Once upon a time, the road to the Arizona state football championship either traveled through Mesa or ended up there. 

Mesa High was a regular stop on that trail for most of the 20th century.

But over the last 20 years, that path has taken an extensive detour south—primarily down Chandler’s Arizona Ave.

Since Hamilton’s first state title in 2003, the big school state champion has come from Chandler 14 of the last 20 seasons.

Prior to the city of Chandler’s takeover, the Mesa school’s won 14 titles in a 23 season span. But it’s never too late to get started, or in Mesa’s case, restarted. 

Chandler High was open for 100 years before winning its first state football championship in 2014. During that same span, Mesa won 11 state championships with another 16 runner-up finishes.

“The balance of power is glaring, but it shows what these different districts are capable of doing,” Mesa head coach Chad DeGrenier says of football’s cyclical nature.

With the 2023 6A football season officially kicking off tonight, the Mesa Jackrabbits would like nothing more than to find their way back into the football spotlight.

They’ll have an opportunity tonight at cross town rival Red Mountain, where a tall order awaits.

Mesa has plenty of momentum heading into the ’23 season. Last fall, the Jackrabbits won seven of their last eight games, including a rare playoff victory over Corona del Sol in the first round.

Tonight they return to the same location where last season’s seven game winning streak hit an abrupt end: Red Mountain’s Jim Jones Field.  

Mesa trailed 14-10 at halftime before Red Mountain blitzed Mesa with 35 second half points and a 49-10 quarterfinal victory.

“We’ve got some momentum from last season, so what we have to do now is keep building off that,” DeGrenier added.

“Certainly it’s not lost on our kids what happened in the playoff game last year, but regardless, beating Red Mountain would be significant because of what their program represents.”

For much of the last two decades, Red Mountain has done more than its share to keep the city of Mesa relevant on the football map. Until another sister school proves otherwise, the Mountain Lions are still Mesa’s best shot at an Open Division playoff berth.

Although one game doesn’t change the big picture, a win tonight against Red Mountain would certainly get some attention—and much needed respect.

“(Red Mountain) has been the staple of the Mesa district for sometime now,” added DeGrenier. 

The ‘Rabbits have 12 starters returning from last year’s 8-4 quarterfinal squad. DeGrenier is known for his pass happy tendencies and a successful track record doing so, but for Mesa the biggest threat offensively figures to be Junior St. Cyr, a bruising running back who chewed up just over 1,000 yards last season.

 Mesa will likely need more offensive balance against Red Mountain and its stout defensive front, led by linebacker Carson Mauterer and Seth Barron on the line. Both offenses are dealing with quarterback question marks tonight.   

DeGrenier plans on using both Uriel Gonzalez and Adrik Reed tonight. With its scrimmage canceled last week, the permanent starting role is still up for grabs.

Red Mountain senior Kyle Heap is a team captain and saw significant playing time last year under center, but a shoulder injury will likely keep him out tonight. Junior Simon Lopez will get the start for Red Mountain.