Broncos QB gains high praise from his mentor

Mick McCall has a message for Broncos fans who might still have concerns about the learning curve that quarterback Trevor Siemian is facing.Siemian made his first National Football League start in the Thursday night game Sept. 8 and helped the Broncos beat Carolina, 21-20, in a Super Bowl rematch in Denver.McCall, the former Douglas County High athlete and Huskies and Mullen football coach, is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks mentor at Northwestern, where he tutored Siemian.He says there was nothing surprising about Siemian’s first-game performance and he echoed the Broncos players’ praise of their quarterback’s composure and athletic ability.”I keep telling everybody he is a real level guy and he never gets too high or gets too low,” McCall said. “He connects with everybody, whether it’s the offensive line, the defensive line, DBs or wide receivers.”As a football player, he’s always had a live arm and really studies the game hard. He just takes things as they come… He doesn’t get rattled.”Siemian, who was the Broncos’ third quarterback last season but only took one kneel-down snap in a regular-season game, completed 18 of 26 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, and he showed the ability to rush for first downs. But he threw two interceptions. Denver fans booed several times when the offense left the field.”He’s not going to let one mistake or a bump in the road hurt him,” McCall said. “He’s going to keep playing and do what he can do. We always talked about this — worry about things you can control and take care of those things. Things out of your control you just have to get up and find a way the next time.”Siemian has the ability to anticipate and throw to receivers before they break away from defenders, which is sometimes hard for new NFL starters to master.”He’s always done that,” McCall said. “We always talked about throwing people open, rather than waiting for them to get open. He’ll anticipate a little bit and trust his guys. He has great confidence with his receivers and everybody up front.”Siemian was part of a two-quarterback system at Northwestern with former Cherry Creek standout Kain Colter.”It was all about the team,” McCall said. “No matter what happens with the decision to start (in Denver), Trevor is always going to be a team guy.”New boys lacrosse coachesJohn Gallant, who played 14 seasons for the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League, has been hired as the boys lacrosse coach at Rock Canyon, Jaguars’ Athletic Director Tom Brieske said.Gallant retired as a player in 2015 and has spent the past two seasons as an assistant boys lacrosse coach at Valor Christian. He replaces Louis Goldin, who resigned as the Jaguars’ head coach.Golden Athletic Director JC Summers said Mike Thumin is returning to Golden to take over from Kurt Ohlen as boys lacrosse coach.Thumin is leaving Dakota Ridge to return to Golden, where he coached for 11 seasons, 10 as head coach. He guided the Demons to five league titles.Ohlen is departing to coach at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.Quite a rallyIf you want to chitchat about a wild softball game, talk to Horizon coach Gary Mares.Ask him about the second game of the King of the Mountain tournament Sept. 3 against Rampart, which the Hawks won, 25-24, on an RBI by Megan Blood-Smyth in the top of the seventh inning.Horizon, coming off a loss against Smoky Hill in which the Hawks blew a three-run lead in the seventh inning, fell behind to Rampart 13-0 after the top of the first and 18-3 after three frames. The Hawks scored seven runs in the fourth and 13 in the fifth to grab a 23-21 lead. Rampart tied the game in the sixth, but Horizon rallied to win the game.”They had every reason to give up,” Mares said. “What great fortitude and character.”Jim Benton is a sports writer for Colorado Community Media. He has been covering sports in the Denver area since 1968. He can be reached at [email protected] or at 303-566-4083.