In the season opener, Fossil Ridge was teetering on the brink of defeat. Then Marcus Mozer took the game into his own hands.
The Sabercats were down to Loveland with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Mozer dominated the decisive drive. As Fossil Ridge repeatedly lined him up as the solo boundary-side receiver out of trips formation, the San Diego State-bound wideout reeled in four catches, including the game-winning 36-yard TD.
“We kept calling his number, over and over,” Fossil Ridge head coach Chris Tedford said. “We had a play where it was an option route for Marcus. He would get up there to the line and he and the QB would read it.
“And the game-winner that won it for us, he ran an inside-breaking route, a skinny post, then made three guys miss after he caught it to where it was like, ‘Okay, our dude is clearly better than everybody else’s dude on the field.’”
Mozer finished with 11 catches for 147 yards and two TDs in the game, a performance that foreshadowed a season in which he excelled on the field and off of it en route to becoming the 74th winner of The Denver Post’s Gold Helmet Award.
The honor is presented annually to the state’s top senior football player, scholar and citizen. Mozer checked all three boxes to beat out a field of impressive finalists.
Fossil Ridge’s star finished the year with 66 catches for 933 yards and 13 TDs, despite facing consistent double-teams. He played defense, too, notching 22 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery at free safety. In the classroom, he has a 4.074 GPA, while his community service list is lengthy and well-rounded. His play helped the Sabercats (7-5) to the Class 5A playoffs, where they lost in the second round.
“He’s been one of the most impactful athletes in Fossil Ridge history,” Tedford said.
Mozer’s giveback included a four-year commitment to the Young Men’s Service League, where he and his mother, Paula, engaged in various acts of community service. They worked at the Larimer County Food Bank, serving meals and stocking groceries. They volunteered at Samaritan House Fort Collins. And they spent time giving back through Realities for Children by organizing school supplies and Christmas presents for foster and adoptive kids.
That, in addition to Mozer serving twice a week for the last three years as a youth group counselor for middle school boys at his church, plus his involvement in various school clubs like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and DECA.
Mozer said all of that work gave him perspective and humility on the football field.
“Overall, I think he took a lot of life skills away from it and I hope it’s something that gets put on his heart for the rest of his life, and I hope that if someone said let’s serve, he’d say, ‘Let’s do it,’” Paula Mozer added. “It’s been great for him to learn it’s not about him — there’s a bigger picture out there, and he’s done a good job of still caring for others and not have it be a Marcus show.”
While he maintained a focus on serving his community, Mozer also transformed himself as a player.
When he got to high school, speed was his only unique asset as a wideout. But he worked tirelessly to diversify his skill set, including training with a wideout coach and playing for Team Full Gorilla, a premier local 7-on-7 team that travels for tournaments.
His participation on that team required some 3 a.m. wake-up calls during the summer in order to make the team’s 5 a.m. practices in Castle Rock.
“Freshman year, I was the biggest and fastest kid on C team, so I didn’t really have to do anything but run past defenders on go routes,” Mozer recalled. “It’s the only thing I did really well. After my sophomore year, I realized I couldn’t just be a go-ball guy. So I started working with (wideout coach) Grayson Bankhead a lot after that, on all types of releases, and on my route running so I wouldn’t be just a one-dimensional speed guy.”
Mozer, who has competed in track for three years and runs 10.85 seconds in the 100 meters, became nearly unstoppable as a senior thanks to the equity he built the year before his final fall at Fossil Ridge. That allowed him to tap into the full potential of his 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame.
“He was pretty stiff when I started working with him, so with him being a big dude, a main focus was loosening him up,” Bankhead said. “Now, he’s way more elusive because he’s relaxed within his routes and in and out of his breaks.”
Mozer had four 100-yard receiving games this season and might have broken the 1,000-yard mark had he not missed the Sabercats’ second game due to a hip injury. In his best performance — a nine-catch, 168-yard, three-touchdown outing against Legacy on Oct. 4 — Lightning coach Jay Madden witnessed the culmination of Mozer’s metamorphosis into a complete receiver.
“We lost by 24, and he scored 21 points, so it was definitely his night,” Madden lamented. “We tried doubling him, but he just ran right by us. I guess we needed to put three guys on him.”
Mozer will study financial services in college. He wants to play professionally, but Plan B is to be a financial advisor just like his dad.
But before Mozer heads off to San Diego State, he has one last bit of unfinished preps business in the spring. He took second at state in the Class 5A long jump as a junior, when he jumped 22 feet, 11 inches and was a quarter-inch off of the title, won by Overland senior Wondame Davis.
If the determination that led to the accomplishments this fall is any indication, the Gold Helmet winner won’t come up short next spring.
Meet Marcus Mozer
School: Fossil Ridge
Born: Aug. 18, 2006, in Fort Collins
College: San Diego State
In the classroom: 4.074 GPA
In the community: Member of the Young Man’s Service League; church youth group leader for middle school boys; member of the National Honor Society, National Business Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and DECA.
On the field: In 2024, he had 66 catches for 933 yards and 13 TDs on offense and 22 tackles, 2 INTs and one fumble recovery on defense. For his career, he had 132 catches for 2,173 yards and 25 TDs.
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