It has become a story of legend... passed from graduating class to graduating class
The exodus of Terrell Suggs from Chandler to Hamilton.
It was a transfer I had a frontrow seat to, as Suggs first announced his intent to head to the one-year-old high school 3.5 miles south of us at a varsity track practice in the spring of 1999. I was a freshman, he was a junior three-sport star who played a fullback role on a team that had gone 2-8 the previous season.
Hamilton made him a halfback, and in the Huskies' first year with seniors, they would crush us 27-0, while Suggs accumulate 2,274 rushing yards and 26 TDs before signing with Arizona State and switching to defensive end.
That transfer, and the first Hamilton victory over the Wolves, set the tone for one of the most dominant stretches in all of Arizona High school football. The Huskies would beat the Wolves 17 times in a row, most of which came in dominant fashion, before the Wolves would answer with a regular season win of their own in 2013... only to have Hamilton knock the Wolves out of the playoffs a few weeks later.
Since that 2013 semifinal loss, Chandler has completely tipped the scales in their favor, winning seven games in a row, including the 2014 state championship game.
Year-By-Year Rivalry Breakdown
Here is a breakdown of the rivalry’s history (listen to this week's C-Town Rivals Podcast while you scroll):
1999: In Hamilton’s first foray into football with the big boys, Suggs and company shut the Wolves down, 27-0.
2000: Chandler caps off an 0-10 season with a 41-3 loss against the Huskies, this time without Suggs. The Wolves start to realize they have more issues than the absence of one player.
2001: A promising team led by QB Dallas Bates and DE Nick Johnson goes into the Hamilton game at 7-2, only to have Joey Vincent lead the Huskies to a 17-7 victory.
2002: 17-0 Hamilton. Chandler started the season 4-0, and the loss to HHS in the final game brings the season ending record to 5-5.
2003: 31-0 Hamilton. The second of back-to-back-to-back shutouts, and the year Hamilton bring their first state championship home on an incredible goal line stand against Mountain View in triple-overtime.
2004: 35-0 Hamilton. This may have been the worst effort CHS ever mustered against the Huskies, managing only 132 total yards.
2005: Gerald Munns, Colin Parker and Dontay Moch enforce their defensive will on the Wolves, but Chandler scores 14 in the 4th quarter to avoid a 4th straight shutout, 41-14.
2006: Hamilton maximizes their measly 276 yards of offense by scoring 5 touchdowns, beating CHS 35-14.
2007: Arguably the most talented HHS team ever assembled blasts a 7-2 Chandler squad 46-0.
2008: Chandler’s best effort up to this point as they were down 8 and driving in the 4th quarter. Hamilton returns an interception for a TD to cement a 41-26 win in which Chandler outgained them by 140 yards.
2008 Playoffs: 14-0 shutout by the Huskies in a defensive battle that in no way resembled the offensive showcase during the regular season. Ruben Rubio had an unbelievable 4 sacks on his own against CHS.
2009: Besides Suggs leaving, the 24-20 loss to Hamilton in the regular season is the most painful memory for most lifelong CHS fans. Hamilton scored 21 in the 4th quarter after being dominated by a Chandler squad that ran the ball nearly 50 times.
2009 Playoffs: Chandler came in confident, and left with a 49-21 spanking that had two Hamilton RBs rush for over 200 yards (Zach Bauman and Michael Allen).
2010: Chandler changes their strategy radically to accommodate the talented Brett Hundley, throwing 44 times, but new QB Kyren Poe (who caught the game winning pass for HHS in 2009) made the most of his 10 completions by throwing 3 for touchdowns in a 38-20 win. It’s a wonder HHS WR Tanner Clay chose to play collegiate soccer after his 6 reception, 178 yard, 2 TD performance.
2011: Most of the kids playing in tonight’s match-up were there on the field, or there to witness plays like the fumble recovery for a TD by Cole Luke that ended Chandler’s hope of a first victory, 28-21.
Hamilton alum Santana Sterling, who started the game as a sophomore, said his favorite memories of that game were Luke’s TD and “Jaxon Hood stripping Paul Perkins and the ball rolling out of their own end zone for a touchback, which set up our offense for the game winning TD.”
Chandler alum Dalton Guerra didn’t get in the game, but he added that “Going into the 4th quarter with a lead was like a dream come true,” and “It still hurt me as bad as Javon (Williams), Lloyd (Mills) and Paul (Perkins) to see time expire with the visitor score higher than ours.
2011 Playoffs: HHS in a 28-0 shutout. The 5 sacks Chandler gave up made a total of 13 for both contests.
2012: The Wolves brought serious offensive firepower into Jerry Loper Stadium, only to have penalties and a lack of RB depth do them in. It was my first time covering the rivalry as a sports reporter, and I watched Chandler build a 10-6 lead behind Darrel Garretson's TD pass to Dionte Sykes before Hamilton QB AJ started to change the game with his mobility. WR Elijah Williams scored twice in the second half to put away the 34-18 win. There was a scuffle between the coaching staffs after the game was over that hammered home exactly how heated this one-sided rivalry had become.
