The feeling around the Manitou Springs football team after its 49-6 loss to The Classical Academy on Oct. 29 was disappointment. That’s the way it usually goes when a football season concludes, and the team involved doesn’t get to continue into the postseason.
The departing seniors walked off Richardson Field for the final time. A 2-7 record just didn’t sit well with anyone who spent the past three months practicing on hot afternoons and prowling the sidelines during games.
Sometimes, football can be heartbreaking. But this shouldn’t deter anyone away from what this Manitou team was trying to accomplish not just this year, but for the next several years.
Winning the Season C Class 2A state championship last spring was the spark. Coach Cory Archuleta departed and Stu Jeck took over, which truly signaled a new era for the program. With one season now under his belt, he wants to take what he learned this year and use it to help his players to learn in the future.
“We need to emphasize the little things that make good teams great,” Jeck said. “It’s all those little details that we need to be better at in preparation and on game night.”
And it goes beyond that.
Despite this team’s record, the Mustangs are on the early legs of the journey to discover what this football program will look like with Jeck at the helm. His style is laced with passion and he emphasizes the need to compete when taking the field.
Perhaps the biggest area in which he can grow is understanding that losses that are not failures that must fall entirely on his shoulders.
“He’s going to do well,” Ethan Boren said. “He put way too much pressure on himself this year. We kept telling him it’s his first year. He’ll do well and he’ll be here for a long time.”
Boren can already see the seeds that are being planted with Jeck in charge and is optimistic about the future of the program. Although he is leaving, along with other standout seniors Tate Christian and Parker Salladay, plenty of players are coming back to give Manitou a solid base.
Nate Gentzel will be the quarterback for the next two years and Tyler Maloney will return as a leader on both sides of the ball. And beyond that, underclassmen seem to feel encouraged about Manitou Springs football.
“There are a lot of young kids that want to work,” Boren said.
“After the game I told them to keep working and they’ll get to where they want to be. Just the amount of young people we have gives hope for the program, for sure.”