Stats:
Senior Quarterback Joe Steiner led the way for the offense, leading in both rush yards and passing yards. He had 629 rush yards and averaged 57 yards a game, paired with 1612 passing yards and averaged 146.5 yards per game. Steiner also led the team in rushing touchdowns with 8 on the year. Senior Wide Receiver Burke Withycombe led the team with 707 receiving yards and averaged 64.3 yards per game. Withycombe also led the team in receiving touchdowns with 9, paired with 2 rushing touchdowns. The Eaglecrest offense finished with a total of 33 touchdowns, 17 rushing and 16 passing.
Senior Defensive Back Elvin Ampofo led the team in total tackles with 90, including 51 solo and 3 tackles for loss. T’Mario Walters led the team in sacks with 5.5 and 7 hurries. The defense finished the season with a total of 14 sacks and 31 hurries. The Raptors had a total of 7 interceptions on the season coming from Cam Bell, Elvin Ampofo, and Ramadje Owens.
Seniors Burke Withycombe and Elvin Ampofo were the team’s main returners with a combined of 456 return yards on the year.
Record Review:
The Eaglecrest Raptors began the season on a hot start with a 5-1 record. The only loss during this stretch was against Chatfield in week 3 with a final score of 23-16. The Raptors started off the year with a blowout win against Rangeview, winning 44-14. The following week Eaglecrest continued their dominance with a win against Fort Collins, holding them to only 6 points, while they scored 30.
After the gritty loss against Chatfield in week three, The Raptors played a close one against Denver East for the Eaglecrest homecoming game. The game was 10-7 late in the fourth quarter, but Quarterback Joe Steiner stepped up and took the ball 75 yards to the endzone to seal the game 17-7. Eaglecrest secured the game for homecoming.
In weeks 4 and 5, the Raptors got back to the way they were at the beginning of the season with blowout wins against Thunder Ridge and Smoky Hill. They upset Thunder Ridge on their homecoming game with a final score of 26-8 and then put up a staggering 54 points against the rival Smoky Hill Buffaloes and only allowed 14 points.
“The loss against CT really killed our momentum,” said senior wide receiver Kota Becker.
In an unfortunate upset against Cherokee Trail, the Raptors had a chance to win it with a last second 2 point conversion, but got tackled short of the goal line. This killed the momentum of the team, leading to 6 straight losses in weeks 6-10 and the first round of playoffs.
The Raptors entered the first round of playoffs as the 21 seed against the 12 seed, Regis Jesuit. Regis hosted the game at Regis Jesuit high school. The Eaglecrest Raptors would lose the game 45-14 and be knocked out in the first round of playoffs.
Ups and Downs:
“The most frustrating part of the season was not meeting the standards we set,” said varsity Linebacker Nico Defusco.
The standard they set was to win and they only achieved that for half of the season. The latter half of the season was rough as the standard was broken, as the Raptors finished the final 6 weeks of the season 0-6, getting blown out in several games.
“Something that can be improved is the relationships between players and coaches and them building genuine relationships,” said senior defensive tackle Tre Moore.
The connection between players and coaches is one of the most important parts of the core mechanics of a team. If the entire team doesn’t have good chemistry, the entire team will struggle to be a full team and work together.
“Our defense was strong pretty much all season,” said senior linebacker Noah Foster.
The Eaglecrest defense was a strong point all season, holding opponents to under three scores 8/11 times this season.
“Being able to face challenges, like having a new coach and still being able to overcome them felt great,” said senior wide receiver Kota Becker.
Jesse German was introduced as the new head coach for the Eaglecrest Raptors and brought new challenges for the players to face and overcome. He finished his first season at .500 and looks to improve in the following years.
The 2024 Raptors football team finished the season 5-5 with an appearance in the first round of playoffs and look to improve in 2025.
