Members of the 1995 Holyoke High School football team are pictured from left, front row, Josh Schroetlin, Craig Johnson, Bob Sandstrom, Bret Kramer, Mark Sperber, Travis Carlstrom and Dustin Reuter; second row, Mark Kropp, Jon Rogers, Luke Goldenstein, Anthony Conde, Aaron Sprague, Asa Ginapp and Nick Colglazier; third row, coach Rod Trumper, Eric Dominguez, David Schram, Wes Poe, Andy Deselms, Tyler Chappell, Damon Fingerhut, Beau Waln, Ross Brinkema, Cesar Rodriguez and coach Russ Sprague; fourth row, trainer Kate Manly, Kory Nickell, Jerad Kingman, Weston Finch, Rafael Martinez, Justin Newman, Brandon Brown, Curt Schroetlin, Ryan Oliver, trainer Risa Rumold, trainer Chris Eurich and coach Gary Sperber; and back row, coach Lee LaMunyon, Luke Schlachter, Luke Hayes, Ben Rahe, Jared Young, Russell Sprague, Jason Kunkel, Chad Elder, John Kienholz, Travis Happs and coach Erv Mondt. Not pictured is team member Ace Speidel. — The Holyoke Enterprise File PHoto | Johnson Publications
Gang Green and an undefeated season: HHS football’s 1995 championship
Wednesday, Nov. 25, marked 25 years since the Holyoke Dragon football team won their most recent state championship. Holyoke’s strong defense, nicknamed Gang Green, helped keep opponents out of the end zone all season and contributed to many big wins.
“When you have a defense that good, it really takes some pressure off the offense,” Ben Rahe said, recalling that he played wide receiver and cornerback that season, which was his senior year. He added that the defense took the Gang Green nickname to heart and wanted to prove everybody right by living up to the moniker.
The team fielded 41 players: 10 seniors, three juniors, 14 sophomores and 14 freshmen.
Going into the season, the East Division of the North Central Conference was quite competitive. In addition to Holyoke, it included Caliche, Akron, Wiggins and Julesburg.
In preseason polls, the “Rocky Mountain News” ranked the Dragons No. 1 in class 1A. They had been eliminated in the state quarterfinals the year before, and they were ready for an even deeper run in the playoffs in 1995.
Caliche won the state title in 1994, and it looked like they were heading for a clash with Holyoke for dominance. A preseason poll by “The Denver Post” ranked Caliche No.1, followed by the Dragons.
In a dominant season in which the Dragons went undefeated, they outscored their opponents 539-104.
“We were blessed with a group of kids who did a great job at what they’d been taught,” Gary Sperber, the team’s head coach, said. “We just had a good group that did very well. I had some really good coaches who did a great job of keeping them on track.”
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