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Bears, Demons capture all-conference accolades

Staff Report

Five Rifle High School football players and a trio of Glenwood Springs gridders were named to the Class 4A Western Slope All-Conference first team recently.

Rifle had a pair of linemen feted in seniors Greg Gustad and Josh Gomez. The three other Bears players on the first team all played in the defensive backfield. Seniors Troy Weiss and J.R. Childress ” who both also had solid seasons at running back ” along with Aaron Jewell, a wide receiver on the offensive side of the ball, all earned first-team honors. Jesse Long and Rocky Rauman were honorable mention selections.

For Glenwood, senior running backs Matt Wilson and Mike Hoban, who also spent much of the season at the quarterback position, got the first-team nod. Wilson and Hoban played linebacker and defensive back, respectively, on defense. Fellow senior Ryan Erickson, a lineman on both sides of the ball, was also a first-team selection. Kyle Earlywine earned honorable mention kudos.



Class 4A state champion Palisade led the conference with seven first-team selections, including lineman of the year Matt Popick, special teams player of the year Cody Nystrom and coach of the year Todd Casebier.

Steamboat Springs netted six first-team picks, headed by back of the year David May, the quarterback for the Sailors.



For the complete list of all-conference selections, see Scoreboard on page 11.

Here is the Class 4A Western Slope All Conference team:

Individual awards

Lineman of the year ” Matt Popick, Palisade.

Back of the year ” David May, Steamboat.

Special teams player of the year ” Cody Nystrom, Palisade.

Coach of the year ” Todd Casebier, Palisade.

First team

Palisade ” Cody Nystrom, rb/db, senior. Dustin Harris, qb/db, senior. Matt Popick, ol/dl, senior. Mike Corngrotto, ol/dl, junior. Kyle Britton, rb/db, junior. Tyler Barnes, te/lb, junior. David Groove, ol/dl, senior.

Steamboat Springs ” David May, qb/lb, senior. Lonn Radford, rb/db, senior. Chris Dombey, rb/db, senior. Shea Hurley, rb/db, senior. Mike Herbert, ol/dl, senior. Chris Bauman, ol/dl, junior.

Moffat County ” Aaron Sanchez, rb, senior. Nick Goodenow, de, senior. Scott Garoutte, fb/lb, junior. Shea Carr, lb, senior.

Rifle ” Greg Gustad, ol/dl, senior. Aaron Jewell, wr/db, senior. J.R. Childress, rb/db, senior Josh Gomez, ol/de, senior. Troy Weiss, rb/db, senior.

Glenwood Springs ” Matt Wilson, rb/lb, senior. Mike Hoban, rb/db, senior. Ryan Erickson, ol/dl, senior.

Delta ” Curtis Englehart, wr/db, senior.

Montezuma-Cortez ” Jacob Lindhorst, ol/dl, junior.

Honorable mention

Palisade ” Dustin DeProsbo, Victor Green, Mike Bernal.

Steamboat Springs ” Charlie Pappas, Travis Hodo, Brad Bonner, Casey Earp.

Moffat County ” Cody Palmer, Derek Duran, George Raftopoulos.

Rifle ” Jesse Long, Rocky Rauman.

Glenwood Springs ” Kyle Earlywine.

Delta ” Brett Christie, Blake Carlquist.

Montezuma-Cortez ” Ryan Weber, Dak Walker.


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