The triviality of any sporting event at Columbine High School can’t be overstated in comparison to the shooting rampage that left 13 students dead a decade ago.
Yet what can’t be understated was the role of athletics in the healing process, particularly that of the football team. Just seven months after the killings in 1999, the Rebels won the Class 5A state championship.
Coach Andy Lowry, who also guided Columbine to state titles in 2000, 2002 and 2006, recalls with a sense of deep admiration the drive of his players during that 1999 season. They dedicated themselves to their fallen classmates, their school and their community.
“There was such an emotional aspect to that year,” Lowry says. “Football is the ultimate team sport and the kids played with such emotion and a belief in family. It was a perfect recipe for our program. After that championship game (against Cherry Creek), we all broke down in tears. It was a miracle season.
“I think the team has played a part in the healing. There have been times when we’ve all felt so much pain, but I think we’ve helped bring the school and community together. There’s nothing we can do to bring those 13 people back. I would trade all those championships to bring them back.”
Both the pain and healing continues to this day. And so does the success of the Rebels, who swept through the 2007 regular season undefeated before falling in the quarterfinals in a game that broke a 24-game winning streak.
Lowry credits the South Jeffco Youth Association for providing well-honed players for his team. The organization feeds two other high schools in Littleton, which rests just 15 miles south of Denver.
“They do a great job,” he says. “They start the kids off playing football at about six years old and continue right through eighth grade. We don’t have middle school athletics in our county and that kind of hurts us, so thank goodness for Jeffco.
“I’d say about 85 percent of our players have come through there. There’s a big difference in those kids in terms of confidence level and knowledge of the game. They’re able to come in and deliver a hit or take a hit with confidence, especially the ones who have had coaches who have done a good job teaching them technique and the fundamentals of the game.”
While other high school teams around the country have switched to a spread offense and opened up their attacks, Lowry is quite content to maintain a physical style that emphasizes the run almost exclusively. Though defenses often place nine or 10 in the box, they still haven’t figured out a way to stop the Rebels.
Moreover, many defensive coaches now concentrate week after week on creating schemes to slow down spread offenses. Lowry and his assistants consider that an advantage.
“People don’t see the kind of offense we run very often now, but we’re used to seeing the spread offense every week,” Lowry explains. “That plays into our hands a little bit. Plus, I think tradition helps us out. We have a lot of pride and tradition here.”
Lowry had been utilizing a base 4-3 defense with few bells and whistles, but has been forced to switch to a 3-2 against the growing number of spread offenses his team has faced.
A perennially strong offensive line powers the Columbine running game. While skill position players generally receive far more attention at most school and in football at all levels, Lowry singles out his linemen.
“I try to sell them as the unsung heroes, as the stars of the team,” he says.
Those “stars” have included two-way lineman Dusty Hoffschneider, a remarkable fireplug-type at 5-foot-8, 230 pounds who graduated in 2001 before playing at both the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Wyoming. Hoffschneider, who also won three state wrestling championships at Columbine, started on the Wyoming team that pulled a stunning Las Vegas Bowl upset of UCLA in 2004.
Brother Jason Hoffschneider graduated a year later and played defensive back for the University of Colorado before transferring to the University of North Dakota and blossoming into one of the all-time interception leaders at that school.
Another premier lineman who suited up for the Rebels was 315-pound Ryan Miller, who started as a true freshman last season for the University of Colorado and is touted as a future NFL player.
Defensive tackle Curtis Cunningham also shined along the Columbine line. A two-time Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year, he was also an all-state pick in baseball. In one state semifinal game, he hit three home runs in as many at bats with seven RBI.
Two of the premier skill position players at Columbine have been quarterback Tanner Rogers and running back/safety Mike Madsen. The former keyed what proved to be one of the most prolific offenses in national high school football history as one of three 1,000-yard rushers in 2002. The latter also exceeded 1,000 yards rushing in the mid-1990s before taking his talents to Brigham Young University.
All but Madsen performed on teams with greater responsibility than merely winning football games.
The tragedy at Columbine can never be forgotten. But the football team has taken its role as healers and run with it.
And Andy Lowry is very proud of that.
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.