Quarterback competition continues in Jaguars' Spring Game
WEEKLY BLOG: 5/19/24
On Friday night in Waddell, it was a time to celebrate the end of one "season" and the unofficial beginning of another, much larger one.
The three-week period of spring football concluded on a warm (96 degrees before the sun went down) evening for the Canyon View Jaguars, which featured a mix of a 7-on-7 game for the skill position guys, a lineman challenge in between segments, and the conclusion of a camp for middle schoolers (who also took their own 7-on-7 reps against one another).
Returning freshmen, sophomores, and juniors were split up into two teams for the intrasquad scrimmage. Skill position players competed in a passing competition getting three downs to advance to the next line while defenders either broke up throws or made a touch on a receiver to end the offense's progress. After 10 minutes, the whistle blew and it was time for the next phase.
Canyon View had a prolific passing attack last season that averaged 338 yards per game. The bad news is both quarterbacks that took snaps were seniors and graduated on Saturday night. That means it will be a wide open competition as their were four quarterbacks on the practice field Friday night.
The mix includes Preston Vannucci, who will be a senior. He transferred to Canyon View from Valley Vista after his sophomore year and played in some JV games for the Jaguars last season. Brady Scott started for the JV team last year as a sophomore and has been with the CVHS program throughout. Mickey Raftery was the starting quarterback for the Canyon View freshman team last year (which went 8-1 with wins over Queen Creek, Cactus, and Desert Edge). The freshman team ran a similar pass-heavy offense to what the varsity did last year. Finally, Christian Sartor transferred to the Jaguars from Saguaro this semester, so he may have to sit the first five games of his junior year (per AIA transfer rules).
"We'll use 7's to look at it," Canyon View head coach Nick Gehrts said. "We want to see them react in the fall (with helmets and pads)."
Wide receivers Santino Varvel (who signed with Furman) and Jermaine Patterson (1,300 yards in 2023) are among 25 graduating seniors from the Jaguars. Daniel 'DJ" Jaramillo is the leading returner as the junior had 26 catches for 554 yards and four touchdowns. Jaramillo also focuses in the classroom with his 3.83 GPA and had no B's all year.
Keegan McCarthy played on the freshman team at both safety and wide receiver. The 6-1 athlete ran track this spring and ranked No. 3 in the state among freshmen in both the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles.
Shadow Ridge, located just seven miles north of Canyon View on Perryville Road, had five players transfer in after head coach Sean Hagerty was replaced last season. One of those is 6-4, 200-pound receiver Parker Brooks, who will be a senior. Brooks has two years of varsity experience and had 290 receiving yards in seven games played last season.
Brandon Catalan transferred in from Liberty, where he played on the JV team in his sophomore year. He just got to CVHS a month ago, but got involved right away running the 100 and 200 in track.
"I've been working hard," Catalan said of his offseason preparations. "Going to the gym, going to trainers, working on my craft with releases and running routes."
Catalan also made a nice over the shoulder grab that he took in for a touchdown.
While the passing numbers were great for the Jaguars last season, they attempted to run the ball on just 30 percent of their plays from scrimmage. For the year, Canyon View averaged 86 yards per game on the ground. DJ Sims is the leading returning rusher with 168 yards (5.1 yards/carry). He was a Second Team All-5A Desert West Region selection. It's an imbalance that Gehrts doesn't expect to repeat this year.
"We want to be tougher on the offensive side of the football," Gehrts said. "We want our offensive line to play with some anger this year. We've got to be able to establish a run game."
Amare Wright returns at offensive tackle. The 6-3, 230-pounder was a Second Team All-Region pick in his junior year.
Overall, when you lose a 3,000-yard passer in Beau Devens (who also had 34 touchdown passes), and the top two receivers, it can be difficult to rebuild. Despite that, Gehrts likes the progress that was made in the program these past three weeks.
"We're going to be young," Gehrts said. "We're not going to use it as an excuse. We're way ahead this spring than where we were last year."
Canyon View finished 5-6 last season. In the six defeats, opponents rushed for an average of 278 yards against the Jaguars. That number is spiked a little by Queen Creek (who ran for 609 in a wild 71-60 win), but four teams eclipsed 200 on the ground. It's a focus heading into this year on the defense.
"We've got to be able to stop the run," Gehrts said. "We struggled at times."
