Page 75 - 2020 Sollenberger

WEST
Anthem Prep
Head coach: LeRoy McGrue.
Years as head coach: Over 20 yrs. experience as a position coach, 1st season as Anthem Preps’ head coach.
2019 record: 4-8.
Returning starters on offense, 2019 stats: Sr. QB/FS Gunner Dukeshier (5-10, 175) 900 yards passing, 1200 rushing 26 total TD; Sr. TE/DE Ryan Osha (6-4, 200); Sr. C/DE Cyrus Peterson (5-11, 220); Sr. C/DT Jacob Motter (6-3, 225); Sr. WR/DB Benjamin Dixon ( 5-9, 170); Sr. DT/ Daniel Samiec (5-8, 145).
Also keep an eye on: Jr. QB/LB Jacob Crawford (6-5, 180).
Strengths of offense: Speed.
Strengths of defense: Smart, fast, physical.
Team’s biggest question mark(s): Grasping the complexity of the new offense. 2020 expectations: Playoffs.
Bagdad
Head coach: Dalton Mills.
Years as school’s head coach: 8.
2019 record: 7-2.
Returning starters on offense, 2019 stats: Sr. OL Steven Peterson (6-0, 200); Sr. QB Rocky Sandoval (5-7, 150) 22 TD passes; Jr. QB/WR Connor Watson (6-2, 170) 545 receiving yards, 16 total TDs.
Returning starters on defense, 2019 stats: Jr. NG/LB Cecil Brower (5-10, 165); Jr. LB/DL Keiland Lucero (5-10, 190) 12 tackles; Sr. DE Steven Peterson (6-0, 200) 4 sacks; Jr. DB Connor Watson (6-2, 160) 31 tackles, 3 INTs.
Also keep an eye on: Jr. OL/FB/NG Elijah Aguilar (5-9, 190); So. WR Charleton Harness (6-1, 160); So. C/NG Lorenzo Medina (5-11, 220); Jr. TE/DE Garrett Reeves (6-1, 170); Jr. WR Cooper Williams (6-0, 150).
Strengths of offense: We should have a lot of team speed at the receiver posi- tion. Connor Watson is an explosive athlete who will be moved around. He will play WR, RB, and QB. He is a threat wherever we put him. Rocky Sandoval is a quality quarterback at our level. He understands the offense and knows how to get the ball in our athletes’ hands. We have two quality quarterbacks who will lead our offense to a quality year.
Strengths of defense: We have a lot of newcomers on both sides of the ball, but our returning starters on this side of the ball will make a huge impact. We have some quality guys at each level of the defense. Steven Peterson might have been our best defensive lineman last year as a rotator. At linebacker is where we will have someone new. We have experience coming back at defensive backs. Wat- son, Cooper Williams and Nick Elliot all had some time playing back there. Team’s biggest question mark(s): Running back and offensive line will be a con- cern as we go through the summer. How do we replace the loss of seniors who were our running backs and linebackers? We also lost two seniors who played offensive line and defensive line.
2020 expectations: Our goals really don’t change. We always want to win our last game of the year. We know that we lost a lot. But we are also excited about other guys getting their chance to prove themselves. Becoming one unit and better people are always part of what we want to accomplish.
Desert Heights Prep
Head coach: Kendrick Felix.
Years as head coach: 7.
2019 record: 9-2.
Returning starters on offense: Jr. QB Jacob Hanback (6-2, 185); Sr. WR Jacob Dawson (5-11, 175); Jr. RB Jerek Aguon (5-9, 165); Sr. Julian Szemeis (5-10, 165); Sr. OL Brysen Andriso (6-1, 250); Jr. WR Kenyon Boatman (5-10, 150); Sr. Jonathon Gephart (5-10, 230).
Returning starters on defense: Sr. LB Ryan Jenkins (5-11, 185); Jr. DB John West (5-9, 150); Sr. LB Matt Schreiber (5-11, 180).
Also keep an eye on: Jr. WR/DB Coby Munoz (6-2, 170); So. WR Casey Jenkins (5- 10, 140); Sr. DE/OL Joey Williams (6-2, 210); So. OL Pablo Vera (5-11, 260).
Mohave Accelerated
Head coach: Adam Gibson.
Years as school’s head coach: 3.
2019 record: 3-6.
Returning starters on offense, 2019 stats: Sr. RB Damien Burris (5-8, 145); Jr. WR Logan Cota (5-9, 150); Jr. C Chris Evens (5-7, 165); Jr. OL Ian Fancher (5-9, 165); So. OL Mark Fancher (5-7, 145); Jr. QB Kelden Holmes (6-2, 170); Sr. OT Jacob Jensen (5-10, 260); Jr. DL Thomas Kendell (5-10, 175); So. TE Bryce Merrigan (6-2, 170). Strengths of offense: Having a QB with some time under his belt. Speed and depth.
Strengths of defense: Having more numbers. Adding more technical skill to our defense.
