AURORA | In a little more than six weeks, the Rangeview and Overland football teams will line up against each other in Week 2 of the 2015 regular season.
On Wednesday, the “hogs” — offensive and defensive linemen — from the two Aurora schools squared off in a battle for the Hog Wars championship, a coveted summer title around Aurora.
The Raiders’ top group of seniors George Marpaung, Devon Harris, Humberto Caloca, Alex McFall, John Mata and junior Onyi Ozoma prevailed over the Trailblazers in both the event-ending tug’-o-war and the overall standings of the annual strength and teamwork competition for prep linemen. (Video by Gabriel Christus, here)
Host Rangeview won five of the six events and racked up 46 points to finish on top of the 11th annual competition for the eighth time. Overland won one event and finished second in four events to accrue 33, while Rangeview’s No. 2 team came in third with 26.
“It’s always good to win and watch the kids compete at a high level and show what they’ve done in the weight room,” said Rangeview head coach Justin Hoffman, who has been a part of all 11 Hogs Wars, but ran it for the first time.
“It was great to watch them love each other as teammates and push each other along.”
Marpaung, who does his best to be a leader on the line, attributes the Raiders’ success to being a close knit group.
Rangeview won the farmer’s carry relay (walking while carrying a 325-pound weight bar), the monster tire flip relay (moving a 400 pound), the new “hog sled” relay (pushing 265-pound sleds built by Hoffman) across the field and the 125-pound “log” press with 59 reps, but Marpaung relished the team’s victory in the tug’-o-war most of all.
Even though the Raiders had the Hog Wars title wrapped up going into the last event, they still topped Overland to win the event.
“I like the tug’-o-war because you’re pulling another team against its will, that’s what makes me feel great,” Marpaung said. “Your team has the physical strength and ability to move another team.”
Marpaung also liked using Hog Wars as a way to size up Rangeview’s competition and he was impressed with he saw out of Overland, which won the vehicle push (moving a 35,000-pound Aurora SWAT team vehicle across the parking lot).
Trailblazers’ senior Taylor Marshall acknowledged the Raiders had won the day, but that the result would only push his team toward winning the battle when the teams meet on the field.
“We know what we have to work on now as a team; those guys are stronger than us, we really believe that now because of what just happened,” Marshall said. “So now, we have to go to the weight room starting tomorrow morning and lift more than they lift. That’s just going to push us.”
Eaglecrest coach Mike Schmitt brought a unit that missed two seniors who would have helped out, but the Raptors still managed to score 21 points to finish fourth.
It was another positive performances for Eaglecrest, which has had a very strong offseason already when it won the 7-on-7 camp put on by the Denver Broncos. That performance showed the skill positions look good and the Raptors’ linemen put together a strong showing as well.
Schmitt’s team didn’t compete last season for a reason he didn’t remember, but he was glad they came back.
“I like it, it’s like 7-on-7, a chance to compete,” he said. “7-on-7 isn’t real football, but it’s a good feel to get the kids together, combining them and competing against other teams. It’s not football, but it’s fun, and any time you can do those kinds of things is important.”
Because the Raptors were shorthanded, linebacker Garrett Thompson — weighing in at just 195 pounds — stepped up and lent a hand, even though he gave away quite a bit of size.
“There was a little bit of a weight difference, but I like it,” Thompson said with a chuckle. “Our league (the Centennial League) is one of the biggest leagues in the state, so it’s fun to go out against these guys and measure up what you’ve got.”
Gateway finished sixth — ahead of newcomer Denver East — with its Hog Wars appearance marking the one year anniversary of Shane Ward taking over as head coach.
The Olys’ best performance in an individual event came in the “hog sled” push, where they finished third, but Ward basked in the progress he’s seen from his linemen, both in a lineman competition held by the Broncos in addition to Hog Wars.
“Now I’ve had a full year to go through our weight and conditioning program with the kids,” Ward said. “You just have to look at them and you can see the results. Being in the weight room with the kids over the year, it all starts there with all the bonding and chemistry.”
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2015 HOG WARS FINAL STANDINGS
Team scores: 1. Rangeview I 46 points; 2. Overland 33; 3. Rangeview II 26; 4. Eaglecrest 21; 5. Rangeview Sophomores 18; 6. Gateway 15; 7. Denver East 12
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