Injuries are what the Panthers hoped to avoid. But in a sport as
physical as football, injuries are almost inescapable.
No Woodland Park football player could anticipate two teammates
suffering major injuries in the team’s home opener on Sept. 15. No
Panther figured they would lose 24-21 to Summit, either –
especially after how the game began.
Receiving the ball for the second time, senior Jay Gromelski
returned a punt 37 yards to the Tiger 22-yard line. Four straight
carries by junior running back Ben Fischer set up a second-and-goal
from the five.
Three receivers lined up on the left side of the field in a
trips formation. The decoy worked, as Gromelski kept an option to
the right for a touchdown. The extra point was blocked, so Woodland
Park led 6-0 with 5:53 left in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, a long Summit drive was stopped by
the Panther defense 10 yards from the goal line. The Tigers kicked
a 27-yard field goal to cut the lead in half.
Later in the quarter, Gromelski burst for 24 yards on a
quarterback draw, spinning away from defenders near the line of
scrimmage. The next play would have a significant impact on
Woodland Park’s season.
Gromelski rolled to his right and completed a pass to senior
fullback Jordan Remley, who rumbled for 24 yards. At the end of the
play, Remley broke the fibula in his leg. He could be out for six
weeks, possibly longer.
“It’s a huge loss when you lose someone like that,” sophomore
Zach Snyder said of Remley’s injury. “To us, the way we see it, it
just means we have to win a different way.”
With Snyder, Remley’s back-up, playing wide receiver for injured
sophomore Jared Giambalvo, Fischer moved to fullback. Gromelski
took over at halfback, while sophomore Dana Holley came in at
quarterback.
“We had to make a lot of in-game changes that you can’t prepare
for,” Snyder said. “It was a lot like backyard football.”
The moves worked, as Gromelski ran two straight pitches for 27
yards and his second rushing touchdown. He then ran for a two-point
conversion, giving his team a 14-3 halftime lead.
A long return on the second half’s opening kickoff set Summit up
at Panther 10-yard line. The Tigers punched the ball in from the
ground, but failed on the two-point attempt, making the score
14-9.
A Woodland Park fumble on the ensuing drive gave Summit the ball
back at the Panther 39. Four runs up the middle and the Tigers were
across the goal line. A successful two-point conversion put
Woodland Park down 17-14.
Gromelski remained in the backfield, carrying the ball six times
for 47 yards on a drive he capped with a 1-yard touchdown run. The
extra point gave the Panthers a 21-17 third quarter
advantage.
After several defensive stops from both teams, Summit found
offensive success in the fourth quarter. An 11-play, 69-yard
scoring drive gave the Tigers the lead back with 6:07 to
go.
Late in the game, after the Panther defense held, Gromelski
returned to call the signals. Starting at its own 25 with 1:44
left, Woodland Park drove 35 yards to set up a fourth-and-14 at the
Tiger 40. But Summit intercepted Gromelski’s pass at the 6-yard
line, sealing the Tiger win by forcing the third Panther
turnover.
“We pretty much need to forget about this game,” junior
offensive and defensive lineman Dakota Brown said.
Jay Leitner, a Panther junior offensive lineman and linebacker,
hurt his knee on the final drive. Coaches were uncertain when he
will return to action.
Both Remley and Leitner played integral roles on the Woodland
Park defense. Remley’s leadership and intensity will be difficult
to replace.
“It hurts us at middle linebacker because he’s a major key,”
coach Greg Holley said of Remley. “He was a leader on the defense.
Usually your starting middle linebacker is the leading tackler on
the charts, week in and week out.”
Some young Panther talent is ready to step in for their injured
teammates.
“We’ve got Colton Osborn, who weighs about 145 pounds, and he’s
at middle linebacker,” Holley said. “We’re asking Snyder to play
both sides of the ball as a sophomore.”
Woodland Park opens 3A South Metro League play at Pueblo County
on Sept. 23. The team will regroup and face its injury losses this
week, moving on with a league win in mind.
“We have to do some patchwork here and there,” Holley said. “We
have to make sure we can operate some offense with the injuries
we’ve had.
“We’ll be ready to play, we’ll be competitive,” Holley said
about the league opener. “When Remley got hurt, we made some
adjustments, we scored some points.”