New coaches, new practice styles and one goal. To win.

And for the first three games, it looked like the varsity football team was on track to meet their goal. 

Unfortunately, the ‘25 football season took a downward turn due to injuries and a lack of depth, going from sneaking into first-round playoffs with only four wins last season to a 3-7 record.

For the first time in the last five years, Rock Canyon did not go to the playoffs. 

With a season starting off positively, the losing season was a bit unexpected.

“I think we had a great offseason, great summer program, starting three and 0 was definitely a strength for us,”  Head Coach Nick Artinger said. “We ran into some really tough teams over the next couple of weeks, and injuries played a part in a lot of that happening.” 

The season started with a win 52-15 against Chaparral and two more following against Fossil Ridge 36-6 and Douglas County 42-21.

“First game’s mission was just to go 1-0 and get a win,” long snapper Brodie Lyle ‘26 said. “The last was for the seniors to leave it all on the field.” 

“The first game we won, it was a 50 bomb, and everyone was on cloud nine, and we couldn’t have been more excited then the final game at the very end, it wasn’t joyous at all, but we weren’t sad,” defensive end Kane Wright ‘26 said. “We were just disappointed in how our season ended, but we were all glad we got to experience it together.”

The Jags’ first loss was against Grandview Sept. 20, 37-0, followed by a 33-14 loss against Arapahoe for the Homecoming game Sept. 25.

The Fruita Monument game happened during a torrential downpour, making ball handling a major issue in the game. Which ended in a 35-13 loss. 

What happened?

A lack of depth was evident early in the season, which led to a 7-game losing streak and no chance at the playoffs. 

“Injuries were a killer this year. In my 10 plus years of coaching, I’ve never had to start more than seven different linemen during a season. This year, I had to start 10, even moving starters around to different positions. Three players were concussed for multiple games, two had MCL strains and one had a high ankle sprain that kept them out of play,” Offensive Line Coach and Run Game Coordinator Rob Rathbun said.

By the end of the season, there were 744 reported rehabs for injuries within the entire program. Reported rehabs are each time an athlete checks into the athletic trainers for some sort of injury or their recovery plan.  

“What’s worse is that the lines were so depleted compared to previous years at RC that all of the linemen played both ways and rarely had breaks from the field of play. We had a lot of younger players get good experience for the future, but the lack of depth hurt us overall,” Rathbun said.

At the beginning of the season, there was also hope for the addition of a passing game to an already solid run game offense with the new leadership style. 

However, the Jags ended with 1258 passing yards and 1507 rushing yards (and 14 turnovers). 

“I think it’s [the season] just going through a lot of change, and when there’s a lot of change, sometimes there’s some dimension bumps in the road that happen, because it’s something that a group of kids is used to doing something a little bit different for three years,” Artinger said.

The stat leaders were running back Noah Jadd ‘26 with 597 rushing yards–even with two missed games due to injuries–and quarterback Evan Diebold ‘26 with 1159 passing yards, who had a passing completion rate of 46.1% with right passing touchdowns and nine interceptions. 

“This season definitely wasn’t the outcome we wanted, and it sucked because we put in so much hard work in the off-season,” Safety Gabe Alderate ‘26 said.

Another change within the season was the number of captains–a total of eight, rather than the traditional four. 

Senior captains were wide receiver Kai Ingrassia, running back Mason Mills, offensive lineman Jackson Bond, defensive end Kane Wright, wide receiver Ellis Watson, linebacker Levi Shield, offensive lineman Preston Duman and quarterback Evan Diebold.

“We had some great captains,” running back Noah Jadd ‘26 said. “You can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink … We could’ve done a much better job if we were more of a family. All of this includes me–I do not point fingers. I say all of this as a collective, including me.”

Some of the players felt the high number of captains contributed to a season full of miscommunication. 

“The leadership is best explained as a rollercoaster throughout the year,” offensive lineman Henry Brant ‘26 said. “It started at first when we elected captains through a vote, and some people weren’t happy with who was selected, and that led to the addition of two more captains. This just felt like too much, and some of the captains weren’t totally integrated into the idea of leadership, which didn’t help the team that much. The coaches also stepped in to help lead, but they wanted it, rightfully, for the leadership of the team to be mainly on the players.”

Throughout the season, other weaknesses came out in the team, affecting the season. 

“I think our main weakness was being selfish. I feel like we were much more of a family all around during the beginning of the season rather than the end. We were pointing fingers and growing apart from our coaches, which reflected in our record,” Jadd said. 

Another Rock Canyon weakness is transferring, due to Douglas County’s open enrollment, it has turned into a transfer portal, with students choosing to go to different schools for sports. 

“A lot of it [transfers] stemmed from college, with its transfer portal. Everything is so much in common nowadays, where the second somebody doesn’t see success or something they want that they want to go somewhere else,” Artinger said. “My feeling at the end of the day is that if we want kids that truly want to be here…then, you know, we truly want the kids in the program that really, really want to be here.”

According to the 2024-25 CHSAA Bylaws, open enrollment does not allow for transferring between schools for sports if the family does not move as well; they must wait 365 days before being allowed to play at a varsity level.

The Jags have already begun after-school workouts for next season and plan on a fresh start in August. 

Gallery • 10 Photos

media by Quinn Barton

Wide receiver Kai Ingrassia ‘26 and Head Coach Nick Artinger close their eyes as the national anthem plays before the home opener, Sept. 5 at Echo Park Stadium against Fossil Ridge. “I mean, it's, it's credit to our players and our staff. It's exciting to watch these guys reap the benefits of everything that we put into hard work-wise, lifting the morning sessions, the running, putting them through the grind the last eight months to see them reap the benefits is really fun to see,” Artinger said.