Mankoff Chosen For All-State
December 12, 2007
TJ Center Matthew Mankoff brings honor to TJ football.
Senior football star Matthew Mankoff was selected to the Colorado Coaches All-State Game last week, where he will play among the top football athletes from around the state. The players were chosen by the Colorado High School Coaches Association to participate in the game this summer in Greeley.
The players chosen for this honor were selected based on athletic ability, citizenship and scholarship excellence. The event is a showcase of five different sports with teams compiled of the best athletes from all classes of Colorado High School sports. Each sport will play a game between a team from the South and a team from the North regions of the state. Read more
Spartans Fall to the Huskies
November 18, 2007
TJ football's first defeat ends their amazing season with a 34-19 loss to
The Spartan football boys put forth a valiant effort in their final game of the season, as they were knocked out of the playoffs in a 34-19 loss to Douglas County on Friday night at All City Stadium. TJ played to the final whistle, but the Huskies' running attack and strong rush defense led them to the victory, and a spot in the final four of the 5A state playoffs.
After a
After depending on the running game most of the season, TJ’s offense showed its versatility as they focused on the pass when
TJ Dominates the Angels
November 11, 2007
A solid game start to finish leads TJ football to a 34-3 victory over East.
An all around great performance on both sides of the ball was the story for the Spartan football boys, as they defeated the East Angels 34-3 on Friday night at All City Stadium. A relentless offensive attack and stingy defense handled the Angels with ease, as TJ moves past the second round of the
The Spartans gained momentum right out of the gate, as they recovered an East fumble on the Angels' nine yard line on the first drive of the game. The series ended in a missed field goal, but TJ came out ready to score on their next drive after a bad punt set them up on the East 49 yard line. A big first down run by quarterback Michael Mankoff led to a 28 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Lowe at the end of the first quarter. Mankoff had a number of solid runs on the night, finishing with nine carries for 63 yards rushing and a touchdown.
As usual, the 5A third leading rusher Devon Fitzgerald had an outstanding performance, running for 182 yards on 27 carries. He was the key to the Spartans' offense all night, as he was able to break off first down runs at will. His three touchdown carries of 5, 11, and 2 yards helped put TJ up 28-0 by early in the third quarter.
The Spartan defense was no less effective, holding East to only three points and not allowing the Angels' talented offense to get going all night. Read more
TJ Rolls Over Boulder
November 4, 2007
The Spartans get a first-round 26-16 victory over
The TJ football boys will move on to the second round of the 5A state playoffs after their 26-16 win over the Panthers from Boulder on Saturday night at All City Stadium. Big plays by TJ led to points, after some mistakes gave
After recovering an onside kick on the first play of the game,
The Panthers took the lead again after a one yard run put them up 10-7 early in the second quarter. Things were looking grim when the next kickoff was fumbled and recovered by
In the second half, TJ’s two scores came on a 49 yard run by Fitzgerald and a 36 yard carry from fullback Ryan Allen. Read more
A Perfect Finish
October 21, 2007
TJ Football ends the regular season at 9-0.
The Spartan football boys capped off the regular season with a 27-14 victory over the Fruita Monument Wildcats at All City Stadium on Saturday. With this win, TJ moves to 9-0 on the season and will have a bye week before they start their playoff run.
The game started out slow for both teams, but the TJ offense broke through on two long passes from quarterback Michael Mankoff to receiver Billy Sprague, one being a 33 yard touchdown pass for the first score of the game. The 5A leading rusher Devon Fitzgerald had another big game with 97 yards on 17 carries. 65 of those yards came on a long run early in the second quarter to put TJ up 13-0. Fullback Ryan Allen put the Spartans up by 20 on a three yard run set up by an interception from safety Cooper Hearne, his fifth on the year. TJ went in at halftime leading 20-7 after the Wildcats scored on a one-yard run late in the second quarter.
