Jared Cohen
My Extra Points are various notes on players, angles and or story lines I find interesting from the week pertaining to high school football in Arizona. Here is what stood out to me from Week One of the 2015 season.
Williams Field: It is time for Weston Murphy to be in the conversation as one of the premiere quarterbacks in this state. His numbers last season wont jump off the page at you because Williams Field was constantly giving you a heavy dose of the run game behind Braedyn Bushman who went on to be one state’s leading rushers. This season it might be a little different and from what I saw tonight, Murphy is ready for it. He made some great throws, has very good footwork and pocket awareness and has some solid depth at receiver to throw to this season. Justis Stokes was the go to guy for game number one and there are more on the roster that expect good seasons. I think Weston Murphy is going to have a nice season and believe some next level programs will take notice. I’ve been told FCS programs are already keeping a close eye.
Campo Verde: Coming off a very impressive win over Sapointe in Tucson in Week 0, the Coyotes had a tough one in week one against Williams Field losing 16-2. However, there is a lot to like with their defense now holding two very good programs to under 20 points in consecutive weeks. What caught my eye however was offensively and on their offensive line in particular. The Coyotes have two bookend offensive tackles who are both starters as sophomores. On the left side it is Jozia Myers who stands 6-3, 245 pounds and on the right side is Jayden Lee who is 6-3, 290. Both getting reps early and will have plenty of room to grow. Not just as players but in stature as well. I was told out at Campo friday night that it is rare that Coach Max Ragsdale has sophomores on varsity at all unless there is a depth issue because of injuries. But with good reason, he made an exception for these two sophomores who have a lot of great football ahead of them.
Mesquite: When going by Perry-Mesquite for the Jones Bowl on Friday night, I excited to catch Roy Lopez in person for the first time and he did not disappoint. What I did not expect was the fact that he was not going to be the biggest person on the field for Mesquite. Lining up next to Lopez on the offensive line at right tackle is 6-3, 310 pound Kaleb Ashe. MaxPreps lists him at that size but I think he might even be bigger. Ashe is a presence on the field and just so happens to be the nephew of one of the better football players to come out of Arizona. Former Dobson standout who went on to be a safety at Nebraska and then in the NFL for the Rams and Redskins, Toby Wright. Ashe is just a junior.
Saint Mary’s: A special shout out to the Knights who have started the season 2-0 with wins now over Gilbert and Seton Cathlolic. Their first time doing so since 2006 according to my guy Jose Garcia from AIA365. The Knights have dealt with a lot over the last several years with dealing with players transferring and for this year in particular, having their head coach Todd Williamson gone just a month before the start of the season. But it’s great to see the leadership of the Knights from interim head coach Marcel Lopez to guys like linebacker Abel Navarrette helping keep this unit strong. They keep this up and the Knights could turn into one of the best stories of the 2015 season. They travel to Corona del Sol next week.
