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Football preview: Bevy of talented running backs ready to lead teams in 2016

Marcus Lindsay knows a thing or two about the running back position.

His father, Phillip Troy Lindsay, and his uncle, Tony, played the position at Thomas Jefferson. His older brothers Phillip and Zach were standouts at Denver South. So when he says he takes pride in following in their footsteps, you can be sure that he means it.

Lining up in the backfield for the Rebels carries plenty of weight. A number of great ones came before Marcus, and when he took his turn as the featured back as a junior, all he did was rush for more than 1,500 yards.

It’s no different for backs like Grandview’s Hayden Blubaugh or Fort Morgan’s Tate Kembel. Blubaugh led the entire state in rushing yards as a junior, following in the footsteps of former Wolves like Bo Bolen and Chukwuma Obinnah.

Kembel, 3A’s leading rusher a year ago, has back-to-back seasons of more than 1,000 yards. His predecessors include Dusty Quick — third all-time in state history in rushing yards — and Chris Cobbley.

Lindsay, Blubaugh and Kembel are just a sampling of why the running back position is so deep and talented headed into the 2016 season, which gets underway this weekend. Spread offenses and aerial attacks may get a lot of attention, but there is something to said for being able to pound the ball into the interior of the defense 30 times a game.

“Being a running back, that’s a big job. You have to be able to run, you have to be able to catch and block,” Lindsay said. “If you don’t have any running game, you’re not going to have any passing game because they’re just going to drop everyone back.

“I feel a good running back has to be able to run inside. If the defense stacks the box with nine people, then you’re doing something right.”

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Class 5A

Grandview Cherry Creek football — Grandview’s Hayden Blubaugh. (Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)

All Blubaugh did last fall was erupt for 2,386 yards and 28 touchdowns in his first year with the Wolves. As a sophomore at Smoky Hill he showed signs of that talent, but given the opportunity to carry the ball for Grandview, he ran with it — literally.

“He exceeded (expectations) a great deal. We knew he was going to be a good running back for us,” Wolves coach John Schultz said. “But he learned how to read blocking really well and what we do.

“When he gets in open space he’s really tough to handle. He’s very explosive and usually finishes. That’s the exciting part about Hayden — when you block the play right, he’s capable of taking it all the way.”

But he’s hardly the only one. Five of the top six players at the position in 2015 were juniors (Columbine’s Mikey Griebel, who rushed for 1,480 yards, will play quarterback this season).

Pomona’s Cameron Gonzales, Mullen’s Marcus McElroy Jr. and Horizon’s Cade Verkler each topped 1,400 yards on the ground. Gonzales’ teammate, Max Borghi, finished two yards shy of 1,000 yards in his sophomore season.

Valor Christian, which has captured a state title in six of its previous seven seasons — including a thrilling comeback victory over Pomona last December — returns the 5A player of the year in quarterback Dylan McCaffrey, who has verbally committed to Michigan.

Pomona has Gonzales and Borghi and a host of others. Columbine and Cherry Creek came close to reaching the title game, and McElroy Jr. and Mullen opens the season ranked third in the CHSAANow.com preseason poll.

Grandview, which fell to Pomona in the quarterfinals last season, is ranked fifth. The Wolves return nine starters on offense — four on the offensive line — and a defense that was young in 2015 but will only get better.

“What’s even more important in 5A is having someone capable of taking over the game and having either an offensive line or defensive line that’s able to wear people down,” Schultz said. “That’s what both Valor and Pomona had last year. By the time the fourth quarter hits, it’s tough to keep going against them.

“We hope we have that this year.”

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Class 4A

Denver South Eaglecrest football — Marcus Lindsay. (Lance Wendt/LanceWendt.com)

Denver South fell short of its ultimate goal in 2015 when the team’s season came to a close in the quarterfinals.

“As a team we just learned that we need to go harder,” Lindsay said. “We need to get stronger and get faster and get meaner.”

Lindsay led an offense that had a combined 2,831 yards on the ground and 36 touchdowns. Five players had at least four rushing TDs.

Dakota Ridge’s Jeremy Lujan led 4A in rushing, followed by Lindsay. Broomfield’s Jalon Torres rushed for 1,375 yards as a junior, and Windsor quarterback Brad Peeples went for 1,368 yards and 20 touchdowns.

“A lot of times Marcus would come out. He played both ways and starts at linebacker,” South coach Tony Lindsay said. “Our backup tailback, Darius Pinkett, had (567) yards. He broke about three or four 80-yard touchdown runs.”

South returns eight starters on defense and six on offense.

“Since I’ve been at South, we’ve just built this program up,” Tony Lindsay said. “I’ve been really happy with our program. With this year and these seniors, we have leaders this year.”

Windsor is still the team to beat in 4A though after winning 13 games and capturing the state championship in 2015. Peeples, Corte Tapia and Storm Fox were each first-team all-state selections as juniors.

Pine Creek, which won state titles in 2013 and 2014, graduated 4A player of the year JoJo Domann off a team that was undefeated before falling to Loveland in the semifinals.

Denver South enters the season ranked third, followed by Loveland and Heritage, which drops down from 5A.

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Class 3A

Holy Family Fort Morgan football — Fort Morgan’s Tate Kembel. (Pam Wagner/CHSAANow.com)

In a classification that prides itself on its ability to run the ball, the 2016 season has no shortage of standout rushers.

Seventeen players topped the 1,000-yard mark last fall, seven of who were juniors. Kembel led the way with 1,893 yards and 29 touchdowns for a Fort Morgan team that lost in the 3A semis to defending state champion Pueblo East.

“That’s the mentality of a lot of programs,” Mustangs coach Harrison Chisum said. “You’ve got to be able to run the football and you’ve got to be able to stop the run. That’s just been a thing forever.”

Look no further than Pueblo East, which had two players finish just shy of 1,500 yards on the ground. Quarterback Daniel Martin, the 3A POY, graduated, but running back Bryson Torres scored 24 touchdowns as a junior.

Roosevelt, the 3A runner-up, had a pair of players go for more than 1,200 yards on the ground, as did Rifle.

Kembel and Toby McBride combined for more than 2,500 yard between them and scored 40 touchdowns.

“Obviously it helped with a 6-foot-3, 240-pound fullback leading the way,” Chisum said of McBride, who graduated. “That definitely helps, and (Tate) will tell you that. But Tate is the type of kid that would trade any touchdown and carry and yards for wins. He wants to make sure whatever is best for the team is being done.”

The coach added that Kembel has maybe the best vision he has seen, and he did a lot of his damage last season in the first half before being taken out at halftime because of big leads.

“He’s a workhorse. He’s a tough kid, he takes hits and he’s just matured now to where he puts his head down and gets as many yards as he can,” Chisum said. “He used to try to outrun everybody but he’s even better now between the tackles.”

Fort Morgan returns eight starters on offense and six on defense, and comes into the season ranked third in 3A. Two-time defending champion Pueblo East is first, followed by Roosevelt.

Longmont, a 4A semifinalist last season, drops down to 3A and is ranked fourth. Discovery Canyon is fifth, followed by Western Slope powers Palisade and Rifle.

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