AURORA — Friday night's 5A playoff football game between Smoky Hill and Regis Jesuit didn't end how the Buffaloes imagined. And yet, the future of the football program hasn't been this bright for decades.
To create a happily ever after, you must write the perfect ending. Chapter after chapter, win after win this fall, Smoky Hill has rewritten what it means to be a Buffalo.
"It felt like a story, like we were creating a journey nobody else could create," senior David Hoage said. "Smoky Hill hasn't been this good in a very long time. So for us to create history, it's like 'Wow,' and it's exciting because I'm a part of it."
"Our motto from one of the first practices is prove people wrong, and that's basically what we're doing. We're on a mission to prove people wrong," junior Jesse Gomez added.
After finishing last year's season with a 1-9 record, Smoky had the turn-around of a lifetime. This fall, the Buffaloes finished the regular season a perfect 10-0 in the new Metro 10 football league, designed to help once-struggling programs rebuild.
"Us going into this league, we have an opportunity to make something different, to start fresh, to start new, to become the new Smoky Hill," Hoage said.
"I think that includes all ten teams in the league," Gomez added. "It really gave us all hope in a sense that we could be successful, and that we could go to the playoffs and compete with teams like Valor [Christian] and Cherry Creek."
Besides Smoky Hill High School, the new league includes Denver East, Westminster, Prairie View, Far Northeast Warriors, Northglenn, Boulder, Mountain Range, Rangeview and Adams City. Under new league rules, the team who finished first would be given an automatic bid to the 5A state playoffs. One other team could be voted in by the 5A high school football committee, made up of administrators from around the league, who would also decide the bracket seeds. Denver East, who finished the regular season 8-2 -- was also given an opportunity to participate in the post-season.
The result of this new league has been storybook for the Buffs. The playoff berth marked Smoky's first since the 2007 season, when the team finished 5-6. On top of that, the team clinched its first league title since 1980, and its first winning season since 1990.
Winning is something new head coach Tom Thenell has been accustomed to achieving. Thenell has been at the top of Colorado high school football, previously leading the Mullen Mustangs and Bear Creek Bears. But he chose to be a Smoky Hill this fall, and he quickly learned, the team's successes this season have been more than just about the wins.
"I think that's the reason I came here. This program is about the kids," he said. "These kids love to play. That's the thing that I think is the hidden gem in them. We came out here to believe if you're a team that's more excited to play on Friday night and better at your job than the other game on Friday night, you're going to win."
Thenell has also enjoyed getting to know the other coaches in the league, and working toward the common goal of creating a new culture for their programs.
"You know, I think people underestimate the quality of the guys who are trying to do these jobs that are tough jobs," he said of his fellow Metro 10 league coaches.
Regis defeated Smoky Friday night in round one of the playoffs by a final score of 48-14. The Smoky Hill football team wished its season could've continued, but it was a vastly different attitude than the one from the previous fall.
"We were going into our last game of the season, and to be honest, a lot of us didn't care. We were just ready to be done," Gomez said. "This whole season. This is the most fun I've had playing football."
And that's an attitude that will continue into next fall, when the Buffs will look to take their season even further. With only three seniors on this years team and the rest underclassmen, this young herd will no doubt have sequels and sequels to write.
"Each day, a new page has been written," Gomez said. "We're coming to the end of our story, coming into the end of the season, and we're trying to make it a good ending."