Arizona rushing king Rosenthal ready to share the wealth

By Richard Smith
Mail |
X: @rsmithYWV

Arizona’s reigning rushing yardage king is more than willing to trade that for another crown.

ALA-West Foothills senior Kenyon Rosenthal was the driving force in the Guardians run to the 4A semifinals last year, The six-foot, 210-pound back led Arizona with 2,106 yards on 288 carries.

This season, it is a younger team with a more balanced offense. ALA-West Foothills lost to the top two teams in 4A earlier this year, 33-14 to Snowflake and 49-21 to Tucson Mica Mountain.

Rosenthal said this team will keep growing with experience and focus better for playoff games.

“We can beat all those teams. It’s just about mental preparedness and what we need to do,” Rosenthal said.

He grew up in the game. His grandfather, Doug Rosenthal, coached at Shadow Ridge and Kenyon watched the Stallions practice growing up.
His uncle and dad also played.

Rosenthal enrolled at ALA-West Foothills when the school opened in 2022. He was an eighth grader.

“I was very hesitant about it. My mom one day told me she was going to transfer me to a school that I had no idea about. I was kind of against it. But then, coming in I really liked the environment. The academics was the biggest part for me. The school I went before was a little smaller,” Rosenthal said.

Second-year head coach Bryan Rauzan basically got to coach Rosenthal every step of the way.

He was the junior high coach that first year.

“He stood out above so many athletes. Every single person we came across, he was a better athlete. It was just obvious, the road he was going to be destined for was going to be amazing to watch,” Rauzan said.

As a sophomore in 2024, Rosenthal was one of two running backs to lead ALA-West Foothills to the 3A title game.

Splitting duties with J.J. Brutus shaped him as a player and Brutus provided a good example for him to follow, Rosenthal said.

“We knew it from the get go, even going back to that state championship run his sophomore year. He was a solid 1-2 punch with J.J. (Brutus) back there. That was his growing up year as a sophomore,” Rauzan said. “Going into last year, hands down he was the guy. We knew it right from the jump.”

Already the focal point, Rosenthal prepared to take on a bigger workload once quarterback Hudson Mitton transferred to Mesa. Carlos Serrano stepped in to start as a freshman.

Rosenthal was relied on more in big games, topping out at 35 carries against San Tan Valley Combs in the 4A playoffs and 33 carries against Northwest Christian

“I trusted my guys up front. I knew that they would get it done,” Rosenthal said. “It started with them.”

He said he stayed confident that he could handle the heavy workload and he did.

He carried the ball 288 times and caught 11 passes. That’s nearly half of the Guardians’ total of 645 offensive snaps in 2025. But 288 carries breaks down to slightly less than 21 carries a game — a reasonable number for a top running back.

“Him putting his trust in his guys up front last year played a huge role in that. They understood what they had behind them and understood what their job was. They truly excelled at that, obviously. And that’s no different this year,” Rauzan said.

ALA-West Foothills junior running back Kenyon Rosenthal leaps past a Combs defender en route to his second touchdown of the Guardians’ 34-14, second-round 4A playoff win Nov. 14. Rosenthal rushed for 212 yards in the game. (Jason W. Brooks/West Valley Preps)

This year, surprisingly, the Guardians have thrown on 81 plays and run on 67. Some of that is by design, with senior quarterback Rush Kamakeeaina — who sat out last year after transferring — able to operate more of the offense.

Playing the two top-ranked teams in 4A skewed the game plan a bit.

“We were behind in both games, so we had to cover some ground quicker than we typically want to do,” Rauzan said. “With a freshman at the helm last year, we were limited. Not taking one thing away from that young man. He stepped up to the plate when we asked him to.”

The other two games were blowout wins against Westview and Independence, so Rosenthal’s high carry game in 2026 is 16 against Snowflake.

The senior is fine with having less defenders geared on him and being fresher for region play and the playoffs.

“It really opens up the offensive playbook, having a good quarterback and a great wide receiver corps,” Rosenthal said. “That’s what we needed. Getting defenses to focus on more than the running game really helps us out.”

Rauzan said Rosenthal has turned himself into the guy younger players at the school emulate.

He always had his teammates’ respect.

“Watching him grow up mentally on the field has been the most exciting part of it,” Rauzan said. “As an eighth grader and freshman, he excelled because he was more talented than anybody else. Watching him grow mentally and become a leader and watching older seniors look at that sophomore in the backfield and respect him has been the most fun part of it.”

As it is for many top running backs that are not given three stars or more, recruiting is slow for Rosenthal during the summer and senior season.

Division III Concordia College in Minnesota and NAIA Bismarck State have offered him.

Several Division I programs have shown interest, Rauzan said, and the coach expects an offer or two in the winter because of Rosenthal’s versatility.

“He is such a weapon running the ball or you can put him out in the flat or put him in the slot,” Rauzan said. “That’s going to be his selling point. He’s not just a running back that can carry the ball 30 times. You can use him in different ways. The recruiting is going to be there. He’s got eyes on him. That comes from some of the communication we’ve had.”

Rosenthal said he wants to run his own business and plans to major in entrepreneurship or sports medicine.

Richard Smith
Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps

rsmith@iniusa.org

Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.

An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.

For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.

As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.