“Go West, young man.”
In this wonderful land of opportunity, Chaz Clemons and his family decided to move from El Paso, Texas to the far west Valley this past summer for one thing: exposure.
“Through quarantine and this whole process I wanted to get my name out there more,” the Desert Edge senior safety said to Sports360AZ.com. “I’m just ready to prove myself.”
Can’t wait for that first whistle to blow, so much to prove …
— C (@chazclemons32) September 10, 2020
The early returns have been impressive as the Scorpions ramp up to their season opener Friday night against Canyon View.
“He’s a really good kid, a really good teammate,” DE co-head coach Marcus Carter explained to the Sports360AZ.com. “He picks everybody up and we can’t ask for more than that. He’s a student of the game. His coaches [in El Paso] did a great job teaching him the game,”Part of the teaching process for staff at Pebble Hills High School was transitioning the now 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from cornerback to safety. Clemons has the unique blend of cover skills, combined with the size and power to play in the back of a defense.
“I call him ‘Bam Bam Kam,’ Kam Chancellor,” senior cornerback and University of Minnesota commit Steven Ortiz, Jr. said with a smile referring to the former Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl Champion and four-time Pro-Bowl safety. “Now that he’s on the squad, let’s see what he can do.”
As mentioned Clemons, who carries a 4.0 GPA and already holds offers from Navy, Cornell and Valparaiso, takes just as much pride in his preparation as he does the on-field opportunity under the Friday night lights.
“It’s all through film and study and what [I] see,” Clemons explained. “You just have to react. You have to trust your instincts. You can’t hesitate. If you hesitate you’re not going to make those big plays. Every [down] I expect to make a play.”
He patterns his game after NFL stars Jamal Adams and former Arizona Cardinal Tyrann Mathieu. Clemons wears the Super Bowl Champion’s familiar number 32.
Clemons has struck a fast friendship with Ortiz, whose dad coaches the secondary at DE, and has fit in just as well off the field at the Goodyear school as he has on it.
“He’s real funny, social,” Scorpions co-head coach Mark Carter explained to Sports360AZ.com. “We laugh with each other all the time. I see him every morning. He’s just one of those kids that I make sure I see every single day because he’s going to do something that’s going to lighten my spirits.”
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Eric Sorenson
A Valley native, Eric has had a passion for the Arizona sports scene since an early age. He has covered some of the biggest events including Super Bowls, national championships and the NBA and MLB playoffs in his near 20 years in local media.