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SPORTS & RECREATION
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | AUGUST 22, 2021
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Football preview: Coronado embracing journey to rebuild BY DREW SCHOTT Progress Contributor
This is part one of a two-part series previewing the upcoming high school football season in Scottsdale. t the beginning of the 2020 season, Coronado High School’s football team rostered six players. While that number eventually rose to 18, coach Jerry Black was well aware he was in the midst of a rebuild. Ahead of his arrival in Scottsdale, the Dons were on a 14-game losing streak marked by an 0-10 season in 2019. To begin righting the direction of Coronado, Black went back to the basics. His coaching staff taught players fundamentals such as lining up correctly ahead of a play and how to fair catch a kickoff or punt. He introduced each player to the competitiveness affiliated with football and how to balance the sport with academics. While the Dons — composed entirely of first-year players — finished 0-5, they have flipped the script on the 2020 season. “We taught them how everything’s a
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Coronado head football coach Jerry Black has embraced the program’s aspirations to rebuild from the ground up and hopes to make headway in the 2021 season. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff)
Coronado features players entirely new to the game. They’ve all accepted their inexperience as a challenge to better themselves both on and off the field. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff)
journey,” Black said. “You got to start and buy into what we’re trying to do here and these guys are excited.” Just weeks away from the start of a new
campaign, Coronado’s roster sits at roughly 30 players, many of whom are in their second year with the Dons. Throughout the summer, Black held organized events
and camps for players to improve speed and conditioning and prepare their bodies
When you’re behind the blocks and you hear that and you know your team is behind you, it almost pushes you even further to go faster.” “I think that’s one of the major reasons why we’re so great.” Last season, according to head coach Russell Krzyzanowski, was a difficult swimming season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No spectators could be in the stands. Instead of four invitationals, Chaparral had one. The Firebirds had to run their own events in order to see how their swimmers were performing, but it paid off ahead of the Scottsdale Unified School District Invitational. The Girls team won its seventh straight
title behind the efforts of swimmers such as Schuricht, Morgan Brophy and Riley Courtney, who are headed to the University of Texas-Austin. Overall, five members of the program are headed to Division I opportunities next season. Meanwhile, the Boys Squad won its second state title in three seasons. Krzyzanowski said that ahead of the upcoming season, Phoenix Brophy Prep lost a lot of seniors to graduation and Desert Vista High School is the Firebirds’ direct competition in terms of team depth. But at the moment, the team is the one to beat for Boys high school swimming in the East Valley. “We all have very high expectations for
ourselves and each other,” junior Kellan Pattison said. “When state comes, all we want to do is win and destroy everyone. That’s just how we do it at Chaparral.” The person tasked with sustaining the success of the Firebirds’ athletes is Krzyzanowski, heading into his second season as head coach after spending six as an assistant. He shares a goal with his senior class each season: a fun, happy and enjoyable season that represents what Chapparal is all about. For 2021, Krzyzanowski feels that his team is strong in all events. For both the Boys and Girls squads, he is looking for-
see CORONADO page 23
Fall preview: Expectations high for Chaparral swim teams
BY DREW SCHOTT Progress Contributor
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xpectations are high for the Swim teams at Chaparral High School. Nearly all of its swimmers race in the “A” heat. There is a thread of teamwork throughout the Boys and Girls’ programs that enables swimmers to step up each season and work towards gaining important wins and points for Chaparral. “No matter what happens, we are there to support each other,” senior Blakely Schuricht said. “We have that dominance where our team is so deep within these heats and everyone is cheering for everyone with the same amount of enthusiasm.
see FALL page 23
