Jim Benton
jbenton@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Jake Rubley is a player who didn't want want the Colorado High School Activities Association to move the football season from the fall to next spring.
But that's exactly what happened Aug. 4, when the prep-sports agency said it was moving football and several other sports to a March-into-May schedule because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rubley, the 6-foot-3 Highlands Ranch senior quarterback, has committed to play next season for Kansas State. He plans to graduate from Highlands Ranch in December and enroll early at K-State in January.
So with the fall football season switched to the spring, which is one of the options during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rubley will not be able to play with the Falcons.
“I will graduate in December,” explained Rubley in an interview before the football schedule change was announced. “And I will go to Kansas State in January so I won’t be able to play with my high school team in the spring. So I’m really praying we can play in the fall. I don’t want to miss out on my senior season. That would be devastating.
“I’ve been practicing with our team for four years. You work so hard and now you are finally top dog on campus and then it is just taken away from you. It’s really sad but it does happen.”
Rubley told The Denver Post he might transfer to a high school in West Des Moines, Iowa, and finish his prep career there.
Rubley, who is on the Sports Illustrated’s All-American watch list, passed for 1,767 yards with 18 touchdowns and a .607 completion percentage last season.
The COVID restrictions have curtailed his and the team’s summer workouts.
“It has been very hard to get ready for the season,” said Rubley. “We haven’t put on pads once all summer. Our line hasn’t worked out the way we normally do. It’s just hard to be a team. It will be interesting to see what they say about our season. There could be worse things but it is definitely challenging.
Rubley says his throwing, speed and strength have improved this summer but he hasn’t worked much with his linemen or on defensive awareness during the offseason.
“We’ll have a really good team this year," he said. "We will have a real good chance to win conference (Douglas County) and beat Valor (Christian). We return a lot of starters. We only graduated five starters. So we have a really good veteran crew coming back.”
