Sam Aguirre is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mesquite High School for AZPreps365.com

During his freshman year at Mesquite High School, Josh Fowler dealt with bullying and alienation from his peers.

“I didn't know what it was like to go through bullying,” Josh said. “Showing up every day knowing that it's probably gonna be worse than yesterday.”

Josh has used faith and family as a tool to overcome these issues.

Mesquite High School’s senior captain was a cross-country runner, but transitioned to football his sophomore year. Balancing school, work, clubs and athletics can be a lot for a high school student, but these core values keep him motivated.

Josh was able to earn the respect of his teammates who thought he wasn’t worthy of a spot on the team. In the last game of his sophomore season, Mesquite was playing Campo Verde in a rainy game. Early in the game, Josh had missed two extra point attempts after not missing one all year. Later on, the Wildcats had a 29-yard field goal attempt which Josh made.

“It was the best moment of my career,” Josh said. “The kids who had doubted me and said that special teams don't matter and I should quit, came out and gave me hugs.”

Josh’s dad, Keith Fowler was proud of this moment.

“No one prompted the kids to do that,” Keith said. “That happened because of the work that he put in and the friendship that he extended to his teammates.”

Josh Fowler delivers a message to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club in a classroom at Mesquite High School. (Photo courtesy of Keith Fowler)

Josh is the leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Club at Mesquite. His initial goal as a freshman was to join the club; however, there wasn’t one.

Josh took it upon himself to get in touch with the F.C.A. offices in Phoenix with the goal of making this a club at Mesquite. Eventually, teachers opened up their doors and allowed him to speak about athletics and Christianity.

Josh said students have joined through word-of-mouth and the goal of the club is to share the gospel.

“It just became a way to continually inject my faith into my school life as best and as often as I could,” Josh said. “My freshman year, there were some days where it was just me and the teacher. Making connections through the football program, we have 35 members now.”

Josh’s mother, Kristin Fowler, said she’s inspired that Josh is never ashamed to share the gospel.

“He has a heart of evangelism,” Kristin said. “He has no problem talking to people about what he believes and if they answer rudely, he says, ‘no problem.’”

Josh has used his knowledge in academics as a path to get where he wants to go in life.

The ACT is an exam for high school students that colleges use for admissions. Josh scored a 36, which is a perfect score.

“I'm very proud of my ACT score,” Josh said. “It obviously opens up so many doors in academics, which means I kind of get to pick where I go to college. It’s a huge blessing, and I'm very thankful for that.”

Mesquite coach Vance Miller was proctoring the ACT exam in the same classroom as Josh.

“I just watched from the minute he walked in,” Miller said. “(Josh) was telling other kids I got a good night's sleep, I ate a good breakfast. He just followed all the rules, everything we tell the kids to do.”

Josh is currently a senior at Mesquite and a place-kicker for their varsity football team. He started playing because of Cincinnati Bengals place-kicker, Evan McPherson, who is also a Christian.

Mesquite coaches made a unanimous decision to make him a team captain.

“He's the first kicker in my 25 years of coaching high school football to ever make the captain position,” Miller said. “What made him stand out was just his work ethic and his attitude. He has done everything he can to master the position.”

The Fowler family on vacation at the Disney Cruise Line. (Photo courtesy of Keith Fowler)

Josh plans to attend the University of Central Florida in the fall of 2025 and pursue a degree in theme park and attraction management. He wants to walk-on as a kicker and earn his way into the football program.

“I want to glorify Jesus Christ with all that I can do,” Josh said. “There's no amount of outside influence that could turn me away from Jesus, football, my family or love because I've gone through a lot.”

Keith credited Josh for his accomplishments.

“I'm crazy proud of him,” Keith said. “Those things happened because of his attitude and effort that he puts into everything.”

Family trips to Disney are a huge part of the Fowler family. On the walls at their household, there are many family pictures at Disneyland because they symbolize those countless bonding experiences. Josh wants to work for Disney in the future.

“His goal, hope and prayer is that he can share the magic with as many families and children as possible,” Kristin said. “He wants every kid that walks through that door to have the experience that he had.”

Miller said all the coaches are beyond proud of Josh.

“I believe he's gonna achieve everything that he's going after,” Miller said. “There's going to be a day where I'm saying, I know the C.E.O., and he's gonna walk up and let me and my kids into Disneyland.”