Submitted by admin on Sun, 2006-12-03 08:00. ::
Although Alamosa was clearly the better team Saturday, these Hornets pulled off aone-in-a-million run in 2006. After fielding an inexperienced team that struggled to a1-9 finish last season, Pueblo County did a 180 this time around with nearly the exactsame team.
The magnitude of the Hornets' turnaround can't be overstated. A fire burned withinthese players that made them believe they could win, and win they did. Pueblo Countytopped defending state champion Florence, took Alamosa to the limit in the regularseason, rolled up 11 wins and reached the title game for the first time in schoolhistory.
"That's when people's character comes out, after you've had so much adversity andafter you've been kicked down," Pueblo County coach Jeff Wilson said. "The way in whichthey responded this year, you don't find character like that."
The Hornets attacked their offseason program and the weight room. They put animmediate and permanent stop to inner-squad bickering and division. They believed theywould be a much better team in 2006.
They also believed in the type of team they are and the benefits that could produce.The Hornets are physical and tough, they run the ball and stop people from running theball. Although Pueblo County doesn't play with the fireworks of an Alamosa, itssmashmouth style can be equally effective, and it was for these Hornets.
All season, the word "tough" has been the most appropriate and frequently usedadjective to describe this football team. The players seemed to enjoy the fight, enjoythe physicality of the game they played so well. Adversity didn't seen to affect them andthey never seemed intimidated.
This was a team without a big-time superstar, but nearly everyone played at a big-timelevel. This was a true team in the sense there was a genuine belief that it took all 11players on both sides of the football to be successful. And that's the way Pueblo Countyplayed.
Pueblo County football was a lot of fun in 2006. The players were a happy-go-luckygroup, a bunch that filled their locker room with yells and laughter, but stood behindeach other on the field and laid it on the line for their teammates. When a game wasover, they would snap back to their enjoyable, joyous selves.
For the hard-core football fan, it didn't get much better if you like hard-nosed,physical football. The offensive line of Brian Harshman, Jarrett Martinez, Max Stepan,Kyle Houston, Zach Bunn, Nick Hebert, Myles Meserve and Daryk Froman was superb. J.T.Greenhood did a wonderful job directing the offense in his first year at quarterback andthe offensive backfield was second to none.
The Hornets produced three 1,000-yard rushers this season, a rarity at any level offootball. Wearing a cast early in the season, tailback Myles Martinez didn't carry theball regularly until Week 7, but exploded over the last eight games to finish with 1,132yards. Halfback Zach Martinez, who carried the Hornets offensively in 2005, finished with1,171 yards and fullback Joe Pullara had a breakout season with 1,038 yards.
All three also played linebacker and joined with Buddy Gonzales and Ty Martinez toform a fast, hard-hitting quintet of linebackers. Bunn, Jarrett Martinez and MarvinStarkweather tackled a tough job playing defensive line in a 3-5 set and more than heldtheir own. Greenhood, Isaac Hernandez, Josh Muniz and Zack Maes played above expectationsin the defensive backfield.
But the X's and O's, the wins and losses, don't tell nearly the full story about thisfootball team. The Hornets were about resilience and believing in themselves.
"They stuck with the program, worked hard and got themselves to this point," Wilsonsaid. "The winning is the reward, but the way we got here and the things that we did toget here, that's what means the world to me and everybody involved in this."
This is cache, read story here
