroix (6.3 tpg), sophomore Caleb Vannest (6.1), seniors Trevor Watson (5.7) and Logan Trzeciak (5.0) – each a linebacker – along with Bruning (5.2) and senior Zach Lish (4.6) in the secondary.
“We have eight returning starters on defense,” said Bruning, who is among 4A’s interception leaders with three. “The defense was always good.”
But to many onlookers heading into this season, last year’s 1-9 record indicated ineptitude, leaving little to expect in 2014.
“People who said that didn’t see the work we put in in the offseason,” Lopez remarked. “We all feel like we’re underdogs, because of the 1-9 season.”
Last season ended with a 14-0 road loss in Windsor, but GW began this month with a win over the Wizards by the same score. In that time, fans and fellow students have begun to recognize the Spartans’ achievements.
“We’ve had great crowds (at District 6 Stadium), and the school spirit has been very cool,” Renouf said, “and we’ve had two pep rallies. It’s been awesome.”
West hasn’t had a winning season since 2011, when it finished 8-4 overall and advanced to the 4A state quarterfinals. The Spartans’ current seven-game win streak is their longest since 2008, when they went 11-0 before losing to Wheat Ridge, 35-31, in the 4A state championship game.
Greeley hasn’t won a state football title since 1959, when the city’s only school defeated Golden, 25-13.
This year’s team knows its history and yearns to add to its legacy.
“What’s left?” Lopez asked. “Win state. Win all the games we can. If we do (lose), it’ll just wake us up and reality will set in.”
The reality is, if West wins just once in its last three regular-season games — including Friday’s home matchup against Thompson Valley — it clinches a playoff spot.
Then the team, and the town, will turn around and take it from there.