Over the past three seasons, the Douglas County High School football team has won one state title, come within a few plays of another, and reached the Class 5A semifinals in the third. That remarkable run has a good chance to continue this season.

For the Huskies, 44 seniors returned to the gridiron for the first day of fall practice Aug. 11, including eight starters - four on offense, four on defense.

Head coach Jeff Ketron loves the experience returning to his 10th team.

"Our senior class this year were freshmen when we won, sophomores when we lost one of the best games ever in history of state," Ketron said. "And they were on the sidelines again for [last season's final]. They've seen it all."

That experience came to a head last season. The Huskies battled their way to the championship game at Invesco Field in Denver. The No. 6 seed, Douglas County found itself pitted against another surprise, No. 5 Grandview.

County scored first and last in regulation. The Huskies also had a chance to win on a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter, but the 39-yard attempt came up short.

Getting over that 20-14 loss was a challenge in itself.

"It's tougher than people think," Ketron said. "The year before we lost in overtime in the semifinals. I thought that was the toughest thing that could happen. I'd have to change that now."

The best thing to do in a rough situation? Turn it into a positive.

"It's tough, but also, I think it's also a huge positive," Ketron said. "Only two teams make it that far."

The senior-laden Huskies are expecting nearly 140 players to come out for varsity and junior varsity combined, despite having an enrollment smaller than when Ketron first took over.

"We're lucky in the fact of sheer numbers," Ketron said. "It creates competition amongst the team and amongst positions that a lot of teams don't have. They have one guy and they hope to God he doesn't go down."

Senior Jose Astorga returns to lead a formidable ground attack. Astorga rushed for 2,152 yards and a remarkable 22 touchdowns last season. Twice he posted single-game performances of rushing for more than 200 yards. In the team's opening playoff game, Astorga scored six touchdowns - all in the first half.

He rushed for more than 500 yards as a sophomore, reaching the end zone five times.

"I've always felt senior years are the best years," Ketron said. "The biggest thing Jose has going for him is that experience. In those big games, he had the best games. He knows how to handle that stuff.

"I'm proud of what he's done. And he's stronger and faster than he's ever been."

With starting quarterback Will Arnold graduated, the Huskies will lean heavily on Astorga to get them through the newly formed Southern League. The league, comprised of many teams from the now-defunct Continental Conference, includes Doherty, Rampart and Palmer, the team Astorga burned for six TDs. The league also added perennial Class 4A power ThunderRidge High School.

Defensively the Huskies have safety Luke Ruff returning. Ruff already has verbally committed to play for the University of Wyoming.

The Huskies showed they can learn from mistakes. A two-game midseason losing streak last year might have been the spark needed to get the Huskies in gear for the run to the finals. First they lost to Regis Jesuit, which won only three games, then lost to eventual league champion Heritage High School.

"Anytime in life that you fail, there's a lesson to be learned there," Ketron said. "No matter what it is, what your occupation is or if a kid gets in trouble, you've got to look at why, what happened, what's going on. It helps you."

Colorado high school football