Chandler district football media day brings out the championship vibes

Dylan Raiola was wearing his Chandler High game jersey at Wednesday's Chandler Unified School District football media day.

He'll be wearing No. 1, which is appropriate. The quarterback is the No. 1-ranked high school football prospect in America in the 2024 class. The No. 1 quarterback. The No. 1 target for the tough opponents the Wolves will face in their quest to bounce back from last year's 20-15 championship game loss to Scottsdale Saguaro and regain the Open Division state title.

He's handling the situation the same way he carries himself in the pocket: With confidence and poise.

That's something coach Rick Garretson noticed right away after the Raiola family moved back to the Valley from Burleson, Texas, where Dylan's recruiting blew up during an impressive sophomore season.

How is he processing all of this notoriety since coming to Chandler in late December?

"I have great parents," Raiola said. "Really it's just great teammates around me, great playmakers. My O-line is great. Everything starts up there. That was a big emphasis in the offseason.

"I think we accomplished it. But the real ball starts Monday."

The big schools -- 6A, 5A and 4A -- get to work in helmets on Monday across Arizona.

Media flocked to Valle Luna Mexican Restaurant in Chandler for the district's first football preseason media day featuring its six schools — Arizona College Prep, Basha, Casteel, Chandler, Hamilton and Perry.

Coaches and select players gave their thoughts on the upcoming 2022 season.

Chandler enters as the highest ranked Arizona high school football team in the country, ranked No. 4 and No. 8 in two separate polls.

Saguaro is ranked No. 8 and No. 12 in the same two polls. They meet during the season.

The season kicks off Sept. 2 for the Wolves in the Honor Bowl in Southern California against Cathedral Catholic. Chandler had their five-year state championship streak end last season.

"We look at game by game," Garretson said. "It's going to be an exciting time. And we're looking forward to it."

Two other schools from his own region — Basha and Hamilton — will make it tough for Chandler, which knows how hard it is just to get to the Open final, let alone win it. The Wolves won the Arizona Interscholastic Association's first two Open state championships, before falling last year.

They beat Tucson Salpointe Catholic and tailback Bijan Robinson in the semifinals three years ago, then defeated Peoria Liberty twice in overtime in the last two Open semifinals.

"About the national ranking, a friend of mine said, 'Hey, it's representation of where the Chandler program is in the last 10 years,' " Garretson said. "This isn't a random thing. Anytime you have a kid like Raiola and (highly sought-after defensive lineman) A'mauri Washington, it gets the message out on the media side of things.

"But, ultimately, there are no layup games. You have to come to play every night just to be in the picture."

Blending new talent at Basha

Basha has its best team ever. Nobody is going to argue that. Still, the Bears will be hard pressed to do what they did last year for the first time in school history -- run the regular-season table.

They open in California against Los Alamitos, which features two of the top players in the country — quarterback Malachi Nelson and wide receiver Makai Lemon.

Senior cornerback Cole Martin, who committed on Jan. 1 to Oregon, can't wait.

"As a team, it makes us want to go into even more," Martin said. "Going against Malachi and Makai, we know what we're facing. Great receiver. Great quarterback. Against a team that has a great secondary."

Basha coach Chris McDonald, who brings back practically everybody, including junior quarterback Demond Williams Jr., wanted to improve the schedule to try to avoid another one-and-done Open experience.

This year, Basha is back in the Premier Region with Chandler and Hamilton.

"The pecking order is obviously Chandler and somebody else in the region and in the state," McDonald said. "You look at what Chandler has done in the last 10 years. They're No.1."

There's been an influx of good talent that has transferred into Basha this summer: DL Jordan Howard (Eastmark), TE/WR Javery Mayberry (Eastmark); TE Keire Earl (Maricopa); and DB/RB Kendre Pride (Carl Hayden. They'll miss the first five games due to the AIA transfer rule.

