RBC I Several kids from Rio Blanco County participated in the 2011 NFL Punt, Pass & Kick competition at the local level in Meeker and Rangely. The top three placers advanced to the sectional competition held recently in Grand Junction and now two have advanced to the team championship level.
Rangely’s Tristin Rohn and Meeker’s Jake Phelan won their age divisions at the local and sectional NFL PP&K competitions and were recently informed they qualified for the team championship level in the Denver Bronco Region.
Rohn, a fifth-grader from Parkview Elementary School, won the 11-12 age division of the local competition in Rangely and the sectional competition in Grand Junction, by punting 83 feet, passing 81 and kicking 83 for a total of 248, four feet more than Frank Becker of Steamboat Springs.
Phelan, a freshman at Meeker High School, won the local competition when he punted 102 feet, passed 138 feet and kicked 98 feet for a total of 339 feet, 26 feet further than Wyatt Edeker of Montrose.
This is the 50th anniversary of the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick competition and all 32 NFL teams will host a team championship level of the competition. The finals will be held at an NFL playoff game in January 2012.
There were nine sectional competitions in the Denver Broncos region, which includes the states of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. Rohn and Phelan’s scores placed them in the top four of the combined sectional competitions.
The two Rio Blanco County athletes will compete against the three other sectional qualifiers in their age divisions at the Denver Broncos’ Dove Valley training facility Dec. 11. Rohn and Phelan will attend the Denver Broncos v. Chicago Bears game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High the same day as the competition. They will be invited onto the field for a passing demonstration during halftime.
If Rohn and Phelan win in Denver, they will be in a pool of 31 other winners of NFL team competitions. Of those winners, only the top four will advance to the national finals in January.
