Dakota Ridge football coach Ron Woitalewicz describes his new sophomore starter at nose guard as "the best athlete on last year's freshman team, very intense and quick off the ball." Then he adds that Steven Barber is deaf. This is the first time in his 23 years as a coach that he has faced this kind of communication challenge. "The players are a big help to us. When we forget he can't hear us, they make sure to grab his attention. It's amazing how many of them have learned sign language." Although only a sophomore, Barber was the first choice to play nose. "Not going off the sound is actually an advantage for him," Woitalewicz observes. "He goes on the movement instead of trying to anticipate." Barber won the starting spot with a good showing at the Western State team camp. "We were concerned about getting him to stop when the whistle blows. But he's so aware and knows his environment so well, he doesn't have any trouble." Fans will see a lot of Barber this season: He also is the team's long-snapper.

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER: If Columbine defensive lineman Curtis Cunningham looks even bigger and stronger this season, give credit to three things . . . hours spent in the weight room (he bench presses 385 pounds), a full schedule of summer baseball (he played at least four games a week) and his lawn-mowing business with teammate Brett Weibel. They say they're not getting rich, "just earning enough for gas money." The two have known each other since preschool and couldn't be more different physically. At 165 pounds, Weibel is more than 100 pounds lighter than his big buddy. "I guess I'm just a little 'Mini- Me', " he says, laughing. Then, he points out that Cunningham's nickname, which he earned the summer before ninth grade, is "The Freak." "He's big. He's fast. He's unreal for his size. He's just a freak," Weibel says. It's a good thing for his teammates that Cunningham doesn't mind the name. "As long as they're having fun, I don't care," he says with a patient smile. The "Mini-Me/Freak" lawn- mowing service will have to work from Boulder. Cunningham ranks among the top recruits in the country, and Colorado scored big when he recently committed to the Buffaloes.

VOICE OF THE PREPS: "I listened to Frank Palmeri my whole life, it seems like." And Wheat Ridge athletic director Nick DeSimone isn't the only one. For more than 40 years, three generations of athletes heard their games and their names called by Palmeri from the press box at Jefferson County Stadium. "He was a fixture," DeSi- mone explains. "He made a huge impact." A Denver North alumnus, Palmeri did it all for the love of teenage athletes. He wasn't only the voice of Wheat Ridge and Jeffco, but also of several high school championships. The only thing that forced him to retire was failing eyesight in recent years. Pal- meri will be honored at halftime Friday of the Farmers' game with Montrose at Jefferson County Stadium. If spectators are lucky, they might get to hear that voice through the microphone one more time.

Marcia Neville is Colorado's Emmy award-winning high school sports reporter. Look for highlights during her PrepZone broadcasts at 9:30 p.m. every Saturday on FOX 31 and at foxhilitescolorado.com.