Bundled up near the bleachers, backing the program he'd helped conquer the Class 2A football mountain an incredible 19 seasons before, one man looked ready to hurdle the fence at Platte Valley's Bronco Field and either aid Gary Heide in directing Bayfield football to the state championship or take responsibility himself.
"Bayfield's such a great community; it's a wonderful place," said Marty Moon, a former teacher at BHS and the offensive coordinator for the 1996 title-winning Wolverines, several of whom also witnessed the win in Kersey. "I always enjoy going back-I grew up in Durango-and love the people. It's hard to leave!"
"And I'm so proud to be here at the state championship again," he continued, wearing a 1996 "Refused to Lose" hat atop his head. "I was at the last one.a few years back, and I'm proud of the team now just making it. I mean, what an accomplishment to win it all!"
If he hadn't pondered it already, watching BHS prevail would have been the way to cap a three-decade career. But long addicted to the rush of calling shots, he'd tried leaving the sport before.and more or less failed.
"I'm still dabbling in it a little bit because it's hard to give it up," he laughed. "But.I mean, it's just once you're a coach, I guess you're always a coach! A great career; I've really enjoyed it."
And the thrill of a championship never aged. After leaving Bayfield (he went 7-11 overall as head coach from 1997-98 after taking over for Jon Keirns), Moon helped direct three more state champion squads under Joe Johnson at then-4A Highlands Ranch ThunderRidge between 2001 and 2009. ThunderRidge defeated Broomfield 7-3 in '01, Littleton Dakota Ridge 45-29 in '04, Grand Junction 51-21 in '05-before joining Parker-based Legend.
During the Grizzlies' latter two title years, the team went 26-2 and totaled 1,144 points (40.86 per game).
"We had a real good run there," he said. "I've been very fortunate to win four.obviously the first one being '96 with Bayfield's first State Championship in 2A."
"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the athletes. It's all about the athletes, you know; I was just there to help 'em along the way a little bit."
And that included a handful of future National Football Leaguers, including current Miami Dolphins offensive line coach John Benton, a former four-year (1983-86) starter at tackle for Colorado State University.
"I was his position coach when I first started at Durango.he's one of the guys I coached originally."
Moon's era started at DHS, then after a three-year stretch in the military, he returned to Colorado with Dolores for three years. A spell at football-less Silverton followed, as did a year-long stop in Arizona before he "got together with Keirns and 'Butch' Prior starting in-I think-the fall of '92, maybe '93."
"Had Stein Koss from Durango," Moon continued. "He was a quarterback but Arizona State converted him to a tight end, and I think it was '87 when.he got a Rose Bowl championship ring, caught two passes against Michigan. During the [NFL] strike year he played tight end for Kansas City."
"And then I had Jesse Nading-he played for the Houston Texans," said Moon, of the Denver Post's 2002 Class 4A Defensive Player-of-the-Year, who also helped TRHS win Class 5A State Basketball Championships in '02 and '03 before donning pads and cleats for CSU and then for the Texans from '08-12.
2009 ThunderRidge grad Tim Jenkins went on to rewrite Durango-based Fort Lewis College passing records and eventually signed with the St. Louis Rams on May 13, 2013. Cut after the preseason, he was later back in the game in October north of the border with the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders.
"I just had my last kid go through.Cole Manhart, ThunderRidge kid," Moon said. "Played for University of Nebraska-Kearney, and was a free agent."
Manhart most recently signed by Oakland on Dec. 28, 2015, for the Raiders' practice squad.
And during his subsequent stints after leaving La Plata for Douglas County (he currently resides in Parker), Moon never completely got away from what he'd learned in the state's southwestern reaches.
"Butch Prior had a big influence on me," he recalled. "I remember the first year I taught with and coached with him at Bayfield, we were playing a JV game against Ignacio-I was doing the JV squad at the time a little bit too, including the varsity-and I was kind of trying to see what some other players could do."
"So I was getting them in, but because they weren't performing very well and Ignacio started catching up on us, Butch comes out of the stands and says, 'What are you doing, Moon?!?!' And I was like, 'What?' And he goes, 'You don't ever lose to your rival!'"
"So I tell you what, I carried that with me! I tell you.when I went to ThunderRidge, we never lost to Mountain Vista-they were only a couple miles up the hill from us, and I was like 'We do not lose to our rivals!'"
"And.Ken Soper over in Dove Creek, he'd always find your weakest link. And so because of that.when I came up to the Denver area, I'd find the weakest link and pick on them. Those types of people influenced me quite a bit-Jon Keirns did the same thing as well-and I took a lot of that stuff."
"You've got to work with maybe not the purest football athletes when you're at a smaller school, but you learn to adapt and I think we did that all the way."
Just as the 2015 Wolverines did in defeating PVHS for the ultimate prize, to Moon's delight.
"Bayfield needs to be a football power. It's been that with Marshall (former head coach, and '96 QB Hahn), and I know Gary's done a continuation of that, but Bayfield's a town that takes pride in football," he stated.
"There's a lot of tough kids in Bayfield-work on farms, work on ranches, they're mountain-man.tough and people don't realize that. It means so much to the community."
"It makes me proud because, you know, maybe in some way we helped start that a little," he added, tipping his cap to the 1996 team and coaching staff. "But I love to watch them because I can see it carry on."
"Those types of things went with me forever."
