By day, 36-year-old Steven Doten is a carpenter working primarily in the far southeastern part of the Valley.
By night, he sits in front of the computer in San Tan Valley, updating azfootballarchives.com, the website he created for a class project while attending Pima Community College in 2002. That same website has now become a hidden gem for those who look to divulge themselves in the history of Arizona high school football.
“From 2002-08 I was always talking to people but didn’t really develop it to what it is today until 2008,” Doten said, “and I didn’t advertise it until 2010. It’s kind of funny how it all worked.”
Doten’s curiosity and general interest in Arizona high school football led him to build AZ Football Archives to what it is today, a goldmine of information dating back to the first-ever state championship won by Tucson High in 1912.
Curious as to which program has the most football championships in state history? AZ Football Archives has the answer.
Excited to see who from Arizona played in the NFL, CFL or arena football? AZ Football Archives has the answer.
Want to explore the rich history behind Phoenix Union High School, a powerhouse program that won 26 state titles before it was closed in 1982? So did Doten.
“It kind of started with Phoenix Union, Tucson and Mesa, the three big schools. The interest there started everything,” Doten said. “I remember talking to an assistant coach at Tucson High School about the old Tucson High School days. He was talking about Phoenix Union and the rivalry they had back in the 30s and 40s and how Phoenix Union developed their history and dominated football for so many years.”
That conversation led Doten back to the website he had originally created for his class assignment, which asked him to incorporate technology into real-world events.
He began looking further into the history of high school football in the state. Often times, he would utilize public libraries to find old newspapers that showed the results for games every week. Eventually, as he dug further back into history, he requested the help of several historical museums. That allowed him to uncover even more information.
AZ Football archives currently has information for nearly every program in the state. It’s complete with year-by-year results for each game in a designated season. It even shows who was the coach of the program at the time.
The website has become key for those such as Ralph Amsden, the managing editor of ArizonaVarsity.com, when researching information before a game to share on social media. Like many, Amsden didn’t know AZ Football Archives existed until accidentally stumbling upon it nearly 7 years ago.
“I was Googling some historical prep football facts back in the 2013-2014 school year and just stumbled upon an absolute jackpot of information,” Amsden said. “I can't put a number on how many times that site has aided me in some way. Every time I send out a tweet that says, ‘This is the first win for High School A over High School B in 20 years,’ that information probably came from AZ Football Archives.”
Amsden's go-to on the site is the “teams” section, particularly to see how programs have fared in the past and compare it to where they are in present time.
“I love looking back at the history and progression of schools like Centennial, who didn’t win a playoff game until Richard Taylor's 12th season, to seeing them be perennial title contenders,” Amsden said.
Chris Eaton, a staff writer for ArizonaVarsity.com, more commonly known as Gridiron Arizona, first utilized AZ Football Archives in 2012 when running his old website. He and Doten assisted one another in growing their respective brands by advertising on each other’s pages.
In 2016, the two met during the second round of the 5A playoffs between Williams Field and Marana.
“I sat next to him and chatted about some old-time football stuff,” Eaton said. “I've always been impressed with the site. I especially like it when compiling things like coaches’ records at a school, a team's record over a period of time, or how a team has fared against another in its series history.”
Eaton uses the site at least once a week to compile information about specific teams or coaches. It becomes especially useful when seeking information prior to the start of the MaxPreps era in 2004.
Famous for his “Fast Fact” on Twitter and “Throwback Stat of the Week” segment on Chilly’s Two-Piece live stream every Tuesday night, Eaton said it isn’t uncommon for him to use AZ Football Archives for assistance.
“I'm going to date myself with this word, but it serves as a type of ‘encyclopedia’ of Arizona high school football. Pretty much anything you want to know from a team standpoint – not individual players – is on there.”
Doten comes out of pocket every year for the website, which typically costs over $300. He remains open to advertisers, but knows there are still many who don’t know his grail of a website exists.
As high school football in Arizona further advances into an elite status thanks to a growing talent pool and more teams gaining national recognition, Doten plans to continue updating his website. All in all, he wants to create an avenue for those interested in the sport just like he was in 2002.
“This is a website for people to explore the history of Arizona high school football,” Doten said. “It’s taken a little longer than I expected for this and I’ve still got a few more schools to go.”
