Highlights from first Arizona Catholic high schools football media day

It became a trend last year -- high school football media days in the Phoenix area. Now it's taken over.

So with many districts holding a media day weeks before the start of the Arizona high school season, the Catholic schools decided to hold their own media day on Saturay at Phoenix Brophy Prep. Phoenix's St. Mary's and Bourgade Catholic, Avondale's St. John Paul II, Chandler's Seton Catholic, Scottsdale's Notre Dame Prep and Tucson's Salpointe Catholic joined Brophy.

Here are some of the highlights:

A Catholic league?

There aren't enough schools in Arizona to have its own Catholic league, like some states have, but Salpointe coach Eric Rogers said, "I would love that."

"It's hard, though, because we all have a different number of kids," Rogers said. "There's different depth charts. Probably more than anything, it's the depth. We've got starters that we feel can play with just about anybody. But if one of those guys goes down, now we're hurting a little bit. We don't have guys that are ready to play. They need to be in our system for four years. They need to be in that weight room, they need to be grinding.

"But I would love it. I think it's awesome to have this group here today to find ways to compete a little bit, maybe even in the offseason. Whatever we can do, I'd be all for it."

Notre Dame is playing Brophy Prep on Sept. 22, and St. Mary's is set to play Seton Catholic on Sept. 1. Salpointe finishes the regular season Nov. 3 against Brophy Prep at Phoenix Central, Brophy's home field.

Salpointe, which has reached the Open playoffs the first two years in the Arizona Interscholastic Association, loaded up its schedule this year, especially the latter half with games against Tempe Corona del Sol, Peoria Liberty, Phoenix Mountain Pointe, Scottsdale Saguaro and Brophy all in a row.

Elijah Rushing's thoughts on Big 12

Salpointe edge rusher Elijah Rushing, 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, the state's top 2024 football prospect, committed last month to hometown Arizona. He was asked about going from the Pac-12, when he committed, to now knowing he'll be playing in the Big 12 when he joins the Wildcats next season.

"I'm excited about it," Rushing said. "It brings tremendous competitiveness, and an opportunity to go against the best. I know nobody's afraid of the competition. We're all ready to go and everybody's excited."

Rushing figures to be Salpointe's next future NFL player, following running back Bijan Robinson, who was a high draft pick with the Atlanta Falcons in the spring, after starring for three seasons at Texas.

Rogers realizes how special Rushing is.

"It didn't really hit me until a couple of coaches came through this offseason and just the comments they made," Rogers said. "They said, 'He's got a really good shot at playing on Sundays.' I'm like, 'Sunday.' We're not even finished playing on Friday night.' But these are guys who have been doing it for 20 years. They know. They see these guys. For them to say that, it finally hit me. That's a whole different level. "

'Muscle beach'

Phoenix St. Mary's, due to construction and the air conditioning unit needing to be replaced in the gym, moved its weight room in July to outside. Oh, yeah, Phoenix hit at least 110 degrees for a record 31 consecutive days this summer. But the Knights fought through it.

"It was tough," tight end/linebacker Paolo Gonzalez said. "But looking at teammates, seeing everybody else do it, makes it a little easier.

"It was fun. It was like Muscle Beach, that's what we called it."

Senior quarterback/linebacker Jimmy Hill's first reaction when coach Jose Lucero told the players to pick up the weights and bring them outside was, "Are you serious?"

"We didn't know until the first day we got there that we wouldn't be lifting inside," Hill said. "But that's part of St. Mary's. We're not going to make excuses. We got after it."

Overcoming small numbers, injuries

It was an injury-plagued 1-9 2022 season at St. John Paul II, a 2A school. A 24-man roster was gutted by injuries, forcing coach John Padilla to play freshmen who were putting on the pads for the first time in their lives last season.

Padilla said he lost four two-way players to injuries and the starting quarterback missed the last six games with an ankle injury.

"I was doing offensive line changes probably every week," Padilla said. "We had kids who never played before and now they've got some experience. Our slogan on the back of our T-shirts is, 'Adversity makes men.' That's what these kids have gone through. I admire the courage and sticktoitiveness. I think it's reflection on their hearts."

Senior center/linebacker Dylan Olmos and senior wide receiver/cornerback Hayden Umbdenstock, who were both out with injuries last year, are inspired to come back strong this year. But he felt bad for the freshmen who had to fill holes.

"All you could do was pray," Umbdenstock said. "A lot of kids went down. These poor freshmen, some of them never played football in their lives, having to come up to play varsity, it was tough."

Transition game

Bourgade Catholic didn't hire a new coach until April with Drew Anderson coming in, but the new coaches have quickly convinced the players they can win. Assistant coach Benjamin Tanner, along with junior tight end/defensive end Julius Holguin and junior tailback/linebacker Jalen Medina, expressed renewed hope in the program during media day after the team went 4-6 ;ast year.

"We graduated five seniors, so the underclassmen are very important," Tanner said.

Tanner said the numbers are low but the coaches are trying to build excitement.

"It's a new vibe," Tanner said. "The guys are trying to learn us. It's exciting we have that challenge. This is my second time around. I coached at Glendale, so it's similar to a rebuilding project. Junior dominated. Just the buy in. You've got to have the buy-in."

Medina feels the excitement from the new coaches.

"There's a lot more excitement about being on the field and playng with each other now," Medina said.

A numbers game

Seton defensive coordinator Brian Hunter said that last year's team finished with 23 players on varsity with freshmen being brought up to finish a 2-8 season. But those two wins -- over Carl Hayden and Benjamin Franklin -- came in a span of four days.

"We finished 2-8 and those two wins on a Monday and a Thursday, I mean that was fanstatic," Hunter said. "I still think Coach (Pete) Wahlheim should have been named the Cardinals Coach of the Year for that. That's the only time that's ever happened, and it's something to build on."

Brophy coach Jason Jewell dealing with loss

Brophy coach Jason Jewell said his father died two days before going to camp, so it's been a tough time getting going for him. But the Brophy community has helped keep his spirits up.

"My father passed away last Wednesday," Jewell said. "These guys have been fantastic. The seniors have shown me and my family (love), and the Brophy community itself has been fantastic."

Jewell, a former college offensive lineman, said that he is biggest person in his family at 6-6, 315. His dad, he said, was a high school running back at 5-8 in Missouri.

"Every Sunday was our talk time," Jewell said. "He'd say, 'Put in this halfback pass.' My dad was one of my best friends. He's a reason I'm a Chiefs fan. And he's the reason I love football."

Big gains

Brophy senior safety Billy Eastep (out last year with an injury), now weighing 205 pounds, has put on about 50 pounds since he started his sophomore year at cornerback. Defensive lineman Devan Kennedy went from 190 pounds last year to 250.

"We finally look like a 6A football team, along the O- and D-lines," Jewell said. "We go to the weight room and we've got a ton of energy and a lot of numbers every day."

It's also going to be greater once junior offensive lineman Logan Powell becomes eligible halfway through the season, after transferring from Scottsdale Saguaro. He's one of the top 2025 recruits in the nation.

Dynamic duo

Notre Dame Prep may have the best dynamic duo in the state in senior quarterback Noah Trigueros and junior wide receiver Cooper Perry. They combined to hook up for 20 TD passes last season. Perry is The Arizona Republic's top prospect in The Arizona Republic's Top 100 for 2025 players.

What makes this combo so special?

"We get together a lot and throw and talk about what our plans are this year," Trigueros said. "I feel like we have a lot more playmakers this year, so it's not just Cooper."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Highlights from first Arizona Catholic high schools football media day