The defensive line could see a pair of sophomores make impacts as Tiki Teeples (6-3, 265) and Andy Fierros (6-0, 265) stood out on the freshman team. Both are very strong. Teeples can squat 455 and is a member of the 1,000-lb club while Fierros has squatted 475. Fierros shows a burst at the line of scrimmage and has aggressive arms.
At linebacker, there is a pair with varsity experience in Gavin Levin and Jackson McCarthy. Levin led the Jaguars in tackles last season with 88 in his junior season, with three sacks. He made Second Team All-Region and took part in the Lake Forest Mega Camp on Saturday in front of college coaches.
"We plan to fly to the ball, hit hard, and make it tough for the offense," Levin said.
Levin has been getting ready with weight room sessions in the morning before school starts. He also had praise for defensive coordinator Austyn Hull.
"He's a very good teacher as well as coach," Levin said. "He's probably one of the best coaches I've ever had."
McCarthy, heading into his junior year, ranked second on the team in tackles with 67 and also had three sacks.
Not every school does a spring game. McCarthy likes how it brings a more competitive mindset rather than a regular practice.
"It's a time to show the coaches what you've learned during spring ball," McCarthy said. "And to show them what you're ready for."
While Levin played in the 7-on-7 game, McCarthy (who plays outside linebacker/edge rusher) elected to compete in the Big Man challenge with the linemen. The events for them were a farmer's carry, tire flip, and an obstacle course. He said the tire flip was the toughest of the three.
One of the best parts about the Big Man challenge was that the skill position players in the 7's game for both the varsity and the middle schoolers took a break. They went to the south part of the practice field and cheered along as the linemen (separated into two teams) competed against one another.
"That means a ton," McCarthy said of the support. "You eat off that motivation from them."
The camaraderie was also evident during the middle school game (6th-8th graders). Canyon View players on the opposite sideline were encouraging them with cheers like 'Let's Go Jaguars' and even all left the sideline at one point to celebrate a big touchdown catch with the younger (and likely future Jaguar) in the end zone.
"This group, I'm really excited about," Gehrts said. "They're really close. Coming to spring practices has been so much fun. This group has been with us for four years. They have all of our culture."
Some fun was also had with a change to the script for the final 10 minutes of 7-on-7. Instead of the skill position players continuing their game, which didn't really seem to have a score being kept, the quarterbacks took turn throwing routes to the linemen with one playing receiver and the other as a defending cornerback.
It's a close group among the coaching staff as well. Several of the coaches have been with Gehrts not just during his time at Canyon View (entering season 4), but also the four years he was the head coach at Westview. All told, there are 21 coaches on the staff. Some of those are volunteer positions.
While the Jaguars do want to record wins on Friday nights, the staff looks at the bigger picture as well.
"We want to be good in the classroom," Gehrts said. "We want to be the leaders in the school and support the other sports teams at our school."
Gehrts wouldn't give a win total or postseason pronouncement when asked about expectations for this year's Canyon View team, which has made the 5A Conference playoffs in each of the past three seasons. It's about establishing a presence each week.
"We just want to be more physical and more tough," Gehrts said. "And impose our will on teams on both sides of the ball."
The first influence on Gehrts in his coaching career was his grandfather, Dick Napolitano. Napolitano was the head coach at Buckeye in the 1990s and Gehrts and his brother had the chance to be team managers in their elementary school years. In his playing days, also at Buckeye, Rudy Pacheco was his coach. Pacheco was one of his first hires at Westview and has continued on his staff at Canyon View coaching the offensive line.
During the second week of spring football, Canyon View took part in the West Valley Showcase in Surprise with 11 other schools. That gave the team a chance to be evaluated by many college coaches. In addition to that, some of the schools that made their way to Waddell during the three-week period were Southern Utah, Weber State, Wabash College (Ind.), CSU-Pueblo, and Eastern Washington.
Before the season kicks off on Aug. 30 at home against Horizon, Canyon View has some time to work on its passing game with summer 7's. CVHS will host some schools at the varsity level on Tuesday nights and also attend another at Liberty weekly featuring all levels. One thing the Jaguars won't be doing is any of the traditional weekend tournaments. Gehrts said with a younger team, he wanted to be able to slow it down and do more teaching.
In July, Canyon View will have another chance to bond at a team camp at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.
Reach Chris Eaton at gridironarizona@yahoo.com or DM at @gridironarizona with story ideas.
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