Team’s biggest questions mark(s): Will there be a season.
2020 expectations: Keeping all players academically eligible. Making playoffs. Section title and state ring.
Salome
Head coach: Bryan McCarty.
Years as school’s head coach: 4.
2019 record: 6-3.
Returning starters on offense, 2019 stats: So. OL/RB Alvaro Alvarez (5-11, 250); Jr. QB/WR/RB Nick Dautel (5-10, 165) 3 TD passes, 465 total yards, 4 INTs. Returning starters on defense, 2019 stats: So. DE/DE Fernando Armenta (6-1, 185) 20 tackles; So. DL/LB Alvaro Alvarez (5-11, 250) 45 tackles; So. LB/DB Gabriel Beltran (5-9, 160) 41 tackles; Jr. DB/LB Nick Dautel (5-10, 165) 28 tackles; Sr. DE/ LB Michael Fonville (5-10, 185) 30 tackles.
Also keep an eye on: Frosh OL/DL Stephen Avila (6-2, 220); JR. WR/DB Fernando Amaya (5-9, 165); SR OL/DL Vidal “Bear” Bollas (6-0, 265); So. WR/DB Kevin Castillo (5-8, 150); So. FB/LB Miguel Navarro (5-8, 180); Fr. RB/LB Francisco Sober- anes (5-8, 160); Fr. WR/DB Edgar Velazquez (5-7, 155).
Strengths of offense: We will be young, but the younger classes have had a lot of playing time playing against tough competition at their last level. We will rely on our speed and trying to get our playmakers into space.
Strengths of defense: Speed and making correct reads. We are pretty balanced at each level of the defense.
Team’s biggest question mark(s): How the young athletes are going to have to step up and get major playing time. How they adjust to now being in every play and having to make plays every down.
2020 expectations: My expectations won’t change from having a senior heavy team last year. Come in, work your tail off, learn, ask questions, give your all
and play with our BAMN mentality (By Any Means Necessary). No excuses and get the job done. We may struggle a bit early on, but if we keep working on our technique, keep pushing each other during film and practice, and stay focused on our team goals, we will be OK. Our expectations are to play our best, get into the playoffs, and make some noise.
More about program: Teams are going to underestimate us because the majority of our team will be made up of sophomores and freshmen, but our expectations of ourselves don’t change. We are going to go prepare hard each week, come out and give everything we can to execute at a high level and we are playing to win every game on the schedule.
REGION NOTES: Desert Heights Prep is a new AIA school. It went 37-3 under current coach Kendrick Felix in the previous five seasons in the Charter Athletic Association.
SOUTH REGION
Phoenix Day School for the Deaf
Head coach: Dave Huber.
Years as school’s head coach: 10.
2019 record: 3-5.
Returning starters on offense, 2019 stats: Sr. OL Rene Acosta; Jr. OL Sean Conol; Sr. TE Angel Cubas; Sr. WR Jamal Molina 101 receiving yards 3 TD catches, 560 all-purpose yards; Jr. QB Isaac Nubes 655 passing yards and 11 TD passes, 516 rushing yard and 6 TDs; Sr. Athlete Osmar Ramirez; Sr. C Jose Santiago.
Returning starters on defense, 2019 stats: Sr. DL Rene Acosta 2 sacks; Jr. NT Sean Conol 2 sacks, 34 tackles; Sr. DE Angel Cubas; Sr. LB Adrian Feria; Sr. DB Jamal Molina 2 INTs, 30 tackles; Sr. DB Osmar Ramirez; Sr. LB Jose Santiago team- high 50 tackles.
Also keep an eye on: Fr. Athlete Jeremiah Whitehead; Sr. WR Kaleb Henderson. Strengths of offense heading: Returning most of our starters, including OL and QB.
Strengths of defense heading: Returning most of the defensive starters. Returning our defense coordinator.
Teams biggest questions marks: Losing one of our best player in PDSD history to graduation. Football conditioning/fundamentals.
2020 expectations: To compete hard every game.
REGION NOTES: Duncan coach Eric Bejarano made some adjustments for the up- coming season. With such a young team (only 3 seniors and 2 juniors) and lacking size, he had to. He is switching to the pistol to spread the ball around. He moved his athletic tight end Tommy Hille to running back and a center, Spencer Smith, to tight end. Jason McGrath is three-year starting quarterback. Three-year starter Austin Bigler (6-2, 210) and two-year starter Logan Basteen (6-3, 215) will direct the offensive line. Some of the youngsters Bejarano expects to step in and start immediately are Soph. RB/WR Ben Harris and Soph. FB/LB Emiliano Ortega. ... Fort Thomas’ Sr. Darius Antonio (45 tackles) was the team’s leading receiver last year with 815 receiving yards and 11 TDs. Darien McCabe caught 7 TDs. Soph. Tyler Black and Sr. Terrold Robertson (38 tackles) are the team’s returning leading rushers. ... Valley Union will attempt to bounce back from its first winless season in likely a long time.
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