THORNTON, Colo. — Ten years after surviving a deadly team bus crash together, Riverdale Ridge High School football coach Wayne Voorhees and Legacy High School football coach Kyle Rider met as rivals for the first time during the teams' last 5A regular season game on Friday.
The Legacy Lightning defeated the Riverdale Ridge Ravens 42-21. Senior quarterback Andrew Gardner led the way for the Lightning, rushing for three touchdowns, while senior tight end Joey Jewett added two and senior running back Chase Combs scored one. For the Ravens, senior running backs Dean Presswood and Adam Horta each found the end zone, and senior wide receiver Hudson Rau added a score of his own.
While Riverdale Ridge seniors soaked in one last guaranteed game on their home field during senior night, the game also carried deep history for Voorhees, who coached at Legacy for nearly two decades before starting the Riverdale Ridge program in 2018. Friday's game was also the first time the Ravens and Lightning have squared off after Riverdale Ridge moved to 5A this season.
Watch the full story in the video player below:
Denver7 spoke with Voorhees ahead of the matchup about his ties to Legacy and the significance of the game.
"It's our first year in 5A, our first time playing them, and we want to see what they're all about," said Voorhees. "A lot of guys over there I know pretty well, and I either coached with them or have known them for a long time."
Voorhees became an assistant coach at Legacy when the school opened in Broomfield in 2000. He spent nearly two decades coaching at the school, including 15 seasons as head coach. In 2016, Voorhees was aboard the team bus, headed home from Denver International Airport after an out-of-state game, when it crashed, killing the driver and injuring several players and coaches.
"I had a pretty good scuff on my forehead, a pretty good concussion," he said. "I think you started to take a perspective that life's more important than, you know, wins and losses and some of that kind of stuff. And I think that was important from that standpoint."
Also aboard the bus were Legacy coaches Kyle Rider and Matt Kroupa. Years later, Rider took over as Legacy's head coach and on Friday night, for the first time, stood on the sideline opposite his old friend and colleague.
"There's nothing but family in this program. I mean, when I got welcomed here by Coach Voorhees, he took a chance on me. I started coaching JV, just felt like home, and then just every year, it's just grown to be more and more of part of who I am," Rider said.
Rider said the bus crash taught him to find the positives in each day, something he now teaches his players.
"You don't take the little things for granted. Every day was hard, especially after the accident," he said. "The Lord put me in the place, you know to lead these kids, not just to be players, but to be people. And I feel like I'm in the right spot. I feel like I'm supposed to be here. I feel like the coaching staff that is around me is supposed to be here for different reasons as well."
For both coaches, the work is about developing people, not just players.
"It's seeing kids develop over the course of their tenure in high school, and seeing kids come in as a freshman, and what they grow into, and then seeing them down the road, with being successful and full lives," said Voorhees.
Watch highlights from Friday's game between Riverdale Ridge and Legacy below:
Riverdale Ridge and Legacy are both headed to the 5A CHSAA state tournament playoffs. Riverdale Ridge is playing at Northfield on Friday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. Legacy is playing at Horizon on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. for round one.
