Cheyenne Mountain football team ready to kick off season
Last fall, the Cheyenne Mountain High School football team was co-league champion and had its first winning record since 2016.
Coach Jay Saravis, now in his fifth season at the school, believes this year’s gridiron gang can build upon that success.
“We have depth all over the place and the work ethic is there,” Saravis said at a practice last week. “They are a great bunch of kids to coach and they’re smart. We’re in good shape.”
The Red Tail Hawks went 5-2 in 2020 while playing in the Class 4A I-25 Conference. After dropping their season opener at Pueblo West, 42-0, the Hawks dominated Liberty and Palmer by a combined score of 78-6. That was followed by a 24-13 loss to co-league champ Coronado.
Cheyenne Mountain ended its campaign with consecutive victories over Widefield, Niwot and Palmer.
“If we keep working hard, we’ll do pretty well,” said senior tight end/defensive end Jesse Boley.
Senior two-way lineman Matthew Lessard believes this year’s team is the best he’s played on in four years: “We all work well together. Even the seniors with lower classmen. It’s great to see.”
Nico Gagliardi, a senior running back/defensive end, is one of many players on the team who compete in more than one sport.
“We have a group of juniors and seniors who have played together for a long time and most of us are multi-sport athletes,” he said. “We’ve gone through it together with different sports seasons and I think that gives us a really close team that other team’s might not necessarily have.”
Gagliardi and Boley are among several wrestlers on the football team who helped the school to a state wrestling championship last winter. Gagliardi was a state champ at 195 pounds, while Boley took second in the heavyweight division.
Saravis’s runs a balanced offense. As of last week, he had not yet decided on a starting quarterback. The four in the mix is senior Patrick O’Donnell, juniors Jake Quadhamer and Zach Johnson and sophomore Bruce Archambault.
O’Donnell, Quadhamer and Johnson all saw significant action last season, each passing for at least 150 yards.
Junior running back Grant Kunkel, also a wrestler, rushed for 259 yards in 2020, while Gagliardi was right behind him with 256 yards.
Cheyenne Mountain kicks off this season at home Friday against Sand Creek in a non-league game. The Scorpions elected to opt out of the 2020 last fall season and play last spring at the Class 3A level. They went 6-2 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to The Classical Academy.
Sand Creek has a balanced offense led by senior quarterback Caleb Kruse (1,317 yards and 21 touchdowns).
Cheyenne Mountain once again will play in the I-25 Conference. The league also includes Falcon, Liberty, Palmer, Widefield and Thornton.
Non-league opponents include Mitchell, Sierra, Air Academy and Pueblo East.
The Cheyenne Mountain football team includes several seniors. Front row, from left: Tristan Charles, Nico Gagliardi, Andrew Gusty and Patrick O’Donnell. Back row, from left: Jesse Boley, Matthew Lessard, Owen Growney, Sullivan Moon, Colin Ragain and James Birchfield.