Blending those guys in with veteran group that includes RB/DB Deshaun Buchanan, Athlete Miles Lockhart, LBs Jackson Browning and Wyatt Milkovic and DB Tommy Prassas will be key.

But for the first five weeks, they'll give those guys a good look on scout team in practices.

"I think the kids need to understand that it's team first, and their time will come," McDonald said. "They still have to go out there and work, not only for themselves but to help the team get better."

Senior offensive lineman James Durand feels there won't be chemistry problems.

"I think it will be really good," Durand said. "Camp was really good. It brought us closer together. I'm excited about how our team will be."

'Perry is not a pushover'

New Perry coach Joseph Ortiz had plenty of size and overall strength up front last season at Glendale Cactus, where he took the Cobras to the Open playoffs after 10-0 regular-season in 4A.

But Perry's defense has been its Achilles, even when the Pumas were at their best during the Purdy brothers era (quarterbacks Brock and Chubba), when they played Chandler for the 6A title in back-to-back years.

The players this summer came up with the motto, "Prove them wrong."

"I think that 3-8 (record) definitely will not be the case this year," Ortiz said. "People may not think anything else, which is good. If you don't want to think much of us, that's OK. Our goal this year is to prove them wrong. The underdog role is great. I think we had (it) at Cactus my first three years. We rode that well. We're going to let that resonate during the season, let them know that Perry is not a pushover."

Leading the defense are lineman Aiden Herring and defensive back CJ Snowden, who also plays receiver.

"New coaching staff, new players coming in, I think it's great."

Hamilton is Roch solid at QB

For the first time in three years, Hamilton will have a new quarterback. Roch Cholowsky, who backed up Nicco Marchiol (now at West Virginia) the last two seasons, steps in to lead the offense. Cholowsky is used to being front and center on the baseball field, leading the Huskies to the 6A title in May at shortstop.

How will the offense change?

The Huskies return one of the state's top receivers in 6-foot-4 Tre' Spivey, whose recruiting has taken off this summer. They also feature a good run game with backs Logan Krei and Nick Switzer returning.

"We just have to make sure we figure out what Roch is good at, and then walk down that road right there," coach Mike Zdebski said. "It won't be the same as what we did with Nicco. It won't be the same as what we did with Nick Arvay (in 2019).

"We didn't have a chance to have Roch in the spring and summer, because he's such a good baseball player. As we get things figured out, and what he's good at, we'll start focusing on those things in the games."

Expanding reach

Arizona College Prep is the smallest of the CUSD schools, but it's growing, behind the leadership of coach Myron Blueford.

Junior defensive end Cayden Gibson, 6-2, 215, remembers five years ago when the Knights had no field and were stating up in 2A, and his brother Kellen was starting his high school career at ACP.

Now, the Knights, a year after moving into new digs with their own football stadium, are in 4A, hoping to make this a playoff season.

"I went to a Chandler Prep game on a middle-school field," Cayden said about seeing his brother play. "Now there's a stadium. It's amazing how the atmosphere has changed from maybe only 30 students going to a game to a packed student section."

Blueford said the interest keeps improving each year.

"Last year, we were at 90 kids in our program," Blueford said. "Right now, we're at 160. We're establishing logistics and establishing culture, because it's changed the last five years.

"We've been a family with the growth and we want to maintain that."

Not scared of any team

Casteel junior wide receiver/cornerback Jeremiah Newcombe is one of the top athletes in the state. He has the mindset, inherited from his father, head coach Bobby Newcombe, to not fear anybody.

The Colts went 5-7 last season, going 1-4 in the state's toughest region, the 6A Premier Region.

"We're going to prepare every day like we're not going to be scared of any team," said Jeremiah, whose brother Isaiah plays cornerback at UCLA.

Newcombe has lots of college offers already to sort through, but he said that's not his focus right now.

"I just want to get better at my position and get faster," he said. "That's my main goal."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chandler district football media day brings out the championship vibes