Pueblo South’s Nathan Spinuzzi. (Tim Visser/MaxPreps.com)
PUEBLO — The Pueblo South football team was a combined 3-17 in 2011 and 2012. Those numbers are distant memory this season.
The resurgent Colts are 5-1, including 3-0 atop the Class 4A Foothills league, and are ranked No. 8 in this week’s CHSAANow.com 4A football poll. Pueblo South’s lone loss was a 17-7 defeat to Falcon on Sept. 5.
“This season has been a lot of fun,” said Pueblo South head coach Ryan Goddard, who is in his fourth season guiding the Colts. “The kids have come a long way and they have put in a lot of work. They believed in what we were teaching them and it just took off for them.”
After a slow start, Pueblo South’s offense has come alive in wins over Palmer Ridge (31-8), Mesa Ridge (40-0) and Pueblo Centennial (56-20).
Running back Garrett Krage. (Rich Goddard/High Desert Imaging)
Quarterback Nathan Spinuzzi has been a catalyst for the Colts. The junior has passed for 1,167 yards and eight touchdowns and he also has rushed for 428 yards and six more scores.
“We are taking care of the ball on offense,” Goddard said. “Nathan has also thrown the ball really well this year and to throw the ball well you have to have good receivers. We also have had balance with a strong running game.”
South’s top receivers are Devin Valdez (17 receptions, 373 yards), Dennis Ramos (18 receptions, 355 yards) and Isiah Pannunzio (8 receptions, 197 yards). Valdez has a team-high four touchdown catches.
“I think we have great leadership,” the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Spinuzzi said. “People believed what we could accomplish this year and last year we were just going through the motions.”
The Colts are far from one-dimensional.
Senior running back Garrett Krage has a team-best 555 yards rushing and four touchdowns. He also has 12 catches for 141 yards.
“This season is 360 degrees different from last year,” the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Krage said. “It all started with our preparation in the summer. Our seniors this year played through the 2-8 season and 1-9 season. We didn’t want to have those results again. We made sure we were good leaders. We made sure we got work done in the summer hoping it would pay off. Now that it has been paying off we need to continue to work even harder. This season feels like what football should feel like. I know as a senior I want to help our team come out on top and reach its goals.”
Running back Garrett Krage. (Rich Goddard/High Desert Imaging)
As good as Pueblo South’s offense has been the Colts’ defense has exceeded all expectations. It is only allowing only 9.8 points per game.
“Our defense has been playing very good, especially our defensive line,” Goddard. “We have just had a great team effort on defense and the guys are just flying around and getting after people.”
Krage is playing outside linebacker this season, and is thrilled to be part of the Colts’ swarming unit.
“We take a lot of pride in not giving up many points,” Krage said. “We have almost all our athletes playing on defense this season and that has made a big difference.”
South’s defense will have a tough test at 7 p.m. Friday when the Colts host Canon City in a huge Foothills League game at Dutch Clark Stadium. The Tigers are 4-2 overall and 2-1 in league.
“Our first goal every year is to go out and win the league,” Goddard said. “Our kids know this is big game and we are just focused on what we have this week.”
Senior Mitchel Chavez, a free safety, is anxious to see what his team can accomplish against the Tigers.
“This season has been amazing,” Chavez said. “I can’t even describe how it feels. Everything has changed. Our team has been a lot more focused and determined this season, especially on defense. We have just been taking things week by week. So, our focus this week against Canon is to go 1-0.”
Krage concurred with Chavez.
“We understand how important this game is,” Krage said. “Everybody is really up for this game and we just want to keep things rolling.”