Blair Hubbard has Broomfield (Col.) Eagles flying high

Winning never gets old.

Just ask Blair Hubbard.

The 1987 Princeton High School graduate won his fourth football state championship in Colorado, directing his Broomfield Eagles to the Class 4A state title, defeating Loveland 24-14 on Dec. 3 at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.

The title game victory capped an undefeated (14-0) season for the Eagles, claiming Broomfield’s first state championship in 38 years.

Hubbard, who got dumped on with a full water bucket on the field (”I was fortunate it was a moderately a warm day in December in Colorado”), said the state title was enjoyed by all the Broomfield community on the northwest side of Denver.

“They haven’t won the state championship since 1984. It’s a very tight-knit kind of small town community,” he said. “A lot of people see it as a suburb, but it was a small town that Denver kind of grew out around. It’s that urban sprawl.

“Lot of tradition here. Lot of older fan support. I’ve got players on my team that their uncles, their dads, their grandfathers all played for Broomfield. It’s great for our community. They’re very excited.”

The football team was recognized by the Broomfield City Council on Tuesday.

Hubbard praised his senior class “for really committing themselves to where we could be Saturday afternoon” after a 5-6 season in 2021.

Hubbard shared an especially memorable moment on the field after the game with Broomfield senior quarterback Cole Lacrue, whose father died from COVID-19 in 2020 after his sophomore season. His brother, Ty, was a starting guard as a sophomore for the Eagles.

“There was just a lot of emotion for those boys. Just me being along with their journey the last two years and helping them through some tough times. It was definitely an emotional situation for the boys and myself seeing them get to a point where they could walk off as state champs. Cole’s going to Wisconsin to play quarterback. He’s going to graduate early and be there on campus in January.

Hubbard is one of only two coaches in state history to win state championships at two different schools. He won three of four state finals appearances with 2A Faith Christian.

He has won more than 200 games over a distinguished 20-year career, and has led three different programs to the state playoffs.

He led Broomfield, which has an enrollment of 1,650, to state finals appearances in 2016, his first year, and in 2019, losing both times to state powerhouse Pine Creek.

Pine Creek has since been bumped up to 5A, which Hubbard joked is good, because “they were kind of our Kryptonite, I guess you could say.”

He also coached two years (2014-15) at 3A Lutheran High School in Parker, on the south side of Denver.

Hubbard, 53, who will be presenting his offense for the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association virtual clinic, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, doesn’t plan to hang them up any time soon.

“I think I have another 10 years of coaching in me,” he said. “I enjoy being with the kids and teaching. Yeah, I’ll probably keep going for another 10 years or so.”

For someone who only played freshman football at Princeton High School, Hubbard has certainly come a long way in the coaching ranks. He was always a student of the game and honed his skills on the playground of Douglas School with his hometown buddies.

“I always loved the strategy of all sports, whether it was baseball, basketball or football,” he said. “If you asked some of my buddies like Dave Colyott or Steve Oeder, those guys, they’ll all say I was the guy who kind of organized football games at Douglas School. I’d have plays all drawn up and things like that. I was always a fan of strategy and that just kind of led to the strategy on the football side of things when I started teaching and coaching.”

He said those games were always fun there at Douglas.

“I think that’s one thing young athletes miss out on because there’s such a push for kids to focus in early or specialize,” he said. “Our players who are multiple-sport athletes are the ones who have the most success on the field and I wish more would. Our school does a good job of sharing athletes and emphasizing multiple-sport athletes.”

Hubbard is the father of two active daughters. The oldest, Anna, a senior, played on the state volleyball team for Faith Christian and is a guard on the basketball team. Emma, a fifth-grader, is playing club volleyball and basketball at the same time.

“It’s go, go, go with my girls,” he said.

Just like dad was back in Princeton at Douglas School.

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com