The McClintock Chargers had a rocky start, being down 18 points against Central High School up until the middle of second quarter. Then slot back Ben Roberts suddenly broke through with a touchdown, setting the tone for the entire game with yet another win for the Chargers, 40-18 over Central on Friday.

 

Quarterback Xavier Benitez and Roberts both worked together to create a huge turning point in the game for McClintock. Roberts continued to express his excitement with that crucial play and said, “I felt like it really brought the team up and we could really come back. I feel like I helped out my team but in the end we all pulled together and came through.”

 

Roberts was also very quick to recognize the improvements his team needed to make a priority during the game. "Starting off in the first quarter we should have played a lot better than we did. We were not awake and should have been more ready, but we came out hard in the second half and ended with a dub," Roberts said.

 

Towards the end of second quarter, running back JT Trujillo scored two touchdowns, bringing his team up 20-18 at the end of the first half. He spoke upon his performance and criticized himself, despite scoring the extra 12 points.

 

Trujillo said, “It felt pretty good, getting a boost back in the game. My linemen did a great job and I just followed their blocks, but I didn’t play very well. I had some touchdowns but overall it doesn’t describe how I played. I could have ran harder and picked up a couple extra blocks.”

 

During halftime of the game Karl Kiefer, former varsity coach at McClintock, was honored for the impact and legacy he has left upon the school. Many of the alumni and his former players came out to pay respects to one of Arizona’s greatest coaches.

 

Former wide receiver and defensive back for McClintock and current mayor of Tempe Mark Mitchell spoke very highly of Kiefer.

 

"You know, it is amazing because we have so much respect for him and he has taught us so many things in life. Teamwork, brotherhood, and this is just a great occasion to recognize one of Arizona’s most winning coaches in history," Mitchell said.

 

Mitchell reminisced about the good old days with Kiefer when he played on the Chargers field.

 

"Yyou had to make sure you followed the play or you’d get in a lot of trouble. He was always looking out for us but probably the most memorable thing is as a team we always had to wear a tie and blazer and we went to a team dinner at the Piccadilly Café. We could not have any sugar, he was real strict about it. But it was a great experience. Saturday morning practices were great too because we would always go out to eat afterwards. He brought us a lot of great memories and life experiences."

 

In the first five minutes of the 4th quarter Benitez threw a touchdown pass to Caleb Bueno making it 27-18 and then came another TD throw to Will Roberts.

 

“It felt great, but we had a rough start, I threw a pick-6 but I had to show some leadership and regather the line and receivers and just try to motivate them.” said Benitez