FORT COLLINS — What began as forts made of pads as a toddler ended with a hug made of tears as a senior.

His teammates clearing the field at Canvas Stadium, posing for snapshots that they can live in forever, Kellen Behrendsen raced up the stairs at the 30-yard line. He greeted both sets of his grandparents, brother and mom with an embrace decades in the making.

Behrendsen was born into the Dakota Ridge community, a bundle of energy, curiosity and light.

And on a chilly Saturday night, he became his father’s sonshine. Behrendsen and his dad Jeremiah guided Dakota Ridge to its first state football championship, overwhelming Palmer Ridge 38-14. After six losses in the semifinals, after falling in their lone title game appearance in 2004, thirty years of Dakota Ridge dreaming awoke to a b

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