New Head Football Coach Sports Years of Experience with a Variety of Teams
Trevor Phipps
Last year, the Woodland Park Panthers thrilled fans all season, as they made history with a perfect record, capped by no losses during the regular season and a slew of lopsided wins. They became the talk of the town throughout the fall, and speculation mounted about their chances of bringing home a state championship crown.
In 2025, many of the same players are returning and they are looking for a repeat season. Can it happen again?
During the 2024 season, the Panthers earned their first home playoff game for more than 20 years with their undefeated record before losing in the first round of playoffs. As a result, some of the team’s returning players have one primary goal: To win their division again and advance further in the playoffs.
However, during the offseason several factors changed for the Panthers. For one, the team lost the majority of their star players who had been on the team’s starting roster for the last four years. Many of them went on to play college football this fall.
Other bad news struck during the offseason when the former head football coach, Chad Drummond (and the majority of his assistant coaches) resigned before the onset of the 2025 season. Some fans grew discouraged with the news.
But fret not. The team’s new skipper, Brad Page, has been featured in TV interviews and various media outlets, and is committed to continue the team’s amazing success.
And even though the team may have lost several key players, Coach Page says that he likes the strong football culture foundation the previous staff developed. He is happy to be heading a solid team, which knows what it takes to be successful.
Two strengths Page cites are the offensive and defensive skills exhibited by two veteran brothers who are returning to the team: senior Nathan Summeril and sophomore Zach Summeril. He also maintains that the lineman for the Panthers this year have good size and strength. As a result, they will most likely become threats on both sides of the ball.
Another returning player, senior Dane Campbell has been pleasing the coach on offense and defense with his sheer strength. Senior Demetrius Gochis is also returning to the team and has been impressing the coach as a strong two-way player.
Good Signs for a Return to the Playoffs
Overall, the new coach said it was “refreshing” to walk into a new team, which already had a strong football culture. He noticed that the team had strong player leadership right off the bat.
Besides being good listeners and knowing what is expected from them, the coach has seen several players that know how to shine on both offense and defense. “Up front, both our O-line and D-line are pretty strong,” Coach Page said. “But, we also have some really good receivers and DB’s (Defensive Backs). So, we are pretty well balanced as a team. We are growing more and more every day.”
The main challenge facing the Panthers pigskin squad is that the team needs to develop a little more experience. They lost most of their starters to graduation. After their star quarterback Marqus Schoenberger graduated, the team is now left with three new quarterback options. All three are currently in a classic quarterback competition.
Page did say that his style will differ from former Coach Drummond’s Pittsburgh Steelers, “Ground and Pound” style offense that emphasized the running game. Page said that he believes Drummond was focused more on defense, but he wants to switch things up a bit.
Page said he wants to add some speed to the game and perhaps a little bit more of an air raid. “I think we need to use our offense as a strength, we don’t want to be playing games that are neck and neck the whole time,” Page explained. “We want to score early and get up early, and that’s going to force the other team’s offense to become one-dimensional and force them to throw. And I think we are really set up to do that.”
He says he plans to build a strong run defense and a fast-scoring offense. “If you can get a jump on a team early, score fast and score early, then I think you put them in a situation where they are playing catch-up all game,” Page said. “That’s kind of been my philosophy and why I like to play fast. We want to play with some tempo. We want to gas some teams. We have some elevation and we need to use it to our advantage. When our guys play other teams, we are going to be in better shape naturally. So, I think it’s a good built-in reason already to go with a high-tempo offense.”
No Shortage of Experience
Page moved with his family to Woodland Park last July after coaching high school football and living in Oregon. He secured a job with the school district during the summer, and jumped at the opportunity to take on the football program as head coach.
Page previously coached at the 6A level at Grants Pass High School in Oregon. While there, he took his team to the playoffs three years in a row. Last year, his team went 6-5 and made it to the second round of playoffs.
Before his stint at Grants Pass, Page coached college football for a year in New England. And, he coached football for a few years in Arizona.
The Panthers play their first three games on the road with the first taking place this Friday against Lincoln High School in Denver. Next Friday they play in Salida, and on Sept. 12 they battle in the Springs at Colorado Springs Christian High School. The Panthers first home game is on Sept. 26 against the Rye Thunderbolts at 7 p.m.
