If it wasn’t tough enough to follow a legendary coach, Fountain-Fort Carson’s Jake Novotny will also have the daunting privilege of breaking the Trojans into a new conference headlined by Class 5A football defending champion Valor Christian.

So much for a nice, cozy landing spot.

The 5A conference realignment – which separated teams based on a waterfall of their previous two-year RPI – could be construed as a tough draw for Fountain-Fort Carson. But Novotny, who spent four years as an assistant with Colorado State-Pueblo before taking over for longtime Trojans coach Mitch Johnson in May, said he embraces the challenge.

“There’s two ways of looking at it,” he said. “There’s the way of looking at it where you feel sorry for yourself that you have to go play those guys. And if that’s the way you look at it as a coach, you should probably get out of coaching, in my opinion. Because those are the teams you want to go against.”

Fountain-Fort Carson is joined by Lakewood, Poudre, Legend and Highlands Ranch in “Conference C.” Novotny said the entire conference is on the rise – but, of course, the favorite among them isn’t much of a riddle.

“Any time you have the state champs in your league, it’s right off the bat, there’s a target on their back,” he said. “That’s who you are trying to compete against and that’s who you’re trying to beat.”

Doherty, the area’s other 5A program, is with Grandview, Overland, Arapahoe, Boulder and Smoky Hill in “Conference B.” (Naming the conferences has been a long process up to this point.)

The idea behind the conference shakeup – which passed at the state’s legislative council meeting in January – was to split teams into seven, fairly even conferences for the next two-year cycle. The belief was giving teams an equal opportunity in league play outweighed the lengthy travel some programs will face because of it.

“I think the conferences are fine – they’re competitive,” Doherty coach Jeff Krumlauf said. “The one thing that I would like to see is conferences stay a solid conference for more than two years to build those rivalries. It’s good, though.”

The new alignment ended a league rivalry between Doherty and Fountain-Fort Carson that spanned six years and three leagues. The Trojans and Spartans were in the Continental-South League from 2014-2015, the Pioneer League from 2012-2013 and the Colorado Springs Metro League from 2010-2011.

Doherty AD Chris Noll confirmed via text message that the two schools are scheduled to face each other in nonconference play in each of the next two seasons. This year, they’ll meet at Garry Berry Stadium on Sept. 30.

“Conference or no conference that’s definitely a rivalry that’s been pretty awesome,” Krumlauf said. “Great fan bases on both sides. Every year is a great game. It can come down to the wire or quadruple overtime.”

In other nonconference games, Doherty faces Palmer on Sept. 16. And on the same day, Fountain-Fort Carson hosts Pine Creek.

If it wasn’t tough enough to follow a legendary coach, Fountain-Fort Carson’s Jake Novotny will also have the daunting privilege of breaking the Trojans into a new conference headlined by Class 5A football defending champion Valor Christian.

So much for a nice, cozy landing spot.

The 5A conference realignment – which separated teams based on a waterfall of their previous two-year RPI – could be construed as a tough draw for Fountain-Fort Carson. But Novotny, who spent four years as an assistant with Colorado State-Pueblo before taking over for longtime Trojans coach Mitch Johnson in May, said he embraces the challenge.

“There’s two ways of looking at it,” he said. “There’s the way of looking at it where you feel sorry for yourself that you have to go play those guys. And if that’s the way you look at it as a coach, you should probably get out of coaching, in my opinion. Because those are the teams you want to go against.”

Fountain-Fort Carson is joined by Lakewood, Poudre, Legend and Highlands Ranch in “Conference C.” Novotny said the entire conference is on the rise – but, of course, the favorite among them isn’t much of a riddle.

“Any time you have the state champs in your league, it’s right off the bat, there’s a target on their back,” he said. “That’s who you are trying to compete against and that’s who you’re trying to beat.”

Doherty, the area’s other 5A program, is with Grandview, Overland, Arapahoe, Boulder and Smoky Hill in “Conference B.” (Naming the conferences has been a long process up to this point.)

The idea behind the conference shakeup – which passed at the state’s legislative council meeting in January – was to split teams into seven, fairly even conferences for the next two-year cycle. The belief was giving teams an equal opportunity in league play outweighed the lengthy travel some programs will face because of it.

“I think the conferences are fine – they’re competitive,” Doherty coach Jeff Krumlauf said. “The one thing that I would like to see is conferences stay a solid conference for more than two years to build those rivalries. It’s good, though.”

The new alignment ended a league rivalry between Doherty and Fountain-Fort Carson that spanned six years and three leagues. The Trojans and Spartans were in the Continental-South League from 2014-2015, the Pioneer League from 2012-2013 and the Colorado Springs Metro League from 2010-2011.

Doherty AD Chris Noll confirmed via text message that the two schools are scheduled to face each other in nonconference play in each of the next two seasons. This year, they’ll meet at Garry Berry Stadium on Sept. 30.

“Conference or no conference that’s definitely a rivalry that’s been pretty awesome,” Krumlauf said. “Great fan bases on both sides. Every year is a great game. It can come down to the wire or quadruple overtime.”

In other nonconference games, Doherty faces Palmer on Sept. 16. And on the same day, Fountain-Fort Carson hosts Pine Creek.