Coyote lineman signs with Lake Forest
This is No. 19 in a month-long series of profiles of Arizona high school seniors that signed with four-year colleges. Here's the full list (currently totaling 279) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.
SPOTLIGHT: 2/28/21
Lake Forest College, a Division III school located 30 miles north of Chicago, is considered a very high-quality college at a good price. With less students (1,600) than most 5A high schools, the students boast an average GPA of 3.62. The school's football program has also long recruited Arizona.
There are currently 33 players from the state on the Foresters roster. And a dozen more new recruits are set to join them for training camp late this summer with head coach Jim Catanzaro. One of those is Hayden Preston.
Preston, who is 6-2 and 240 pounds, plays offensive tackle and had offers from seven schools, including Ohio Northern, Culver-Stockton (Mo.), and Concordia Chicago. The efforts that LFC has made in recruiting Arizona got his attention. Combine that with the success graduates have after leaving the school, and it led to his commitment last November.
"Coach Cat has done a tremendous job recruiting Arizona so that sense of familiarity was appealing," Preston said in an e-mail interview. "I believe the post-grad opportunities at Lake Forest are tremendous and both the coaching staff and school help insure placement for me to be successful."
Preston first met with Catanzaro during his sophomore year and appreciated how the head coach, who is now in his 13th year, took the time and effort to not only talk about Lake Forest, but also Preston's interests and long term goals. He stayed in contact throughout and came to some of his games. That personal touch made his decision an easier one. Preston also became educated on the ins and outs of the recruiting scene from Coach Lou Perrone of My Recruits.
"I also want to give a shout out to Coach Perrone from My Recruits," Preston said. "He gives invaluable real-world advice on the recruiting process."
While Preston hasn't had a chance to visit the campus yet, he is excited to go to LFC. He's still deciding what he wants to study, but is leaning towards Computer Science.
Being an offensive lineman, Preston isn't used to doing very many postgame interviews. Life in the trenches is a tough one where you do the dirty work so that others on the offense can get the glory. Guys like Caden Calloway, who rushed for 2,732 yards and 32 touchdowns over the past two years.
"It's five guys doing their jobs with very much a blue-collar, lunch-pail mentality, which has always suited me," Preston said. "Every play you are either trying to move someone off their spot or giving your quarterback that much needed time to throw the ball. I always enjoy that challenge."
It was during his sophomore year that Preston made the move to the varsity team. Here's a look at the early years.
In his junior year, Preston was a part of the greatest team that Campo Verde has fielded. The Coyotes finished 7-3 in 2019 and then defeated McClintock in the first round of the playoffs. What followed were memorable upsets of Higley and Notre Dame (by a combined seven points). That got CVHS into its first conference championship game. While the result was a setback to Williams Field, it was a special year.
2020 was the 10th season in Campo Verde's history and even though the Coyotes had a new head coach in Ryan Freeman, the team kept it rolling. After a 4-2 regular season (COVID-19 took away two games), the Coyotes defeated Cactus Shadows in the first round and made the 5A semifinals.
"Team 9 (2019) will be remembered at Campo Verde and I was so fortunate to be a part of that squad," Preston said. "We had some key pieces coming back for 2020. As the season progressed, we threw the ball more and opened up the offense. We fell short in 2020 against a great Sunrise Mountain Team, but Coach Freeman will have Team 11 making some noise this upcoming season."
Lake Forest competes in the Midwest Conference, which announced it will not sponsor league competitions in any fall or winter sports for this academic year. The Forester football team started its "preseason" in the middle of February. LFC (7-3 in 2019) is planning to go full speed ahead with a season this fall.
One of the reasons Preston was looking at so many schools out-of-state was due to looking for a change of pace during the summer training camp time. Most years, the thermometer is headed above the 100-degree mark from preseason workouts through the fourth week of the season. He is looking forward to a better climate (even if there's some Midwestern humidity).
"A lot of us have been dealing with this heat since the Pop Warner days," Preston said. "It's something you try to block out. It's not a pleasant experience going out on artificial turf at 3 p.m. to practice, but you are stronger as a result. There was a picture of several AZ players at Lake Forest standing in snow. If nothing else, we are a versatile bunch!"
It's been a tremendous ride for Preston and he feels fortunate to see it continue while recognizing the talent within the state and our Arizona community that lets everyone know about it.
"The quality of high school football in this state continues to escalate," Preston said. "I'm just fortunate to have been a small part of that. Also, the media that covers high school football is supportive beyond measure and it is much appreciated."
