Eli Pace / epace@skyhinews.com
For the Middle Park football team, leadership wasn’t measured by wins and losses this fall, but how the Panthers carried themselves and refused to quit, just ask their coaches.
“What we are trying to teach is dedication to the process, dedication to teammates and being a good human being,” Coach Ryan Ledford said via email. “The little choices that we make every day add up in the end. You can always make things better — it is a choice.”
Perhaps the best example of Middle Park’s never-say-die attitude showed up in the team’s season ending victory over Arvada, a slugfest that Middle Park won 13-8 on Oct. 31, senior night, as the temperatures plummeted into the single digits.
“Senior quarterback Gabe Loberg said it best to me on the field after the Arvada game, that even though they didn’t win as many games as they wanted, he will remember this season forever,” Coach Jason Nagel recalled.
Nagel explained that the team endured great adversity this year after losing their head coach very early in the season and suffering an overwhelming number of injuries as the year progressed.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the way they rallied together, lead by the seniors, to finish strong and to set an example for Panther football players on how to never give up,” Nagel said.
Over the phone, senior Shug Reynolds, an anchor on the Panthers’ offensive and defensive lines, noted how he and many of his teammates have been playing together since they were in sixth grade. Reynolds said he will remember the bonds they created the most and, of course, the game vs. Arvada.
“It was surreal,” he said of last game of his high school career. “That whole night is just stuck in my memory like no other game.”
It seems the players won’t be the only ones with the victory stuck in their minds, as the game also made a lasting impression on the Panthers’ coaching staff.
“The gritty win against Arvada on senior night was the most gratifying win in my four seasons with MPHS football,” coach David Polei said. “To see this group of seniors end their football careers with a home win on the last night that they will ever play high school football was deeply satisfying. They have been a special group ever since their freshman year and have always conducted themselves with class and dignity on and off the field.”
The season didn’t come without some individual accolades too, including the all-conference honors announced during the team’s banquet. At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Reynolds was a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball, which is why he was named first team all-conference for both offense and defense.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” Reynolds said of the dual honor, adding that he enjoys playing defense more but has worked hard to be good on offense too.
Other Panthers to earn all-conference honors were wide receiver and defensive back Evan Laraby, linebacker Kyle Brumley and quarterback Gabe Loberg.