Jacob Doczy is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Valley Christian High School for AZPreps365.com.

CHANDLER — When Valley Christian football plays under the Friday night lights, most fans are glued in to what’s happening on the field.

VCHS supporters are often in the stadium, on the edge of their seats, eager to see who will make the next big play.

While the fans in the stadium see the action up close, those who can’t have the choice to listen to two of Valley Christian’s own describe the game.

Alumni and current Grand Canyon University students AJ Zvada and Adam Elliott have called every Valley Chrisitian home game the last two seasons on the NFHS Network.

“Last year, we had a lot of issues with the software we were using,” Zvada said. “A lot of times the stream ended up not working, but this year we’ve gotten a lot of compliments on it.”

Kelly Keeler, who helps with the football team’s daily operations, said connecting to Wi-Fi is difficult during the live streams, especially in the heat.

However, Director of Technology Jon Hunsaker has helped make sure the broadcast runs smoothly this season.

Zvada said the broadcast also switched from a camera that automatically follows the ball to a manually-operated camera, which he said makes it feel more authentic.

Elliott delivers the play-by-play on the broadcasts while Zvada, a former Valley Christian offensive lineman, provides the color commentary.

Due to Zvada’s connections to the team, he accepted a broadcasting role and asked Elliott if he wanted to be a part of it.

“He actually texted me over the summer last year and said ‘Hey, I think you’d be really good for this job, you want to try it out?,’” Elliott said.

Zvada played football all four years at Valley Christian, and his first year was 2020, the year current head coach Jake Petersen’s tenure started.

Zvada’s brother, Dominic, was Valley Christian’s kicker, and is now kicking in the NFL for the New York Giants, where he earned the starting role as a rookie this season.

While Elliott didn’t play football, he attended Valley Christian along with Zvada, making a broadcast team that knows the ins and outs of the school.

“The component that helps us this year is that these guys are familiar with Valley Christian,” Keeler said.

Zvada said during the broadcasts, he mostly focuses on having fun.

“I try not to take it too seriously,” Zvada said. “That’s a big thing for me is just to have fun with it. It’s high school football. These are memories that people have for a lifetime. Trying to make it as enjoyable as possible is something that I don’t really take for granted.”