‘She’s a beast’

Heather Finch didn’t see it coming. The then-junior was at practice when her teammate — 5-foor-10, 190-pound lineman Isaac Reindel — under coach’s orders was told to purposedly lay her out.
Yes, tackle her. She was trying to play football after all.
“It caught me off guard, but I did fine,” Heather said.
She passed the test. And now, a year later, the Front Range Christian senior is making the grade as a starter on the offensive line and a contributor on defense.
Unlike many of the female football players that have come before her who typically are placekickers, Heather is a solid 5-6, 210-pound lineman. And she’s no pushover, either. Just ask her brother.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s always fun to see her roughing it up with the other guys,” younger brother Miles, a 6-5, 220-pound lineman, said. “ ... She’s a beast.”
In other words, Miles doesn’t have to worry about his sister. She can more than hold her own.
Heather, 18, picked up the sport when she was younger, playing with her family. She’s also played basketball and soccer, but it’s the physical nature of football that’s attractive to her.
“I’m not very fast because I’m kind of bigger. I’m really aggressive,” Heather said. “I don’t like non-contact sports. Girls sports are less exciting.”
To get a true measure of her success on the field one just needs to hear about Heather’s highlight moment thus far, even if it officially didn’t count.
“In practice, I actually tackled Kyle Davis once,” Heather said. Yes, that Kyle Davis. The Falcons running back who has rushed for 1,033 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. “That was pretty awesome because nobody ever tackles Kyle.”
Wanting to be on the team and actually being on it, however, are two different things. It was ultimately up to head coach Derald Gautier and his staff. But, according to Heather, that wasn’t that big of a deal.
“I talked to them about it and they were like ‘Cool, if you can,’ ”  Heather said.
She’s definitely proven that she can. And, truthfully, she said, she’s more like her teammates anyway.
“Nobody ever teases me about being a girl or (them) being hit by a girl. I’m just one of the guys,” Heather said.

Matthew Jonas

Heather Finch might only be 5-foot-6 and a girl, but she has more than held her own playing on the offensive and defensive line for Front Range Christian’s football program the past two seasons.

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