AURORA | In the absence of Hog Wars, Monday morning’s Big Boyz War at Vista PEAK Prep made sure Aurora-area prep lineman got their moment in the sun.
And there was a lot of sun on the event, which saw the Bison, Rangeview — which had to cancel Hog Wars, its tradition since 2005, the previous week due to a low number of teams — and Smoky Hill from Aurora as well as nearby Montbello of the Denver Public Schools duel in multiple events in full summer heat.
“Broadcast the kids that put in the most work, that was what this was all about,” said Vista PEAK coach DaVaughn Thornton Sr., who organized the event in a short amount of time and also invited Aurora Central and Hinkley, which were unable to compete.
“When you win football games, it’s because of the O-Line and D-Line, any coach will tell you that,” he added. “To put the spotlight on them is big. We couldn’t move forward with our season without them, that’s how important it was to do this.”
At the end, Thornton Sr.’s Vista PEAK team — led by tone-setters in junior Zeke Taylor and junior Nathan Hunholz — took top honors by tallying 354 points between the monster tire flip, relay race, plate carry, power clean and tug-o-war.
In the most remarkable individual performance of the day, Hunholz racked up 102 repititions of the power clean in which each player was given no time limit and could do as many reps as they could. Taylor cracked the 80 mark as well.
Coming in next was coach Chris Dixon’s Jose Rodriguez-led Rangeview team, which won the tug-o-war to put the finishing touches on a 304-point effort, which was enough to edge Montbello’s No. 1 team by three points for second place.
Coach Brandon Alconcel’s Smoky Hill team — paced by seniors Calem Grimble and Amir Copeland — tallied 194 for fourth.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
BIG BOYZ WAR
July 18 at Vista PEAK Prep
Team scores: 1. Vista PEAK I 354 points; 2. Rangeview 304; 3. Montbello I 301; 4. Smoky Hill 194; 5. Montbello II 147; 6. Vista PEAK II 120
