Jared Cohen
In an era of football where the NFL is hiring offensive minded head coaches and fast paced, no-huddle Chip Kelly-type offenses are the attractive and exciting part of football.
But for the team that has been the epitome of high school football in Arizona, it has been defense that has led the way to seven state championships since 2003.
The 2013 Hamilton Huskies are no different and could very well have their most talented defensive squad from time to bottom in quite some time led by a great senior class along with underclassman who have far more varsity experience than many their own age. It is a defense that did not allow a first down in the fourth quarter on Thursday night in a hard fought game against Pinnacle.
The leader on this defense is senior defensive end, Qualen Cunningham who see’s this defense doing more special things in 2013.
“It’s amazing,” Cunningham said after their 24-20 win over Pinnacle on Thursday night. “With this class that we have in 2014, our senior class, plus we have some juniors and even sophomores that also stand out. With all that said we can still get stronger.”
Cunningham is one of the top 2014 prospects in all over Arizona. He holds double-digit division I offers and recently narrowed down his top five schools to ASU, Oregon, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and USC. In fact, he happens to be taking an unofficial visit to College Station this weekend to see A&M take on Alabama.
He has had a lot of success on the football field but he is always looking to get better. After attending many college camps in the offseason and evaluating his game not just with college coaches but also his high school head coach Steve Belles, he is looking to sure up one aspect of his game in particular in 2013.
“Me going against the run,” he mentioned. “I’ve been a pretty good pass rusher throughout my high school career, but now I am just trying to get a little bigger, put on a little more weight and get after it in the trenches and defend the run.”
Hamilton moved to 3-0 on the season after their win over Pinnacle and will travel to Henderson, Nevada to take on Liberty high school next week.
