Thornton senior running back Keynan Huguley is one of the big reasons the Trojans are off to a 5-0 start this season. They face Brighton this week in a key league showdown.
Photo by Alan Hart
The sudden upsurge of excitement and enthusiasm surrounding the
Thornton football program is overtly palpable, even if the historical significance of the Trojans' impressive start is shrouded somewhat in mystery.
Compiling a 5-0 record while decimating its opponents along the way, Thornton is off to its best start in decades. Just how long it has been, however, since the program's previous 5-0 start is a little difficult to pinpoint.
Head coach Mike Marquez believes the Trojans' last 5-0 start was during Thornton's undefeated 1988 season. That's what Marquez been telling his players, anyway. But the truth is the school records throughout the 1990's are a little murky.
Which probably isn't too surprising, given that the Trojans suffered a number forgettable campaigns during that era.
Yet that also is what has made this season's impressive start so much more enjoyable. Thornton will be looking to extend its hot start while serving notice last year's late collapse is squarely in the Trojans' rear-view mirror when they host
Brighton in a key Class 5A East Metro League showdown on Friday.
"We started 4-0 last year and I think that was the first time that had been done in a decade," Marquez said. "But we've had such a bigger commitment this year. We averaged 85 guys in the weight room for workouts over the summer. We even had a handful of seniors come out after not playing the last few years, and they realized they wouldn't see the field with the depth we have now in the program.
"We didn't maybe expect the way we've been winning, but we expected to be strong."
Thornton has steadily rebuilt its program under Marquez, a former coach at Northglenn who is in his fourth season with the Trojans. Thornton had won only two games in four years before Marquez's arrival, and they won two in his debut season of 2009.
In 2010 the Trojans improved to 3-6, and expectations rose when Thornton began the 2011 season with a 4-0 mark. But the Trojans' youth and inexperience slowly caught up with them while dropping five of the final six games last year.
Despite surrendering an average of 47.2 points during those five losses, the late slump served as motivation as the Trojans matured in the weight room throughout the offseason.
"Last year we were young and we started about 15 sophomores," Marquez said. "We started strong but we hit a wall. We have better depth now. We have only two (offensive) guys who play part-time on defense, but that's it. We don't have to have everyone go both ways anymore. And at the skill positions, we're as deep as any team that I've coached."
No one among that deep cast of skill players has been as electric as running back
Keynan Huguley. The senior has averaged 160.8 rushing yards per game, compiling 804 overall while scoring 12 touchdowns (11 rushing, one receiving).
As the primary weapon on an offense that is averaging 43.8 points a game, Huguley has put up his big numbers in somewhat limited duty, given how the Trojans have jumped quickly to huge leads in all five games.
That should change this week. Brighton, along with Thornton, is one of three teams who won their East Metro opener last week. Although nearly half the season will remain after this week's tilt, the Brighton-Thornton winner will own the inside track at the conference crown. Huguley promises Thornton plans to put together its best all-around game of the season.
"All this week, we've been practicing even harder to be in fourth-quarter shape," Huguley said. "We'll have to be in shape and be able to overcome adversity. We haven't really been behind, but if we do go down, we have to be able to overcome that and come back. This has definitely been fun, but it also has made everyone work that much harder."
