Dominant Denton: Trojans set sights on another 6-Man title
By MIKE ZIMMER
Gazette Sports Editor
| Posted: Thursday, September 29, 2011 11:30 pm
Denton’s move from Class C 8-Man football to the 6-Man ranks was reluctant, to say the least.
“We tried to stay in 8-Man as long as we could,” said seventh-year Trojans coach Scott Sparks. “We were pretty well established in 8-Man (Denton moved up from 6-Man to 8-Man in 1991) and we wanted to stay.
“But it just got to the point where we had no depth. Our last year in 8-Man (2008), we had a few injuries and we finished the season with 10 kids … that just doesn’t work. And we had some smaller numbers in our lower grades, so we made the move to 6-Man … and it’s been good for us.”
Indeed it has.
Denton is 26-1 since moving to 6-Man in 2009. The Trojans’ only loss was to Roy-Winifred in the 2009 championship game, and they’ve won 16 straight since – including a 58-38 win over Savage in last year’s title game.
That run has coincided with a string of good quarterbacks and the remarkable running back tandem of Cole Jelinek and Joel DeVries. Both are currently seniors, and the numbers they’ve put up in their high school careers leave no secret to the Trojans’ success.
Jelinek, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder, has amassed 1,838 rushing yards, 1,985 receiving yards and 80 touchdowns – 40 receiving, 37 rushing and three on returns - in four seasons.
DeVries, a 5-7, 155-pounder, has rushed for 2,688 yards and 41 TDs and tallied 570 receiving yards with seven TDs in his career.
“It’s definitely a luxury having those two kids,” said Sparks. “They really complement each other. Cole is more of a straight-ahead, downhill runner and Joel is a really quick, perimeter-type player.
“They both catch the ball really well, and they’re both unselfish kids. They’re not worried about who’s getting more touches in a game, and they’re just as happy blocking for each other as they are running the ball.”
Jelinek said being on the varsity since their freshman year has been a bonus for the running back tandem.
“Joel and I have played so much together that we both know what the other one is doing on every play,” he said. “We play a split-back offense, so we’re both on the field all the time. We block for each other when we run the ball and we can both split out and play receiver when we throw the ball.”
The Trojans have been led by three different quarterbacks in the last three seasons. Jordan Lahr finished up his stint as a four-year starter in 2009, Brandon Bury held the job last season and Mitch Ward is calling the signals this season.
“All three of those kids have done a great job of running our offense,” said Sparks, a Lewistown native who has coached the Lewistown Legion baseball team for the past 11 summers. “We try to play the same style of power football that we played in 8-Man. We run the ball first and then do some play-action passing off of that.
“The thing that’s helped us the most in the move to 6-Man is that we have better practices. We can go 6-on-6 in practice and really work on some things. It’s really helped us prepare for games.”
Julius Frehse, Shay Goettemoeller and Jarryd Lahr join Jelinek and DeVries as seniors on this year’s team. The group has not lost a regular-season game since their freshman year.
“Having five seniors that have played that much together really helps us,” said Jelinek. “Since we’ve been freshmen we’ve been in the weight room getting stronger and working to get better.
“Our whole team works hard. We do conditioning twice in every practice, so we don’t get as tired as other teams. We try to make our practices harder than the games … you can really see that pay off in the second half of our games.”
NOTES: Denton’s state title last season was the second in school history and their 10th appearance in a championship game. The Trojans won the 6-Man title in 1990, were 6-Man runners-up in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 2009 and 8-Man runners-up in 1991, 1994 and 1999. … Sparks is in his 10th year as the head boys basketball coach in Denton. He previously coached in Denton in 1999 and 2000. He then coached two years in Columbus before returning to Denton in 2004.
By MIKE ZIMMER
Gazette Sports Editor
| Posted: Thursday, September 29, 2011 11:30 pm
Denton’s move from Class C 8-Man football to the 6-Man ranks was reluctant, to say the least.
“We tried to stay in 8-Man as long as we could,” said seventh-year Trojans coach Scott Sparks. “We were pretty well established in 8-Man (Denton moved up from 6-Man to 8-Man in 1991) and we wanted to stay.
“But it just got to the point where we had no depth. Our last year in 8-Man (2008), we had a few injuries and we finished the season with 10 kids … that just doesn’t work. And we had some smaller numbers in our lower grades, so we made the move to 6-Man … and it’s been good for us.”
Indeed it has.
Denton is 26-1 since moving to 6-Man in 2009. The Trojans’ only loss was to Roy-Winifred in the 2009 championship game, and they’ve won 16 straight since – including a 58-38 win over Savage in last year’s title game.
That run has coincided with a string of good quarterbacks and the remarkable running back tandem of Cole Jelinek and Joel DeVries. Both are currently seniors, and the numbers they’ve put up in their high school careers leave no secret to the Trojans’ success.
Jelinek, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder, has amassed 1,838 rushing yards, 1,985 receiving yards and 80 touchdowns – 40 receiving, 37 rushing and three on returns - in four seasons.
DeVries, a 5-7, 155-pounder, has rushed for 2,688 yards and 41 TDs and tallied 570 receiving yards with seven TDs in his career.
“It’s definitely a luxury having those two kids,” said Sparks. “They really complement each other. Cole is more of a straight-ahead, downhill runner and Joel is a really quick, perimeter-type player.
“They both catch the ball really well, and they’re both unselfish kids. They’re not worried about who’s getting more touches in a game, and they’re just as happy blocking for each other as they are running the ball.”
Jelinek said being on the varsity since their freshman year has been a bonus for the running back tandem.
“Joel and I have played so much together that we both know what the other one is doing on every play,” he said. “We play a split-back offense, so we’re both on the field all the time. We block for each other when we run the ball and we can both split out and play receiver when we throw the ball.”
The Trojans have been led by three different quarterbacks in the last three seasons. Jordan Lahr finished up his stint as a four-year starter in 2009, Brandon Bury held the job last season and Mitch Ward is calling the signals this season.
“All three of those kids have done a great job of running our offense,” said Sparks, a Lewistown native who has coached the Lewistown Legion baseball team for the past 11 summers. “We try to play the same style of power football that we played in 8-Man. We run the ball first and then do some play-action passing off of that.
“The thing that’s helped us the most in the move to 6-Man is that we have better practices. We can go 6-on-6 in practice and really work on some things. It’s really helped us prepare for games.”
Julius Frehse, Shay Goettemoeller and Jarryd Lahr join Jelinek and DeVries as seniors on this year’s team. The group has not lost a regular-season game since their freshman year.
“Having five seniors that have played that much together really helps us,” said Jelinek. “Since we’ve been freshmen we’ve been in the weight room getting stronger and working to get better.
“Our whole team works hard. We do conditioning twice in every practice, so we don’t get as tired as other teams. We try to make our practices harder than the games … you can really see that pay off in the second half of our games.”
NOTES: Denton’s state title last season was the second in school history and their 10th appearance in a championship game. The Trojans won the 6-Man title in 1990, were 6-Man runners-up in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 2009 and 8-Man runners-up in 1991, 1994 and 1999. … Sparks is in his 10th year as the head boys basketball coach in Denton. He previously coached in Denton in 1999 and 2000. He then coached two years in Columbus before returning to Denton in 2004.