2013: Hamilton’s Elijah Williams scored a late TD, and it looked as if Hamilton was going to extend the streak to 18 games, but a Bryce Perkins pass to Dionte Sykes, and an interception returned for a TD by J.R. Hunt leads to Chandler’s first-ever win over Hamilton, 26-16. You can relive it through the video Fabian Ardaya put together:
2013 Playoffs: The rains came, and then came the announcement- the AIA would postpone the semifinal game until Monday. Chandler fans were hoping Highland’s field would be in good condition by the time the game started so they could play fast. It wasn’t, and what resulted was a hard nosed battle that saw the Huskies put together a game winning drive that earned the Huskies a spot in the 2013 state championship with a 21-17 win. The celebration on the final TD by RB Tyrell Smith was the loudest I've ever heard the Hamilton student section cheer.
2014: Chandler came in to this game with a loss to the defending state champion Mountain Pointe Pride. The week before the annual Battle for AZ Ave, Hamilton had crushed that same Mountain Pointe team, so many thought the Huskies were primed for another rivalry week win. Nope. Chandler destroyed Hamilton 56-24, ending Hamilton’s 10-year home winning streak in the process. Bryce Perkins and the Wolves set a record for most points ever scored against Hamilton while earning their second regular season win in as many years. Highlights from that game are below:
2014 Championship Game: Chandler secured their first playoff-era state championship with a 28-7 win over Hamilton. Hamilton looked poised to score to start the second quarter, when they fumbled inside the Chandler 5-yard line and Jaray Mills recovered for the Wolves. That began a surreal 16-play, 98 yard drive to give Chandler a 13-0 lead. Hamilton fought back to make the score 13-7, and even had a chance to take a lead, but failed to convert on a 4th and 1 in Chandler territory, and the Wolves never looked back.
2015: Hamilton gives Chandler all they can handle, and even takes a late 20-19 lead on a Dylan Brown field goal. But in front of then-Arizona State head coach Todd Graham, who was days away from earning the commitments of N'Keal Harry and Chase Lucas, the Wolves would get a 92-yard pass from Mason Moran to Taj De Carriere, followed by a TJ Green score, and Kolby Taylor two-point conversion to secure the 27-20 win.
2016: The Wolves put on an offensive show, dropping 63 points in the first 39 minutes of the game to secore a 63-28 win over Hamilton The Wolves had over 500 yards rushing, led by 307 from TJ Green. Hamilton QB Tyler Shough threw 3 TDs in the game, and ironically now throws passes at University of Oregon to Chandler's leading WR at the time, Johnny Johnson III. Meanwhile, Jacob Conover of Chandler had 2 TD passes to Gunner Romney, adn both now call BYU home.
2017: In Hamilton's first matchup with Chandler without head coach Steve Belles since 2005, the Huskies fell to the Wolves 50-14. DeCarlos Brooks led the game with 4 rushing TDs.
2018: Shaun Aguano's last Battle for Arizona Avenue, and Mike Zdebski's first. The Wolves coast to a 49-7 win with 3 interceptions on defense and four touchdown passes to four different receivers from Jacob Conover.
2019: Rick Garretson takes over at Chandler, and Hamilton puts together a surprise run under Mike Zdebski that ended up leading to the most anticipated regular season game of 2019. The game didn't disappoint. Chandler won 42-38, but not until stopping Hamilton on a final untimed down at the goal line to win the game.
2020: Hamilton put up a fight in the first half, but a 17-0 second half gave Chandler the victory at home in the regular season finale. Both teams came into the game undefeated and ranked top 25 nationally by MaxPreps. Hank Pepper racked up 18 tackles and two sacks on defense, and Chandler WR Kyion Grayes hauled in two TD catches to give the Wolves the victory at Austin Field.
2020 Open Division Championship: One of the best games in the history of the Battle for Arizona Avenue, if not the best. Chandler took an immediate lead on Hamilton behind an 60-yard TD run by Eli Sanders, but Hamilton's defense would tighten up and only allow 151 more yards the rest of the game. Hamilton scored with 4 minutes left in the game to close the gap 23-21, but failed on a two-point conversion try. The Huskies would get the ball back and QB Nicco Marchiol would drive them all the way down to the 7-yard line with 25 seconds left in the game, but would miss their game-winning FG attempt to give Chandler their fifth consecutive state championship, and their ninth consecutive victory in the rivalry.
This week's regular season game marks the 29th matchup between the two schools, and the second year in a row that both teams come into the contest undefeated, and nationally ranked in the top 25.
Follow along at @AZHSFB on Twitter for updates.
