{"id":1314002,"date":"2019-08-26T22:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T04:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/rifle-football-returns-atop-2a-wsl-with-target-on-its-back\/"},"modified":"2019-08-27T08:03:05","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T14:03:05","slug":"rifle-football-returns-atop-2a-wsl-with-target-on-its-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/rifle-football-returns-atop-2a-wsl-with-target-on-its-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Rifle football returns atop 2A WSL with target on its back"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.3053435114504\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-986660-661\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/08\/RifleFootball-gpi-082719-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/08\/RifleFootball-gpi-082719-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent | Lineman run through drills as the Rifle Bears prepare the season opener against the Grand Valley Cardinals Friday in Rifle.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Lineman run through drills as the Rifle Bears prepare the season opener against the Grand Valley Cardinals Friday in Rifle.<\/strong><br \/>Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/08\/RifleFootball-gpi-082719-1.jpg\" alt=\"Lineman run through drills as the Rifle Bears prepare the season opener against the Grand Valley Cardinals Friday in Rifle.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/08\/RifleFootball-gpi-082719-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/08\/RifleFootball-gpi-082719-1-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent | Rifle Coach Damon Wells directs the Bears practice.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong>Rifle Coach Damon Wells directs the Bears practice.<\/strong><br \/>Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/08\/RifleFootball-gpi-082719-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"Rifle Coach Damon Wells directs the Bears practice.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/rifle-football-returns-atop-2a-wsl-with-target-on-its-back\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/rifle-football-returns-atop-2a-wsl-with-target-on-its-back\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Rifle Bears football team made the move down from Class 3A to 2A last season and really didn\u2019t skip a beat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aside from a missed field goal in the closing seconds to a surprise Aspen team, Rifle would have gone undefeated in 2A on its way to a league championship. Instead, Rifle went 4-1 and won the 2A Western Slope League in its first season at the 2A level before falling in the playoffs to Resurrection Christian 21-14 in the first round.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Bears are back for Year 2 in the 2A WSL and are the favorites. However, the Bears have to replace quite a few key pieces from last season\u2019s team, including all-state fullback Tanner Vines, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards for the second straight year, as well as all-state caliber center Wyatt Warfel. Fortunately for Rifle, the Bears return senior linemen Ethan Mackley and Ariel Herrera, as well as 1,000-yard running back Levi Warfel and another experienced back in Talon Cordova, giving head coach Damon Wells plenty of experience to work with.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Having a guy like Warfel back will help ease the burden of trying to replace one of the best backs in program history after Vines moved on to Colorado Mesa University\u2019s football program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cLevi has a ton of experience for us,\u201d Wells said. \u201cHe understands what\u2019s needed from him, so he\u2019s worked his butt off for this program and he\u2019s ready to shoulder a heavy workload.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Warfel won\u2019t have his brother back to block for him for the first time in three years, but the Bears have two leaders in Herrera and Mackley who will carry the load up front in Rifle\u2019s wing-T offense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI don\u2019t know that we will replace Wyatt\u2019s leadership and experience, but we look for a different type of leadership from kids,\u201d Wells said. \u201cAriel is going to be a four-year starter for us, and Ethan Mackley has grown up in this program and will be a three-year starter for us. They\u2019ve both played in a number of playoff games for us, and the beauty with those kids is that they\u2019ve put in the work and know what\u2019s expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Defensively, the Bears bring back quite a bit of experience and athleticism under defensive coordinator Jeremy O\u2019Donnell, highlighted by Kenny Tlaxcala, Carter Pressler, Herrera and Warfel. The majority of the defense, which recorded 13 sacks, 10 interceptions and allowed just 11.9 points per game, returns. That\u2019s great news for Rifle and bad news for opponents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI think one thing is that we had a lot of success, but then we changed everything before the season,\u201d Wells said. \u201cNow, especially since they\u2019re high school kids, it\u2019s normal to them. Hopefully the learning curve is lesser now than it was last year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Despite losing some key players, Rifle brings back a lot of talent and experience from last season\u2019s league championship team. Knowing that, Rifle should again push for the league championship as they host Coal Ridge, Delta and Moffat County this season, while traveling to Basalt and Aspen this fall, as well as a trip to Glenwood Springs Sept. 27 for the annual rivalry matchup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Rifle opens the regular season Friday at home against Grand Valley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jcarney@postindependent.com\">jcarney@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/rifle-football-returns-atop-2a-wsl-with-target-on-its-back\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lineman run through drills as the Rifle Bears prepare the season opener against the Grand Valley Cardinals Friday in Rifle.Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent Rifle Coach Damon Wells directs the Bears practice.Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent Show CaptionsHide Captions The Rifle Bears football team made the move down from Class 3A to 2A last season [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 14:46:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1314011,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314002\/revisions\/1314011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}