Brad Page addressed the elephant in Woodland Park football’s locker room early on. The year 2025 isn’t for rebuilding. 

“We definitely want to get a home playoff game, we want to go deep into the playoffs, we want to circle that state championship,” Page said. “I told them don’t make any Thanksgiving plans because we’re going to be playing in the state championship.”

Page, who is the Panthers’ coach, may be new to the team, Woodland Park High School, and the Woodland Park community in general, but he certainly understands the assignment. 

Page took over for Chad Drummond, who led the Panthers to their best year ever, a 9-0 regular-season record and a league title, last season.

Drummond and a host of seniors from last year have moved on, but those who remain are hungry for more success.  

“We’re coming into the season like we never changed because we really haven’t,” senior wideout Chance Hancock said. “We might be the younger class, we lost a lot of seniors, but we still have that grit, that mentality, that relentlessness that we had last year.”

Grit and relentlessness are two key components of the team’s mentality, especially on defense. In their 2024 campaign, the Panthers held opponents to an average of just over 11 points.

“We just really don’t like people scoring on us,” Hancock said with a smile. “That’s about it.” 

According to fellow senior Spencer Cross, the motto of being a “relentless 11” is at the heart of the sport. 

“Relentless 11 is kind of our core, just nonstop, don’t stop,” Cross said. “I’ve known it since the entire time I’ve played here. It’s just the nonstop, you’re always going, you don’t let up, and it’s the moral of the game. You don’t give your opponent any sort of let up.”

Offensively, the Panthers averaged more than 35 points behind the play of senior quarterback Marqus Schoenberger, who threw for more than 1,100 yards and 13 scores. His passing yardage ranked in the top 15 in 2A. He also tacked on nearly 700 rushing yards and 14 scores on the ground. Former senior running back Trey Reed added 11 rushing touchdowns.

But talk to this year’s seniors and one thing becomes clear: regular-season accolades aren’t enough. Woodland Park fell 33-31 to Sterling at home in the opening round of the playoffs. The Panthers missed the postseason in 2023, and two years prior, the team was also eliminated in the first round. 

Hancock and Cross want their final season in Woodland Park green to be different.

“I just want to leave a legacy, not just personally, but leave a legacy for the Woodland Park football team and show that we can go to state, and we can actually win a playoff game,” Cross said. “I think everyone here, seeing how close we got and just falling slightly short, I think everyone’s just ready to punch our ticket there, to that last game and get the ball rolling. “

Page sees the path to a successful season, not just in terms of the schedule, which is identical to last year’s except home and away games are flipped, but in terms of the talent still in the locker room.

“We have a really, really good team top to bottom,” he said. “We have upperclassmen that are great, and then there’s underclassmen who have a lot of talent too. Our eighth-grade team last year won the league. So they have a lot of talent top to bottom, and we also have some big linemen.”

As for changes, Page is keeping the team’s defensive system similar. Offensively, Page is introducing a new system that will help the team play faster and pass more than in previous years. 

Page has found something special in Woodland Park. He and his wife came to Colorado looking for a place to settle and put down some roots. Beyond finding a supportive community to help achieve that goal, Page, who came from Oregon and has previous coaching stops in Arizona and New England, inherited a team that’s special.

“I’ve been really impressed with the discipline and the good attitude and work ethic that these kids already have,” he said. “Usually, I’ve come into a program and you’re having to rebuild all those things, and teaching the kids how to keep their helmets on and stop cussing and things like that. These kids are already very respectful and they’re really bought in and they listen. You usually just have to tell them once and they’re doing it.”

Woodland Park 67, Lincoln 0

Bryce Bischoff rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another as the Panthers dominated the Lancers.

Brandon Lewis and Joey Williams each threw for two more scores. Nathan Summeril caught three TDs.

Woodland Park scored 50 points in the first quarter.