The lone score for the Spartans in the second half came on a 12-yard pass to junior Vince Crespin, his first touchdown of the season. Mankoff finished with one of his best passing performances of the year, with 112 yards on eight completions and two touchdowns. Read more
Spartans Shear Lambkins
October 13, 2007
TJ football defeats
A mixture of big plays, consistent running, and solid defense led the Spartans to a 34-14 victory over the Lambkins of Fort Collins on Friday night at All City Stadium. TJ stays undefeated with the win, and will go into their last regular season game of the year next week with a record of 8-0 and ranked fourth in the state.
TJ’s first scoring drive started on the
Star sophomore Billy Sprague made some big defensive and special teams plays for the Spartans in the second half, both leading to scores. Read more
TJ Rolls to 7-0
October 7, 2007
Football beats
It was the same story for TJ football at Five Star Stadium on Friday night, as the Spartans ran the ball to a 54-22 victory over the Thornton Trojans. Devon Fitzgerald continued his outstanding season with another great performance as the third leading rusher in the state.
Coming into the game undefeated, TJ was confident it could pull out a victory over the winless Trojans. Quarterback Michael Mankoff started off the scoring on TJ’s first drive of the game on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Billy Sprague. The TJ offensive line dominated the Trojans, opening up holes all night, letting the TJ backs break away for a number of long runs. Fitzgerald led the way with a 73-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, and another for 59 yards at the end of the third.
After letting a couple of plays go early in the game, TJ’s stingy defense had another solid performance. Their strong play against the run and ability to force turnovers gave the Spartans offense good field position all night. Read more
TJ Blows Out Montbello
September 29, 2007
The Spartan football team remains undefeated with a 40-6 victory over the Warriors.
The TJ football team got ahead early and never looked back, blowing out the Montbello Warriors on Friday night at All City Stadium. Dominating on both offense and defense, the Spartans move to 6-0 on the season, and 2-0 in league play with this victory.
TJ stuck to their solid running game led by Ryan Allen and the state’s top rusher Devon Fitzgerald to get consistent yards and first downs. Fitzgerald had another great performance with 114 yards on 21 carries, and Allen finished with 53 yards on 9 rushes. Allen ran in a touchdown from eight yards out just four minutes into the game for TJ’s first score. Later in the second quarter, a 52 yard interception return by cornerback Cooper Hearne put the Spartans up 14-0. Although the running game was the main part of the TJ offense, a couple of big passing plays from quarterback Michael Mankoff to receiver Billy Sprague kept the scoring alive. Sprague finished the game with two receptions for 52 yards, with one 29 yard touchdown catch. Read more
TJ Runs Over East
September 22, 2007
The Spartan football team moves to 5-0 with a win over the Angels.
Another great running performance and solid defense led the TJ football team to a 34-22 victory over the East Angels on Friday night at All City Stadium. Both teams were undefeated coming into the game, and the Spartans came out the same way in their first league match up of the season.
TJ came out ready to play when, after holding East to three and out on the first drive of the game, Nick Jackson blocked a punt, setting the Spartans up for their first drive on the East nine yard line. Michael Mankoff ran in the touchdown from one yard out, and scrambled for a 25 yard touchdown run later in the first quarter to put TJ up 13-0. Strong running from TJ was the story for the rest of the half, as they scored twice more on runs from Isaac Moore and
East scored early in the second half off of a turnover on the TJ 20 yard line, and their only other points came on a 79 yard fumble recovery with less than two minutes left in the game. Read more
TJ Defense Stifles Norsemen
September 15, 2007
Spartan football stays undefeated with a win against
The Spartan football boys improved their record to 4-0 on Thursday evening with a 26-6 win against the Norsemen of Northglenn at All City Stadium. TJ’s offense dominated the game, as they were able to move the ball down field on the legs of Devon Fitzgerald and with the running and passing of quarterback Michael Mankoff.
Usually a team more focused on the run, TJ used a good mix of the ground and passing games to get into the end zone. Fitzgerald ran for TJ’s first score on a 20 yard pitch from Mankoff, and again early in the second quarter to go up 12-0. The Spartan defense played very well, especially against the pass, with two interceptions on the day, both by Efrem Woldu.
Mankoff had another good performance, showing off both his running and passing skills. He finished with 13 rushing attempts for 79 yards, and 8 of 14 completions for 161 yards. Read more












