AURORA | The 2017 Rangeview football team at a glance:
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
RANGEVIEW
Mascot: Raiders
Coach: Brandon Alconcel
Last year: 3-7 overall (1-4 in Mount Wilson League), missed Class 5A playoffs
2017 season outlook: With the field for the Class 5A state playoffs cut in half and new league alignment last season, Rangeview found itself in an unaccustomed place outside the postseason when it was all over. The Raiders lost their head coach soon after when Justin Hoffman announced he was stepping down to move to South Carolina with his family. Rangeview rebounded with the hiring of Brandon Alconcel, a highly-regarded former assistant at Overland, who believes that the program is in good position to return to the playoffs in 2017 with 24 seniors on the roster. Alconcel was an offensive coach with the Trailblazers and he finds a unit ready-made to succeed at Rangeview. The Raiders return a three-year starting quarterback in senior Jaelin Odegard — who piled up almost 3,000 yards of total offense and 25 touchdowns (18 passing, 7 rushing) — plus his top target in senior wide receiver Josh Hollins, a Mount Wilson League first team selection who had 920 yards receiving and nine touchdowns. Senior Josiah Allen-Clark and junior Ethan Fray offer other dangerous weapons and will pick up the slack as Hollins misses some time early on as he recovers from injury. Rangeview did graduate workhorse running back AJ Thomas, but senior running back David Aggrey has worked hard in the weight room and on the field to prepare for a major bump up from the 54 carries he saw last season. Four of last season’s five starters on the offensive line return for the Raiders and teamed to win the Hog Wars competition over the summer with seniors Dylan Graham and Alex Fragoso leading the way in the trenches. Rangeview has some work to do on the defensive side as it yielded 34 points per game and gave up 45 or more in half of its games and Alconcel brought in Ted Shantz, formerly of Overland, to implement a more attacking style unit. Alconcel believes senior linebacker Dayzawn Jackson will be the team’s biggest hitter and defensive playmaker, while the defensive backfield should be strong with several of the wide receivers playing both ways. Sophomores Osvaldo Caloca and Anthony Thomas are young, but will get a lot of playing time along the front line. Senior Jayvion Swain will team with Hollins to make the Raiders very dangerous in kick returns.
Schedule breakdown: Rangeview has the same schedule in front of it as last season and will look to change its fortunes in a few close games. The Raiders lost to Arvada West by just four points and face the Wildcats against on Oct. 6, while they take on a Rocky Mountain team that edged them by a single point on Oct. 27. Rangeview has three matchups with playoff teams from last season, Sept. 7 against Mountain Vista, Sept. 15 against Regis Jesuit and Oct. 13 against Eaglecrest. Alconcel has the Sept. 22 game against Overland circled as he was on the Trailblazers’ staff for the past five seasons.
2017 RANGEVIEW FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Home games bold and uppercased (home games played at Aurora Public Schools Stadium): Friday, Sept. 1 — vs. Doherty at Garry Berry Stadium, 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 7 — MOUNTAIN VISTA, 6:30 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 15 — at Regis Jesuit, 7 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 22 — OVERLAND, 6:30 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 28 — vs. Gateway at APS Stadium, 6:30 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 6 — ARVADA WEST, 6:30 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 13 — EAGLECREST, 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 19 — vs. Ralston Valley at NAAC, 4 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 27 — vs. Rocky Mountain at French Field, 7 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 2 — CASTLE VIEW, 6:30 p.m.