Holy Family Tigers’ championship game this weekend a special moment for team

Photo by HF Athletics

The Holy Family Tigers have been bringing the heat to the gridiron this season, which has earned them a shot to become two-time state champions this weekend.

The Tigers will face off against Lutheran High School at the 3A state championship in Pueblo on Saturday after besting Thompson Valley last weekend. The last time Holy Family won the championship was in 2005.

“It’s been a goal of this group since they were freshmen, and I have a text message from my son (Dom Gabriel) during his freshman year that said this group was going to get there,” head coach Mike D. Gabriel told HF Athletics. “I guess he was right.

“It just means so much to this program and this community and to me personally.”

This is a big deal for both the Holy Family High School community and the wider Catholic community. What makes this achievement all the more special is the fact that Coach Gabriel’s wife Crystal, who has been battling leukemia since the spring, will be in the stands at this Saturday’s game, as the Denver Post reported this morning.

Despite her illness, she’s been at every single game, faithfully cheering the team on, even if it was from the car. The team will be wearing orange ribbon stickers on their helmets for leukemia awareness to honor her at the championship. In many ways, this a full circle moment for Crystal.

“Our family has worked so hard to get to this point,” Crystal told the Denver Post. “Dom told his dad that since his freshman year, that this is the team that will go to state. I was pregnant with Dom the last time we won state. So to see this come full circle, with everything we’ve been through in-between, with how long this family’s been (tied in) with this school … for them to finish off with a win, it would be amazing.”

Join us in praying for and cheering on the Holy Family Tigers! Go Tigers!