Mason Miller is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sunrise Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com

 

Facing one of the toughest starts in the state, Sunrise Mountain looks to a tight-knit senior class to lead it to a 10th straight winning season.

When five of your first six games are against title contenders and the defending 4A and 6A Conference champions, your team better be ready to compete from day one. It’s a challenge Sunrise Mountain Head Coach Steve Decker said he, his staff and players look forward to.

“We’re excited about the challenge for sure. The players understand the task at hand, and as a staff we’re really excited about the challenge as well,” Decker said. “We like playing tough teams, it lets us see where we’re at.”

Just as the Mustangs looked to start preparing for their 2020 season, coronavirus brought everything to a screeching halt. Training time was missed, players didn’t get to interact with one another, and coaches couldn’t get a good look at their players. Coach Decker said that he and his staff feel good about how well they kept connected with the team during the lockdown period.

“Normally we would’ve had spring ball for a month, had all summer lifting and running and probably played about 40 seven-on-seven games.” Decker said. “We did Zoom meetings once a week, minimum once a week with the position coaches. It’s a tight-knit group, so with there being social distancing and stuff, a lot of them are friends and would do stuff, too.”

While every school has faced mostly the same shortened schedule and missed camps, the Mustangs feel slightly less disadvantaged with a close senior class. Eighteen of last year’s starters return for this season, many being seniors that were part of an undefeated freshman team. Some even go further back, having played football together since junior high. Coach Decker sounded energetic when talking about his excitement and expectations for this year's seniors.

“We had a lot of good players on that (freshman) team,” Decker said. “A lot of these guys played on varsity, if not started since their sophomore year. We feel really good about the experience that’s coming back and feel it’s going to benefit us.”

With quarterback Alex Gianoli graduating last year, the competition for the starting spot has become heated over the shortened practice period. Three players, all starting their high school careers at different schools, will battle for the spot. Senior Mike Chavarria, a former transfer from Liberty, took snaps against Apollo and Centennial last year. Senior Travis Ward, from Nevada, looks to get a shot at playing again at Sunrise Mountain. Junior Hunter Kronengold transferred from Saguaro and will sit the first four games, but may play in the starting spot after he sits out. Coach Decker said last Saturday that the starting QB would be named around mid-week prior to their first game.

The Mustangs will travel to Glendale to play 2019 4A semifinalists Cactus High School Cobras on Friday to start their season.