Poudre High School breaks 60-year tradition by skipping Fort Collins football rivals in 2026
Conference realignment and declining enrolment have forced Poudre High School to forgo a city matchup for the first time since its founding in 1964.
Poudre High School football will not face a Fort Collins city rival in the 2026 season, marking a historic break from a tradition that has continued for more than six decades. The Impalas have played at least one of Fort Collins, Rocky Mountain, or Fossil Ridge every year since the school opened in 1964, but structural changes in the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) have rendered a city game unfeasible this year.
The primary driver of this scheduling gap is the expansion of conference structures. Poudre currently competes in an eight-team 4A conference, which mandates seven league games. In contrast, its city rivals are part of a revamped seven-team 5A league, requiring six conference clashes. Additionally, the expanded Canvas Classic tripleheader consumed another non-league slot for Poudre, Rocky Mountain, and Fort Collins, leaving the Impalas with only two open non-conference slots in their 10-game schedule.
Poudre head coach Eric Tonkin attributed the absence of a city game to a combination of these conference changes and the program’s declining student enrolment. The Impalas dropped to Class 4A in 2024 and have recorded a 6-24 overall record over the last three seasons. Their performance against city teams has also dipped, with a 3-12 record since 2020.
Despite the constraints, Poudre and Fort Collins attempted to arrange a matchup. However, Tonkin noted that the timing remained elusive as other prospective opponents backed out or altered their dates, ultimately preventing the two schools from finalising a fixture.
The decision has drawn criticism from coaches and alumni who view the city series as a cornerstone of the local football calendar. Fort Collins coach Jeff Brennan expressed disappointment for his players, noting that city games are traditionally the most anticipated fixtures. Rocky Mountain coach and alumnus Phil Underwood, who played for the Lobos from 1998 to 2000, described the loss of the Poudre game as a significant blow to the school’s identity, citing the 53-season continuous rivalry between Rocky and Poudre from 1973 to 2025.
The Poudre-Fort Collins series remains the city’s oldest and most-played rivalry, having been contested twice in a single season in 1974 and 2006. While the Fossil Ridge-Poudre series was already discontinued during the previous two-year CHSAA cycle, the 2026 season marks the first time Poudre will not play any city team, a shift that coaches hope can be reversed in future scheduling cycles.
