Young-Blackgoat staying in state at Arizona State University
This is No. 21 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 366) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.
SPOTLIGHT: 3/16/24
Prayer Young-Blackgoat had himself quite a senior season at Coconino. The linebacker/tight end was a First Team All-4A Grand Canyon Region selection at linebacker a year after earning the same honors on the defensive line. He helped the Panthers rebound from a 4-6 season and make the playoffs during a 7-4 campaign. He was a tackling machine with 99 last season (67 of them solo), which led the team.
Those accolades earned Young-Blackgoat an offer from Arizona Christian and a scholarship offer from Northern Arizona. Instead of choosing either of those, he pursued a bigger in-state school. Young-Blackgoat will walk on at Arizona State.
"I decided to walk on to ASU because I feel I would fit into Coach (A.J.) Cooper's defensive scheme and feel he could make me into a great Big 12 linebacker," Young-Blackgoat said in an e-mail interview.
Young-Blackgoat did get a chance to visit ASU prior to signing and said he and his family loved it. He was offered the PWO by the Sun Devils on Jan. 15, committed a couple weeks later, and then had to delay his signing for a week due to a winter snowstorm in Flagstaff. He's excited to be a part of the new era with Arizona State moving to the Big 12.
"I like the fact that there is some new competition where we, as a team, we can compete better against higher-caliber teams," Young-Blackgoat said.
While he's not on an athletic scholarship (yet), Young-Blackgoat does have some academic scholarships to help aid him at ASU.
After missing out on the playoffs in 2022 (snapping a three-year streak), the Panthers returned last season. The key was the offense. Coconino lit up the scoreboard breaking the 40-point mark six times. In a 7-3 regular season, CHS lost to Arcadia and then had a pair of close losses (to Poston Butte by three and Lee Williams by six in overtime). The AIA formula ranked the Panthers No. 13 setting up a rematch with Arcadia. This time, it was a closer affair as Coconino led 14-3 late in the second quarter and 20-16 in the closing minutes before the Titans rallied for the winning TD with 1:31 remaining.
Coconino had weapons with quarterback Colton Buckingham and running back Bridger French. That kept everything balanced and teams didn't know which way the Panther points and yards would come from. Defensively, Coconino allowed just 18 points per game.
"We had a big-time athlete at running back, so we were able to attack people with the run," Young-Blackgoat said. "And we had a really good QB as well, so we could also throw the ball. Along with that, our defense was more than solid."
Young-Blackgoat started playing football in grade school. He uses his size (6-4, 210) and has a relentless pursuit of either the quarterback or the ball carrier to hone in and make tackles. Arizona Varsity's Cody Cameron broke down some early-season film on Young-Blackgoat and was impressed with his toughness and strength.
"I am a downhill backer with lots of physicality and my coverage could get better," Young-Blackgoat said of his game. "I believe that Coach Cooper can help me train for smoother hips to help coverage drops."
There was a second Young-Blackgoat on the Panthers. Prayer's younger brother, Noah (a junior), had 60 tackles in the secondary and led Coconino in receiving with 585 yards and seven touchdowns. While Prayer won't be very far away, he said he will miss the team a lot.
"Probably the fact that I will never play with my brother again unless we cross paths in college," Young-Blackgoat said of what he'll miss at CHS. "Also, most of the kids on my team, I grew up playing with or against, so that will be hard as well."
Away from football, Young-Blackgoat wrestled and ran track at Coconino. This winter, he placed second in the Division III, Section 2 tournament and qualified for state where he went 2-2 in the bracket against the state's best. In track, he ran in the 100 both individually and in relays and also did the high jump.
Arizona State has announced its Spring Game will take place in Tempe on Friday, April 26. The event, starting at 6 p.m., will be free for fans to attend. That night will be the last of the Sun Devils' allotted 15 practices for the spring. ASU (3-9 last season) will open on Saturday, Aug. 31 at home against Wyoming. The Devils' first game in the new Big 12 Conference will be in Lubbock on Sept. 21 at Texas Tech.
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