Patience pays off for Goodyear High football freshmen

By Richard Smith
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Patience is a rare trait in youth sports these days, even when everyone involved knows they are building a team from the ground up.

That is why Goodyear High School football coach Pat Parnell was a bit more proud of how his freshman team responded to starting the program with six losses than the moment of its first win.

In the final home game of the season on Oct. 15, the Mavericks built a 43-17 lead over the Phoenix Brophy Prep freshman ‘B’ team, and held on for a 49-39 win and light show.

“A lot of times on an 0-6 team you’ve got a lot of people pointing figures, blaming people and getting mad. ‘It’s not my whatever.’ We haven’t had that. They’ve actually strengthened as a group,” Parnell said.

Only a few players left during the early losses, he said.

Close games against Buckeye’s freshman/sophomore team (35-19 on Sept. 17) and Liberty’s B team (28-7 on Sept. 30) made this win sweeter.

“We do this whole deal of coaching for the kids, and watching them grow and develop and go through hardship and come back stronger and more resilient. To watch them celebrate the joys of victory, I couldn’t have asked for anything more than that,” Parnell said. “No one wants to lose, but the losing actually makes this that much sweeter.”

That game excites him for what is ahead, road games against Phoenix Sierra Linda on Oct. 22 and Avondale La Joya on Oct. 29. Some kids sat out against Brophy for poor grades and a couple others were injured.

Starting quarterback Kai Sharpe-Castillo said this group of freshmen learns from each other and picks each other up.

“There’s a lot of kids that lead this team very well. It’s a help for me because I can’t be the only leader,” Shapre-Castillo said.

Kaeden Armenise, Brayden Funches Malachi Garlicazo-Staples and Sharpe-Castillo scored rushing touchdowns in the second half against Brophy.

Circumstances were not perfect, Parnell said. Coaches changed some aspects of the game plan too.

“We knew it was going to be rough at first because we’re a new team. But we keep putting in the work every day,” Shapre-Castillo said.

The Mavericks are learning the game as they go. Of the 55 players on the roster, Parnell said 30-35 never played tackle football before this year.

Getting sleds after Week 3 led to better tackling, he said.

“Many players were not used to the physicality and tackling, breaking your feet down to tackle,” Parnell said. “We’ve had a lot of linemen that have never played tackle football. They’re big bodies. You look at him and think, ‘That guy should be great.’ But he doesn’t understand the physicality.”

Goodyear High School freshman football players raise their helmets at midfield after getting their first win Oct. 15.

(Richard Smith/West Valley Preps)

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.