Montbello looks to build on football win over Denver South

The 31-24 football victory by Montbello (Denver) against Denver South last Saturday afternoon at Evie Dennis Field was four years in the making.

Sure, the Warriors put in the requisite work during the summer and prepared diligently during the week for their showdown with the Rebels. But the seeds for the win, arguably Montbello's biggest in more than a dozen years, were sowed before the 2010 season, when athletic director Tyrone Cephers approached John Trahan about taking over the program.

Trahan, who had recently won a state title as the school's track coach, was hesitant. The Warriors had struggled for years on the gridiron and were coming off a winless season. Plus, he understood the challenges he would face in trying to build a successful program at the school.

"There was a lot to deal with. There was a lot of turnover in the administration at the school, so the kids saw there was no consistency," Trahan said. "A lot of them were dealing with difficult home life situations and eligibility was a big problem."

Not to mention the top talent from the area was choosing to go elsewhere. Players that Montbello might be able to build around were playing instead for schools like Regis Jesuit (Aurora), Mullen (Denver) and Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch).

But Cephers convinced Trahan they were going to build the program the right way. Football was going to be secondary. I

Instead, Trahan and Cephers gave the players a foundation to build on, goals to reach and showed them that they needed to have plans for what to do after high school. They also instituted eligibility requirements that were tougher than the ones the Colorado High School Activities Association had set as the standard.

"You could have two F's and still play under CHSAA rules," Trahan said. "If our kids have D's they can't play."

Trahan admitted he faced a lot of pushback from parents in the community at first. He and his staff also weren't able to do a whole lot of coaching the first two years because they were dealing with so many off-the-field issues.

But Trahan could see the plan was working. The average GPA of the players increased from 1.98 in 2010 to 3.0 this season and they were able to keep players in the program.

One such player, senior quarterback A.J. Thompson, made the signature play in Saturday's win over Denver South. Thompson was a freshman in 2010 and was part of the program when it went 3-17 during Trahan's first two years at the helm.

"As a freshman we knew how talented he was," Trahan said. "And you feel for a kid like that. Our program was down for so long, there were no college recruiters coming around, there were no scholarship offers coming those first few years. But we told him to wait, and when they see him compete against the best talent out there, they'll recognize his talent."

With time running down and the game tied, the Warriors faced an impossible third-and-43 near midfield. When the ball was snapped, Thompson couldn't find an open receiver and was forced to tuck the ball and run.

Fifty-three yards and several burned defenders later, Thompson was in the end zone, the Warriors had a 31-24 lead and Montbello was minutes away from pulling off the upset against second-ranked Denver South, a team that had played in the 4A state championship game last season.

"I felt so good for him, and for all the kids that have been with the program and have taken their lumps since the beginning," Trahan said. "That is the most pleasurable thing as a coaching staff you get to see."

Trahan said that since the win he has already received several calls from college recruiters about Thompson. A 6-foot-1, 175-pounder, Thompson is averaging 191 yards passing a game and has an 11-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He is also the team's second leading rusher with 126 yards and three scores on the ground.

Thompson has a lot of weapons to work with, including Marquille Jones (18 receptions, 280 yards, 4 TDs), Jante Gadson (11-175, 3 TDs) and Gerardo Barraza (11-133, 2 TDs). Jarell Nettles is the top ground gainer with 146 yards and five scores on 31 carries.

The Warriors have also been stout on defense, holding opponents to a little more than 14 points a game. They've also been opportunistic, with eight interceptions (Kerry Jones and Dakari Lawrence with two each) and four fumble recoveries.
Nettles also leads a defensive front that has 14 sacks – Nettles has four while Barkari Turner and Malik Bishop have three each.

"Everyone talks about how explosive our offense is, but we can score on defense and special teams, too," Trahan said.

While Trahan said the win over Denver South was great for the program, it won't mean a lot if Montbello doesn't keep it going. The Warriors, who climbed to No. 6 in the CHSAA coaches poll, host perennial power and fifth-ranked Wheat Ridge on Friday before embarking on Mountain League play against No. 7 Standley Lake on Oct. 3.

"That was the discussion we had with the kids – the South game is done and over with," Trahan said. "It won't mean anything if we don't handle our business the rest of the way."