Northfield, one of Colorado’s fastest-rising football programs, trounces Skyline in Class 4A playoffs

When Ben Startzer took over as head coach of Northfield football he might as well have been buying prep football penny stocks At that time in the Nighthawks were amid an inauspicious football genesis Northfield had only opened five years prior and the football venture was struggling to find its footing The Nighthawks were - across their first two seasons in Class A with the majority of their defeats coming via running clock I really thought Northfield was a diamond in the rough but in my first initiative meeting only kids revealed up Startzer recalled The meeting was in a classroom and it wasn t even full And I was like Oh boy this is going to be thought-provoking There was so little hope in the venture at that time In the five seasons since Northfield football has turned into a upsurge stock The Nighthawks continued that ascent on Friday at All-City Stadium smashing Skyline - in the first round of the Class A playoffs in a battle that was never close The triumph improved the Nighthawks to - on the year setting a venture record for wins at a school that is showing no signs of letting up in its athletic progression While the football effort which will move up to Class A for the next two-year cycle that starts in has established itself as a perennial playoff gang under Startzer other Nighthawks programs have also burst onto the scene Both boys and girls soccer have won state titles with the former already claiming two and in the running for a third this fall The track and field programs are strong with the boys winning the Class A title And both basketball programs have of late made deep state tournament runs Startzer believes the time for his project s breakout is next at the fledgling DPS high school located in northeast Denver The Nighthawks participation about kids in the effort this season and talent just continue to increase We re starting to retain chosen of the talent that would naturally go down south and go down I- and attend particular of those suburban schools Startzer disclosed They re starting to stick around and the jump to A is going to help even more with that If I don t screw it up we should be pretty good for the years to come Northfield High School head coach head coach Ben Startzer talks with an official during a Colorado State A playoff meeting against Skyline High School on Friday Nov at All City Stadium in Denver Photo by Timothy Hurst The Denver Post On Friday against outmatched Skyline the Nighthawks displayed the talent that s allowed them to morph from a organization that got continually mercy-ruled into one that has made the playoffs in five of the six seasons under Startzer Senior safety outside linebacker Elian Oliva an Air Force commit was a dynamo The band s defensive headliner led Northfield with tackles solo with tackles for loss and five sacks coming into Friday and Skyline had little success containing him Oliva caught a pair of two-point conversions to help Northfield race out to a - first-quarter lead recovered a fumble and also had an interception that set up another count early in the second quarter He looked like he did not belong on a high school field as he made a play on the ball every time Skyline attempted to throw his way Up front senior Kahlil Williams and junior Rico Henderson plugged up the middle of the line while junior Ben Rink and sophomore Lucas Lawson brought athleticism to the defensive end positions that Skyline couldn t match Urban Meyer or Bill Parcells would say it all starts with your defensive line and that s really the strength of our unit right now Startzer declared They can affect the encounter in so plenty of means On the other side of the ball junior quarterback Cash Lacy threw pinpoint passes while efficiently managing the Nighthawks no-huddle offense Add in a potent running back combination in senior Zavious Chineth and junior Kaeden Williams hard-to-guard wideouts in sophomore DJ Lewis and sophomore Antione Collins and a jackknife in junior Jayanthony Yancey and the only thing that stopped the Nighthawks offense on Friday was occasionally themselves Northfield High School running back Zavious Chineth twisted into the end zone against Skyline High School during a Colorado State A playoff competition on Friday Nov at All City Stadium in Denver Photo by Timothy Hurst The Denver Post Now the going gets steep for Northfield to make a deep push in the Class A playoffs especially considering its undersized offensive line They play at Pueblo West - in next week s second round A win over the Cyclones would likely set up a showdown against top-seeded undefeated Dakota Ridge in the quarterfinals Related Articles CHSAA state football playoffs How the first round played out in Class A and A Colorado high school football playoffs primer Favorites challengers dark horses and burning questions Why Sand Creek was left out of Class A football playoffs despite - record No ranking in seeding index CHSAA state football championships brackets results Coronado s Oliver Horton sets all-classification state meet record to win Class A cross country title This company is really confident right now Cash Lacy noted We ve gotten a lot of pieces back from injury down the stretch If we play to our ability we think we can win it all Whatever happens the rest of way Oliva believes Northfield is in position to emerge as a Class A force in the coming years thanks to rising enrollment as well as the activity s increased attractiveness to youth players both in the school s attendance area and outside of it As we move towards A and as our school continues to develop and age I think we re coming close to the point where we re getting really good young classes and it s going to be something special in a sparse years Oliva reported Down the road the coming freshman classes will be bigger in physical size and in numbers and they re already getting more skilled In the next five years as we build the venture in A we should be a playoff contender every year Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams