25 years is a long time.

Former Mitchell Marauder running back Jerry Scott has been waiting for his number to be called for even longer. 

On Tuesday, Scott and the rest of the state champion 1975 Mitchell football team were enshrined in Colorado Springs sports history and the 25th Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame put on by the Colorado Springs Sports Corp.

“I’m speechless. I am so excited to be a part of this whole program,” he said.  “It took them a while, 50 years, but I’m glad to be here, I’m glad to be recognized, we worked hard as a football team.”  

Surrounding the dining tables at the ceremony inside the World Arena was the walk of fame, a series of posterboards on easels detailing each Hall of Fame class from the year 2000 to this fall. The Marauders added their legend to a growing list of incredible sports stories centered around the Pikes Peak Region.

A senior running back at Mitchell that season, Scott helped the Marauders capture the state title by winning 12 consecutive games after a 7-6 opening loss to Arvada West. Mitchell defeated defending champion Denver Kennedy 9-0 in the middle of a snowstorm on a 17-degree day.

After missing a two-point conversion in that season-opening loss, Scott said he and his teammates made a promise to each other.

“As a team, we all got together, the coaches weren’t involved, and we said that this will never happen again,” Scott said. “At that time, three-quarters of the team they committed themselves, they wanted to get better, it would never happen again and we worked hard at practice, offense and defense. We didn’t let nothing slide.”

Scott and his teammates wore cleats on the gridiron, but many of those in attendance on Tuesday wore sneakers. For the 25th year of the event, officials with the Colorado Springs Sports Corp added a fun twist to the evening’s festivities.

“Every year it’s kind of cocktail or gala attire and so we’re like, ‘Why don’t we do a sneaker gala this year?’” Colorado Springs Sports Corp marketing, communication and PR manager Lauren DeMarco said.  “And then proceeds, if you donate $5, you get to wear sneakers with your fancy clothes, and then those $5 proceeds will go toward the Empty Stocking Fund.”

The Empty Stocking Fund is a nonprofit that raises funds for 20 health and human service agencies helping people in the Pikes Peak Region. 

Joining the 1975 Marauders were a host of notable athletes, including Doherty High School basketball star Valerie Johnson, Doherty volleyball star turned pro and Olympic medalist Haleigh Washington, and the late Ralph Bruning, a notable racer who earned 17 podium finishes over 27 years of competing in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Ben Garland, a former Air Force offensive lineman who went on to play for the Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers, was also inducted. He played in Super Bowls XLVIII, LI and LIV.

“I’m so unbelievably humbled. If you told me as a kid that I was going to go into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame, there’s no way I would believe you,” Garland said. “Even now, when I got the phone call, I was so shocked. There’s so many incredible people that have come before me and gone. To see my name, this early too, I was shocked.”

Garland understands the privilege and the honor that he and the rest of the hall of fame inductees have as they joined a group that Colorado Springs mayor Yemi Mobolade called the community’s finest. 

“Each year, this night reminds us of why Colorado Springs isn’t just any city, it is Olympic City, USA. A place where excellence isn’t confined to just a field or court. It is part of our city’s DNA,” Mobolade said. “Truly, this is about what sports reveal about the human spirit. Sports teaches us that greatness is not born in comfort. It is forged in discipline, teamwork, resilience, the refusal to quit when the odds are against you.”

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Full list of inductees

1975 Mitchell Football team

1984 Fountain-Fort Carson girls and boys track and field. 

Ben Garland

Haleigh Washington 

Jay Engeln 

Joe Sisneros 

Ralph Bruning 

Valerie Johnson

Special Awards 

Colorado Senior games athlete of the year

Andy Butterfield 

Outstanding commissioner award 

Alan Mills

Colonel F. Don Miller Service Award

Teenand Anderson

John “Jack” Chamney

Thayer Tutt Sportsman Award

Dan Foster 

Pikes Peak Community Legacy Award

Pikes Peak Road Runners