Ben Rodziewicz is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Cactus Shadows High School for AZPreps365.com. 

 

Donivan Dixon, a 5-foot-10 quarterback from Cave Creek, Arizona, put high school football on notice this season. Driven by family and football, Donivan elevated his game with impressive stats in almost every game.

Playing in his third year at Cactus Shadows High School, Donivan, and his father, Chris Dixon, who is also his coach, seem to be the perfect pair to bring success to the Cactus Shadows football program. 

“I’m a father at home,” Chris said. “But when we’re on the field and in film it’s player, this is my expectation.”

Chris, a former professional indoor football player, has six indoor football championships and was inducted into the Indoor Football League Hall of Fame in 2015. Donivan said Chris has been the main motivating factor in his football career.

“Ever since I was young, he (Chris) has always pushed me toward my goals,” Donivan said. “He has never put anything in front of me that I didn’t want to do.”

Donivan has been the starting quarterback for the Falcons all three years, leading them to two consecutive 4-6 seasons.

But this season has been different for Donivan. He has proven himself as a top quarterback and football player in Arizona. His father, Chris, believes that this has been coming for a long time.

“The talent has always been there since his freshman year,” Chris said. “It’s the growth of the leadership, bringing teammates forward to be better every day is where I judge a quarterback.”

Building chemistry on the Cactus Shadows football team, Donivan and two of his teammates, Alex Dafnis and Dillon Aspiras, have been developing this bond for years. Dafnis and Aspiras are both juniors and have become close with Donivan through football.

“I met him (Donivan) freshman year,” Aspiras said. “We got closer when I transferred sophomore year and our connection has only grown since then.”

Aspiras transferred from Horizon High School to Cactus Shadows after his freshman year. Aspiras plays wide receiver for the Falcons and has shown incredible improvement this season. There are two main people who have pushed Aspiras to get better.

“My dad and coach Ace Justin,” Aspiras said. “They’ve been helping me with training in the offseason.”

The other component of the junior trio at Cactus Shadows is wide receiver and tight end, Alex Dafnis, who met Donivan in eighth grade and became close with him in their sophomore year. 

“When he (Donivan) came here he didn’t really talk a lot,” Dafnis said. “Sophomore year is when I really got close with him and he became my quarterback.”

Donivan moved from Montana to Arizona in eighth grade. His best football memory is when he was in middle school and his team won the national championship. 

Chris and Donivan have been traversing the college recruitment process together. Donivan said his dad is the main person helping him contact colleges and get his name out there. 

“The colleges I've talked to are a lot of Big 12, some SEC (southeastern conference), a few Big Ten and some Big Sky,” Donivan said. 

The bond between Donivan and Chris was put on full display on October 25 when Cactus Shadows took on Notre Dame Preparatory Academy. With 8.1 seconds left in the game, Cactus Shadows was up 28-21. Notre Dame Prep had the ball on the 17-yard line on fourth down. The play began with Notre Dame Prep flipping the ball to Cooper Perry, the No. 1 ranked wide receiver in Arizona. Perry threw the ball into the end zone and it was intercepted by none other than Donivan.

It is incredibly rare to see on the last play of the game a coach put in a one-way player on defense and for them to come up with the game-sealing interception. For Chris and Donivan, this was nothing new to them.

“We talked about it weeks ago if we are in a situation where I need to put him (Donivan) on defense, we are going to put him back there,” Chris said. “He played defense growing up, so it’s not something new to him, playing safety and understanding how to read a quarterback.”

Cactus Shadows beat Notre Dame Prep for the first time in 10 years. A historic night for the Falcons capped off by a play from their quarterback, Donivan, who has been making plays all year. 

“Winning a state championship, that’s definitely the ceiling,” Donivan said. “I feel like we can take it to the top, for sure.”