Chandler football tunes out the noise, turns up the heat amid changes, transfers
Chandler's offseason could have been a huge distraction. Quarterback Dylan Raiola, the nation's top-rated 2024 prospect, left, along with his brother, Dayton, a quarterback in the program, and running back Xavier Valdivia and offensive lineman Andrew Dudley.
They all went to Pinnacle. Only Valdivia remains there now. The Raiolas moved to Georgia to play at Buford and Dudley to Florida, playing for IMG's national team, all avoiding the potential of sitting out the first five games due to the AIA's transfer rules.
Defensive coordinator Steve Vaught left to become Arizona College Prep's DC. There were eight players in Chandler's lower levels who transferred just to 4A ACP.
All the Chandler players and coaches who remained kept their heads down, tuned out the noise, and got to work on the 2023 season. Which to this point has the Wolves at 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state and No. 22 in the nation, according to MaxPreps, as they get ready for their biggest test yet, a Friday night showdown at home against No. 3 Peoria Centennial (6-0).
This is the No. 1-ranked high school football game of the week in the country, according to MaxPreps.
Along the way, Chandler lost its best receiver, senior tight end Kaden Anderson, to a season-ending knee injury on Sept. 9 in the 35-10 win over then-nationally ranked Orange Lutheran of California, a game in which defense made a statement with Austin "Scooby" Bradley intercepting a pass and racing into the end zone to demoralize the Lancers.
Everybody seems to have each other's back in this season of vengeance, after last year ended in a 13-0 Open semifinal loss to eventual state champion Chandler Basha.
Losing that way, getting shut out, caused the critics to come out in mass, believing Chandler's best days were behind them. But the Wolves never listened.
They reopened peoples' eyes with the domination of Orange Lutheran, and two weeks ago ground out a 22-20 win over a Gilbert Highland team that early in the year beat Basha 21-20.
Last week, after giving up a pick-six to start the game, Chandler ended up cruising to a 49-28 win over Casteel to open 6A Premier Region play. Quarterback Blake Heffron bounced back from that interception by completing 14 of his next 18 passes for 272 yards and three TDs.
"I tell our kids, 'Lutheran was a measuring stick,' " said coach Rick Garretson, who took the baton from Shaun Aguano and led the Wolves to back-to-back Open state titles the first two years the Arizona Interscholastic Association created the super bracket in 2019. "Highland is just relentless. If you're not a tough football team, (Highland coach) Brock (Farrel) is going to make your life miserable. And his kids, too.
"But I've been really happy with our physicality. We might not have A'mauri Washington (now a defensive lineman at Oregon) at 300 pounds, guys like that. But we have guys with motors. They fly around."
Chandler still has a defense with a couple of elite players in cornerback Sammie Hunter (Utah commitment) and safety Kennedy Urlacher (University of Notre Dame commitment). But the guys around those guys, very good high school football players, are overachieving, making it tough on offenses.
Chandler also transitioned well on the coaching staff, adding former Liberty High School assistant Ryan Desrochers as the defensive coordinator. He was the tight ends coach at Liberty last year and the previous three years he worked with the defensive backs and linebackers.
"It's different," Desrochers said comparing Liberty and Chandler. "It's not better or worse. It's just different. Some things are the same. You've got blue-collar kids who play hard every snap. They're two elite programs that do things the right way."
Valley Night Lights: The best guide to Arizona high school football
Chandler senior Orion Kupu has been one of the unsung heroes on this Chandler defense. He is 5-foot-10, 165 pounds and can play anywhere. He's been raised in a football family with two older brothers and a younger brother who gave him that edge on the field, playing with a chip on his shoulder.
"Playing in the front yard with our pops, making us do drills, one-on-one, whatever it was, we didn't want to lose," said Kupu, who can play safety and linebacker.
Jeremiah Young, 6-foot, 230 pounds, is another unsung defensive standout at defensive end, a playmaker, who never boasts, even after winning some big man competitions in June.
"It was always coming together for me, but I just knew to stay humble," he said. "We work on the little things every day, run to the ball, work on the little things. We've got a dog at heart so we can adjust to anything."
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chandler football tunes out noise, turns up the heat
