Higley head football coach Eddy Zubey believes most of the emotion that comes with sending off a senior class every year was exhausted after the Knights' loss to Highland on Friday, Nov. 20.
Instead of tears Thursday night, he hopes the stadium will be filled with boisterous cheers and laughter among his players. That, of course, would likely only come after a win. Something he believes he and his team were given another chance to accomplish before the official end of a difficult 2020 season.
"We were given another chance, a mulligan," Zubey said. "That doesn't happen often in football or sports in general. We are super excited. Anyway we could get another opportunity for our kids to play we were definitely all about it."
That second chance for Higley was granted in large part by Arizona Varsity's Chilly, who had become the metaphorical gate keeper for the 2020 football season. On several occasions, Chilly pieced together a team's schedule last minute after COVID-19 cases and contact tracing forced the cancellation of several games -- some of which on just one days notice.
When Saguaro and Casteel were left without an opponent on a Thursday, Chilly connected the two coaching staffs and a game was played.
With the Arizona Interscholastic Association granting teams who do not make the playoffs a chance at a "bowl game," Chilly once again pulled some strings and connected Higley and Mountain Ridge. Both teams agreed to play one final game, now dubbed the inaugural "Chilly Bowl," on Thursday, Dec. 3 at Higley.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes," Zubey said when he was approached about the game. "Just to get another opportunity to play is huge. We chose to do it on a Thursday night. We didn't want to conflict or take the shine away from anybody else.
"That's also why we waited a week. Those playoff teams deserve to be there. We are kind of like the Christmas Eve to Christmas weekend type of deal."
It's been a tough go for Higley this season, one in which many believed they would struggle while rebuilding around senior quarterback Kai Millner.
The Knights, playing in arguably the toughest region in the state, wrapped up the 2020 season at 3-5 overall. But Zubey and his players know they could have squeaked out one or two more wins after losing to Casteel and Williams Field by one-point each. They also came within a touchdown of Hamilton, the second-ranked team in the Open Division.
Zubey credits the resiliency and overall leadership from the senior class for being as competitive as they were this season. He also said the preseason prediction of Higley having one or two wins was motivation.
"We knew this senior class was our secret weapon," Zubey said. "Whatever the challenge is, they come out and persevere. They set a good tone for the rest of the program."
Zubey said he aims to use the Chilly Bowl as a bit of a going away party for his seniors. He wants them to have fun.
While the overall goal is to win, he hopes to allow seniors like Millner and wideouts Truitt Robinson and Branson Heywood showcase their talent one final time.
"We want to send these seniors off into the sunset," Zubey said. "We want to thank our seniors and the best way to do that is get out there and let them compete one last time."
