The Manitou Springs High School football team has been putting in a lot of work for the upcoming season after their 4-5 losing season last year. The team played in a scrimmage against Peyton Junior-Senior High School and Denver Christian High School on Aug. 23. Although the scrimmages weren’t scored, the team was happy with the outcome and has momentum going into the season.
The class of 2025 is the first graduating class to have Head Coach, Stuart Jeck as their only coach throughout their football careers at MSHS.
“There’s a saying that your fourth year is kind of your litmus test and it’s really about what your team looks like after four years under your command,” Jeck said. “So I’m extremely excited for the opportunity.”
Team leader Logan Moore (12) agrees that the consistency with Jeck as a coach for the past four years has helped build a connection. “We know this is his first senior class and we’ve definitely built a connection with Jeck,” Moore said. “We would die for him. He’d die for us. He’s a great guy.”
Jeck began preparing the team for the season starting in May of 2024 and throughout the summer
with team lifts for two hours each day. Many seniors like Ashur Lavigne agree that this has helped them grow as a team. “This summer has been different from every other year because we’ve been lifting four times a week, every single week for two hours with the whole team,” Lavigne said. “It’s really creating good team chemistry and letting us grow and get to our full potential for this year.”
The team lifts over the summer have also brought the team together outside of events according to Moore. “After lifts this summer, we would go get stuff to eat; and we were connected all summer long,” Moore said. “We love each other.”
This season Jeck hopes to continue to win games and teach the team how to be good people once they graduate. “I think my goal as a coach is to raise these young men the right way, prepare them for what life has ahead and win some football games,” Jeck said.
The team’s seniors, however, hope to make it to the playoffs for their last season at MSHS. “I think a good goal would be to make it to the playoffs first and then from there, you know, just give ourselves a chance to compete,” Moore said.
The team’s first game is at MSHS against Rye High School on Aug. 29. The team’s seniors hope to win after the longstanding rivalry between them and Rye. “We definitely have a rivalry with Rye, just because of all the stuff that they’ve said about us. The goal is obviously to win but also just see who steps up,” Moore said.
Lavigne hopes to win against Rye since his class hasn’t during their time at MSHS. “I think this Rye game is going to look really good for us because as seniors, we haven’t beat them ever,” Lavinge said. “So we’re back for blood and we wanna destroy them this year.”
