In the waning moments of a blowout win over Gilbert on Oct. 10, the ALA-Gilbert North sideline was pretty loose, and giddy.

All was good. It was the Eagles’ third straight easy win after a loss to Desert Edge. The final minutes of the win were nothing but a good time as most of the No. 2s were in the game.

Off to the side, however, was a very vital and serious conversation.

ALA-GN coach Ty Detmer and talented junior Isaac Massey were a few yards from the rest of the team, Detmer had his arm around his start wide receiver/defensive back while the two talked about a few things.

“He was talking about my place on the team and how I could be a better leader,” Massey recalled. “Coach was talking about the type of player I am, and what it would mean if I started becoming more vocal and showed how I could take a bigger role on the team.”

Detmer went out his way to have that interaction and it continued on Saturday morning with the some of the coaches and family getting together for a conversation.

“He was in a little bit of hot water,” Detmer said. “We ironed it out and he’s been great since. He’s had a great attitude and became the region player of the year.”

ALA-Gilbert North's Isaac Massey has been a different type of player since having a one-on-one conversation with Eagles coach Ty Detmer. (Jason P. Skoda, AZPreps365).

It has led to a transformation of an already important player for the Eagles, who are the No. 2 seed heading into the 5A semifinals this week when they host Canyon View.

“We got a chance to meet the next morning with his family and found out where he is at and what was going on,” Detmer said. “He shared and we shared. He’s been great ever since. He’s developed a great attitude and become a leader of the team.

“He’s more vocal and speaking up in the team huddle and it is the first time I’ve seen that. He’s where we need him to be.”

Massey, who had a juggling interception and touchdown catch in the quarterfinal win over AZ College Prep, was grateful that his coach took the time for that one-on-one conversation.

“Coach Detmer is a man you can talk to,” Massey said. “He wants to check to see if you’re right and doing OK. He knows what he is talking about. It made me consider taking a bigger role on the team.”

Come get me

The wrestling season has begun and with it comes some familiar names and a moniker that will stay some of the competitiors with the rest of the lives.

State champion.

It’s the ultimate high school goal – standing at the top of the podium, knowing there isn’t anyone better in your division and weight class.

There are a ton of returning state champions this year, which also means beating them is someone’s goal.

On the boys side of the things, there are 29 returning state champions over the four divisions. It breaks down like this: Division I: seven, Division II: 10, Division III: five, Division IV: seven.

Girls wrestling is split into two divisions and there are a total of 15 returning state champions with seven coming back in DI and eight in Division II.

New awards

One of the new items AIA Director Jim Dean created in his first year at the helm was to create an award for game MVP for team championship games.

They receive a plaque and recognition before the team trophies are handed out.

“One of the AIA's primary goals is to elevate opportunities for student athletes,” Dean said. “By recognizing an MVP for state championship games, we are excited to honor outstanding play and provide, yet another, opportunity to recoginze the exceptional student athletes in our great state.

“It's a celebration of excellence, leadership and the hard work that defines high school athletics.”

Year three in the books

The flag football season has come to end, marking the third year the AIA has sanctioned the sport.

The championship games had a heavy East Valley feel to it as Hamilton beat Red Mountain in 6A, Campo Verde took out Chaparral in 5A, Tucson Salpointe defeated Eastmark for the 4A title and Scottsdale Christian topped Laveen Heritage Academy for the inaugural 3A championship.

There is definitely disparity between the top programs that led to some difficult matchups this season.

Some programs were in place before the AIA made it a varsity sport, meaning the players have club coaches, and players with experience and high IQs when it comes to the sport, meanwhile some programs have coaches learning on the fly and players who don’t even know how to put on the flag.

It’s part of the growing pains of a young sport, but should an Open Division be considered after seeing a 57-0 championship game, and the two teams in the 3A championship game combined to outscore their opponents 1,179 to 64 on the season?

The number of schools has increased to more than 130 programs and it wouldn’t be surprising to see it reach 150 in a very short time.

Can an eight-team or 16-team tournament to decide the best team in Arizona regardless of division be viable at this point?

It doesn’t seem to be the case just yet, according to one championship coach.

 “I’m not a fan,” Hamilton coach Matt Stone said. “Campo Verde 100 percent should be in it (from 5A). The next best teams (in the classes 5A or lower) are not in the top 20 of 6A. I’m not being disrespectful. We’ve seen those matchups. At some point when there is a more robust group of teams and girls with experience, then absolutely we can talk about it if we are there. I think it is better, for now, if teams petition up or down.”

Turkey Day football

It’s one of those truisms of high school football – players and coaches love to still be playing during Thanksgiving week.

Football has become synonymous with Thanksgiving. John Madden and Turducken. Detroit Lions. The Game between Michigan and Ohio St. The Territorial Cup between Arizona St. and Arizona.

And for high school football these days that means either a state championship game for the smaller division or the state semifinals for the bigger classifications.

Detmer played for Detroit and Green Bay during his playing career. Both teams have a tradition of playing on Thanksgiving Day.

“It was always fun,” said Detmer, who started 25 games and played in 54 games in his eight years in the NFL. “It’s a short week and then you get to go home and spend time with the family and count your blessing.”

Now, as a high school coach he is able to share it with his coaches, players and families while knowing only a handful of teams get this opportunity.

“That’s kind of the barometer,” said Detmer, who was the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner at BYU. “If you can play through Thankgsiving, you’ve had a good season. You want to try at least get into the Final Four and have a chance to go on from there.”