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WEST VALLEY PREPS

2020 Preps football preview: Peoria

Posted 9/25/20

The Peoria Panthers football team returns hopeful to repeat its successes and reclaim glory in a mutated, shortened 2020 football season.

COVID-19 eliminated nearly all in-person offseason training

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WEST VALLEY PREPS

2020 Preps football preview: Peoria

Posted

The Peoria Panthers football team returns hopeful to repeat its successes and reclaim glory in a mutated, shortened 2020 football season.

COVID-19 eliminated nearly all in-person offseason training for Peoria until the AIA and Peoria Unified School District elected to allow practices again. Coach Will Babb said his team is not executing with the same speed and accuracy as normally expected with mere days left before the beginning of the 2020 season, but remains confident his players will be as prepared as possible come the first game on Oct. 2.

“I don’t feel as ready as we normally are, but I think everybody is in the same boat, so we’re just going to keep going and do what we can,” Babb said.

Like most teams, Peoria did weight-room workouts when COVID-19 restrictions kept it off the field and home exercises when the pandemic kept it out of the weight room.

The coaching staff led sparse online team gatherings, often talking about life, health and safety as much or more than football drills and schemes. Babb understood the difficulty of transitioning to school and did not want to add more pressure on high schoolers already struggling in an unprecedented time.

“We did some Zoom meetings, and we had quarterback meetings and stuff like that. But the biggest thing is we know there was just so much going on, and we wanted our kids to feel safe and not try to barrel them down with one more thing,” Babb said.

Again, like other teams, the Panthers are just happy to be back on the field preparing for a 2020 football campaign. Practice began around Labor Day  with a fever pitch as the players tried to prepare in a shortened window of time.

“I was so excited because I hadn’t seen anybody in a while. We’re just excited that there’s even a season too,” said junior defensive back Jeremiah Gossett.

Gossett is the leading cornerback returning for a defensive unit that brings back productive players at every level. Peoria graduated a pair of studs in linebacker Alaa Barakat (99 tackles) and Gabriel Ocampo (65 tackles, 16 sacks) from last year’s unit, but retains several linebackers, including starting juniors Richard Cortez and Curtis Williams.

Senior safety Jesus Camcho added 62 tackles last year, and senior linebacker/safety Ralph Quintana had two sacks and four tackles for loss.

Peoria junior defensive back Devon Kociemba, right, attempts to tackle Desert Edge senior wide receiver Jihad Marks (10) after a catch during the second half of their 4A football game on Sept. 27, 2019. [Ralph Freso for West Valley Preps]

Gossett intercepted three passes in 2019. Including him, the Panthers return four players that intercepted at least two balls a season ago.

According to Babb, the players on Peoria’s defense are bigger than past years. He is most impressed with their ball-hawking skills and physicality.

Put simply by senior Trey Hendrix, a linebacker and starting center, “Our D is going to be really nice this year.”

Offensively, the Panthers return a foursome of linemen that played significant snaps and started several games in 2019 - Hendrix, tackle Jonah Wright, James Tejeda and Isaac Sanchez - that will look to open up several holes for a running back crew led by junior Cameron Mack. The three-year starter rushed for 891 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.

Sanchez  also will start at one defensive end.

The major question leading into 2020 was quarterback play. It still is.

Senior Jayston Hefley, last season’s backup, is the front-runner for the starting job. He has only attempted two passes at the varsity level. 

Babb said he likes the speed and arm strength from his new quarterback, but mostly that he knows the system in a shortened season that did not allow for passing leagues and a long summer training schedule.

“When you don’t have summer, or the same spring football, you don’t have that experience and the chance to learn everything. Jayston’s been around the varsity, so right now he’s the front-runner because he’s the one that’s got it down more,” Babb said.

“He’s been around all the past guys, and gotten to work with them. I think he’s going to be good,” added Hendrix about the projected starter.

Isaac Moreno, a short-but-quick junior receiver with good speed, will likely be the top pass-catcher for Hefley. Moreno will look to make up lost production from 2020 graduate Jovon Scott, who accumulated 14 scores and nearly 1,100 yards receiving last year. 

The workhorse of the Panther offense will be Mack, though. Though Peoria often carries a stable of backs to share the load, Mack will not have to share carries with Micho Cordero anymore. Gossett and senior Brendan Heard figure to complement Mack this time around.

Even in just seven games and the playoffs, a productive season from Mack could see him beating both of his rushing totals from 2019. He rumbled for 891 yards last season despite missing three games and most of a fourth contest with an injury.

“It wouldn’t matter who we had at quarterback or at wide receiver, even though we do have guys we’re excited about, but when you have a kid like Mack you’re going to give the ball to him anyway,” Babb said.

Peoria sophomore running back Cameron Mack bursts up the middle during a Nov. 8 4A football playoff first round game against Greenway. [Ralph Freso/For West Valley Preps]

The new-look Peoria team will be tested early and often with a new slate of opponents as well.

No Panther would claim to overlook week 1 opponent Scottsdale Desert Mountain, but just beyond it lies an early test in a road game at bitter rival Cactus High in week 2.

The Panthers fell twice to their district and conference counterparts in the final three weeks of the 2019 campaign, including giving up a 14-0 halftime lead to end the regular season with a 20-14 loss and a 34-7 defeat in the 4A playoff quarterfinals. Peoria will seek revenge.

“My sophomore year we beat them, and last year they got the best of us. Now we’re excited to see them again because it’s always a good game,” Hendrix said.

Both squads are reloaded and look to stake claims for the title of the newly-formed 4A West Valley region title, though newcomers Greenway and Northwest Christian all had at least nine wins last season as well.

Yuma Gila Ridge was also going to join the loaded region, but the spread of the coronavirus  in that city led Yuma public schools to agree to just play each other twice.

With a tougher and shorter schedule, wins will come at a premium, especially early-on. Peoria’s regular season will be just seven games due to COVID-19, and even a small losing streak could prove costly for a postseason berth.

The 4A Conference decided on a seven-game regular season and 16-team postseason bracket, unlike 6A and 5A - which will play eight games with an eight-team bracket.

“We need to start fast and strong, so that we’re not behind for playoffs,” Gossett said. “We still have something to prove.”

Peoria opens on the road against Scottsdale Desert Mountain on Oct. 2.