Denver Broncos help Evergreen High School football team after school shooting

As rain falls in the foothills, Evergreen high school football is indoors to start the week. For the first time since the Sept. 10 shooting on their campus, Cougar football was back at home on Monday. It's was a middle school classroom where they gathered, but it was enough. 

"School and football kind of helps us have something to do and to look forward to," said junior linebacker Kai Kazmer. 

The return to school and that routine is something some are looking forward to. Senior quarterback Avery Zouski has been helping lead his team and stay together in the wake of the shooting.

"The team came closer and the community got closer which makes this all feel more like a family," he told CBS Colorado. 

Since the shooting happened, the overseeing of the high school has changed hands. Under normal circumstances, the building and fields are run by Jeffco Public Schools. But in the wake of the tragedy, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office temporarily took over the area as an active crime scene, eventually returning it to the district.

In the meantime, Cougar athletics haven't had homes. The football team practiced for a few days at Chatfield High School before being given an incredible opportunity. 

"I walked out there and was like 'Wow Bo Nix threw touchdowns here!'" said Zouski with a beaming smile. "So I took it all in and enjoyed it."

EHS offensive line coach Ryan Jensen is an NFL veteran, having played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Through his contacts, and with an assist from current Bronco offensive lineman Quinn Meinerz and the team's PR department, they hatched a plan. 

Instead of a nice gesture, such as a facilities tour, the Broncos opened up team headquarters to EHS' boys football and girls flag football teams to practice. 

"We really needed a place to practice," explained head coach Matt Van Praag, "So as nice as it would've been to tour the facility, it was even better to be able to actually practice and have a space to practice."

For Van Praag, whose staff have been holding team dinners nearly every night for the last week, it's meant everything. He was happy to report his teams' 100% participation rate to the dinners and the willingness to wrap their arms around each other during such a tough time. 

While it may be not be right to characterize the practice as a "distraction," it was an opportunity for the students to be students again, even if for a moment before the reality of the world returned on the bus rides home. 

"To get out and just play football with their friends and even for the coaches it was enlightening just to see them get out and smiling again," Van Praag said. 

In some ways, high school football bringing a community together in the wake of a tragedy has become something of a cliche. But in the case of Evergreen, the trope is playing out in real time. As flags with inspirational messages line the streets, and #EvergreenStrong posters can be found on the door of every business and home in town, the feeling of community is strong here. 

And Cougar football, while not focused on the wins and losses as much as they were before Sept. 10, is helping to lead the way to help heal a town that has become stronger together. 

"As a community it just helps that everyone is close together and football is one of those things that brings the whole thing together," said Zouski. 

EHS is expected to return to classes on Thursday, per a memo sent out by the district.