Best in the West 2024: Building on Momentum

Arizona High School Football kicks off this Friday night! The season is now upon us and most schools will begin their 2024 season next Friday. Final preparations are well underway 

 

Rising Expectations

Following a pair of seasons hovering around .500, the Raymond S. Kellis Cougars unloaded a historic season. 2023 wasn’t just RSK’s best season and first postseason appearance since 2016 but also just their fifth playoff birth in program history.

Entering his fourth season as head coach of the Cougars, Ben Kullos, holds hefty expectations for a special group at RSK in 2024. While besting last season’s 9-1 season is on the mind of the Cougars, they also strive for a feat that has never been accomplished at Kellis; a postseason victory.

“This senior class is almost double the size of any one of my first 3 graduating classes here at RSK,” Coach Kullos told Best in the West. “This group is also special to me as they were freshmen in my first year on campus.”

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Summer training is in the books✅

Had some fun on the last day with McDonald's Scavenger Hunt to get out of running.

Testing next week!#MTC🗻 pic.twitter.com/9SbfsXnD5R

— Cougars Football (@KellisFootball) July 25, 2024

Senior quarterback, Ronald Coty, has showcased continued growth through 7-on-7 competition this summer and looks to command his offense to another stellar or history-making season. This will be Coty’s third season at the helm of the offense after playing six games as a sophomore and all 11 games where he threw for 799 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior. Coty also loves to turn on the jets, as he shined in the ground game with 1,174 rush yards and a whopping 20 touchdowns while on the run.

Plenty of athletes are expected to produce strong seasons on both sides of the ball. Senior LB/RB, Tristan Bacon, was the Cougars’ leading rusher last year behind Coty with 452 yards and five touchdowns. Bacon is coming off of a First-Team All-Region recognition and 5A Conference Honorable Mention season while collecting three FCS offers. Senior WR/DB, Avery Rodriguez, is labeled as a “ball hawk” for RSK and coming off of a stellar junior season that included four interceptions and a pair of blocked field goals.

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Thank you to @AY_BILT for another amazing Camp experience! #MTC🗻 pic.twitter.com/4HyWmZZT04

— Cougars Football (@KellisFootball) July 20, 2024

Three-year starters, Jason Perez and Ty Yarbrough return with high expectations for their senior seasons.  Meanwhile, junior Edge, Rocky Warner, and junior left tackle, Daniel Lozano, will be looked upon as leaders of this season’s squad.

Coach Kullos will also have an eye on a pair of receivers to have potential breakout seasons. Cayden Walker and Nathan Macias enter their senior seasons. Kullos dubbed Macias as one of the Cougars’ top pound-for-pound athletes, full of top-end speed and big play ability alongside Walker’s length and jump ball ability.

Raymond S. Kellis begins their season at home on August 30 against Independence.

 

Taking the Next Step

A near record-making season capped off back-to-back historic seasons for the Thunderbird Titans in 2023. An overtime loss against Arcadia in last year’s 4A Quarterfinal held the Titans from double-digit victories last season. Only twice in program history has THS won ten games; their 2010 4A DII Championship and in 1990. Now, they look to build on their momentum from the past two seasons and once again battle for the 4A crown.

“We have 31 Seniors that have an opportunity to leave Thunderbird as the winningest class in school history,” Head Coach, Matt Nalette told Best in the West. “From last year, we have learned that we are pretty close to accomplishing our ultimate goal. The focus of this group of seniors has been to finish the job this season, their last opportunity.”

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Last camp for these 31 Seniors pic.twitter.com/xFJPclPQ2F

— Thunderbird Titans Football (@TBirdFB) July 28, 2024

Coach Nalette also notes this season’s depth of leadership with their abundance of seniors. He notes receiver Logan Camps, cornerback Carter Jennings, and quarterback Andrew Cohill as athletes who get it done on and off the field with a tremendous work ethic and who lead by example.

All eyes will be on a pair of three-year varsity starters, DE/OG Talan Flores and LB/Athlete Ryan Kavalami. Labeled as a natural-born leader by Coach Nalette, the DE/LB/Athlete hybrid, Ryan Kavalami, will be a defensive Swiss army knife with 156 tackles and 17 sacks over the past two seasons. Flores will anchor both sides of the line this season as a fellow third-year starter. Coach Nalette calls Flores, “the nicest guy off the field but he plays with a lot of meanness to him.”

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2024 Camp complete pic.twitter.com/nObWysqAQd

— Thunderbird Titans Football (@TBirdFB) July 28, 2024

The Titans return First-Team All-4A running back, Elijah Little. Characterized as “lightning in a bottle,” the senior dominated the turf with 1,795 yards and 22 TDs on his 217 carries in 2023, including 314 yards in their quarterfinal loss to Arcadia. Joining Little in the backfield will be senior QB, Andrew Cohill, who has continued to grow this summer. Cohill only had one game last season with an interception while throwing 15 TDs over the season.

Coach Nalette is also expecting a breakout season for senior center and defensive tackle, Mason Fosu, as well as an explosive SS/WR, Joseph Francis, who returns from an ACL injury last season.

The Thunderbird Titans kickoff 2024 on the road against sister school, Moon Valley, a rivalry that dates back to 1974.

 

Following Up Greatness

For the first time since 1998, the Apollo Hawks put up a historic 11-win season that came to a close in the 5A Conference semifinal against eventual champion, Higley. With a team full of DI powerhouses, the Hawks put their name on the map but now need to maintain their spot towards the top of the 5A Conference.

A large part of the Hawks’ 2024 success was due to athletes like now-Washington Huskie, Adam Mohammed, who tallied 39 rush touchdowns in 2023, as well as linemen Michael Watkins (a fellow UW Huskie) and U of A’s Matthew Lado. Now with those superstars graduated onto top NCAA Division I schools, it’s time for the group to uphold the expectations set one year ago.

In his sixth season as head coach, Aaron Walls has watched the program evolve from a 2-8 record in 2019 to earning an opportunity to play for a spot in the 5A Conference State Championship in 2023.

“Those guys really set a tone for the rest of the team last year that is hard to match.” Head Coach, Aaron Walls, told Best in the West. “We are scared and excited to see what this year brings us without Mohammed, Lado, and Watkins. We have a team goal to defend our region championship and make a run to the playoffs.”

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There we go Julian. Keep working hard. Congratulations on a top 5 Performance. 🦅🏈 https://t.co/O7M2xQ0mBe

— Apollo Hawks Football (@AHawksfootball) June 2, 2024

A slew of seniors will be looked towards to continue the momentum built by this Hawk program. Team captain and senior tight end/defensive end, Joseph Sumpter, will be looked at to lead the charge in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Sylus Stevenson will return for his senior season commanding the offense. In 13 games last season, Stevenson threw for 1,661 yards and 17 touchdowns. Elijah White will lead the receiving core after last year’s three touchdowns from 477 yards. Alongside him will be Mila Chieg and Julian Gagnon Garcia.

Manning the secondary, Austin Rovner and Jaden Colter will look to help lock down the opposing air attacks. Meanwhile, juniors, Jimmy Delk and Deandre Crum, will be in the trenches on defense.

The Apollo Hawks open up 2024 with a road trip to Tucson as they battle Sunnyside on Aug. 30.

 

 

The season is on the horizon, so be sure to go out and support your local teams as a new chapter begins in just a few weeks! Join in on the conversation on Twitter using #FridayNight360AZ and follow @Sports360AZ to keep up with the action from across the state this season!