By Brittany Bowyer
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SCOTTSDALE — The Horizon Huskies have solidified themselves as one of the premiere programs in Scottsdale with a longstanding history of success.

This year, the Huskies will be a youthful team when they take the gridiron for the first game, and Head Coach Tyson Ditmore says he hopes the team’s inexperience doesn’t impact them too significantly.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of talented play from our younger guys, but you know, really some of the stuff you’re going to see from younger guys is mistakes that are going to ultimately, probably going to affect us in games,” Ditmore said. “That’s stuff that we’re really worried about in the first three to four games that we need to clean up.”

“I expect to see a lot of effort,” senior linebacker CJ Battle said. “I think our team has grown, and they’re a young team, but they have tremendous amounts of effort and they’re really energetic, so I think that’s something you’ll see a lot.”

While the Huskies are young, they return some key offensive pieces who will help move the ball down the field. Sophomore runningback Dylan Brush led the team in rushing yards last season, and senior wide out James Klopfenstein led the team in receiving yards per game.

“Ultimately, I’m excited about those two guys,” Ditmore said about Brush and James Klopfenstein. “But we’ve got some other complementary football players. I believe our offensive line is gonna be really good. They’re big, they’re young, they work really well together. We’ve got some quarerbacks who are doing an awesome job of competing, and then we’ve got two great tight ends.”

Ditmore mentioned junior wide receiver Slate Allen as one of those complementary players, saying he’s able to do it all for the Huskies on the gridiron.

“He’s been kind of a Swiss Army Knife for us,” Ditmore said. “He played some defense last year as a sophomore. His freshman year, he was really selfless, he played quarterback. Then this year, we moved him to offense. He’s a great slot receiver who’s going to kind of be all over the place.”

The Huskies also got an electric transfer in the offseason in junior Kai Knudson, who is making a run at the starting quarterback position.

“[Knudson] is a special kid, he just really is,” Ditmore said. “He’s a leader ... He’s very poised, he speaks well, he’s a big believer in his faith. He is an awesome. awesome kid.”

Horizon may look a little different with how they run plays this year, too. Ditmore said they hired Chet Johnson to take over as the offensive coordinator.

“I think you can expect to see just a high-flying offense,” James Klopfenstein said. “A lot of physicality. Just a greatly coached offense that’s fast and spreads the ball around.”

Defensively, the Huskies lost two of their top players last year, leaving huge holes to fill on that side of the ball. Battle said as one of the top returning defenders, he knows he needs to step up and help lead the defense this year.

“I’ve been working on my leadership skills,” Battle said. “I know that I’m stepping into that leadership position and learning how to teach the younger guys and show them the Horizon culture.”

Ditmore said defense could look a little different in the second half of the season as more players become available for the Huskies.

Ditmore said he believes this year is going to be a big year for players like junior defensive lineman Vedder Wolfley and junior safety Sam Klopfenstein, James’ younger brother. Battle echoed Ditmore on Wolfley, saying he expects this to be a breakout season for the lineman.

“Vedder Wolfley is a dog,” Battle said. “He comes in, works his ass off every day. He is going to be something special, for sure.”

Ditmore also believes sophomore safety Jacob Hagerty will make an impact once he’s cleared to return after week four. Ditmore said Hagerty played for the Huskies as a freshman, but suffered a torn ACL that he’s still rehabbing.

Horizon, playing in arguably the toughest region in 5A, has an absolutely stacked schedule ahead of them. Coach Ditmore said he has a challenge ahead of him in keeping his team on track from week to week. Both James Klopfenstein and Battle say they plan to help the team stay locked in by talking with them from week to week and reminding them of the task at hand.

“I think all of them want it as bad as we do,” Battle said. “There’s going to be times when something shifts focus, but we have leaders, not just the captains, we have leaders among each position group that makes people stay locked in.”

While every game is one he looks forward to, Ditmore said he’s the most excited for the home opener against Verrado. He said last year, he didn’t feel like Horizon brought the heat like they usually do when they play at home. He hopes this year they dial up the intensity when they play on their own field.

“I think last year, we really kinda missed the mark on our home record,” Ditmore said. “This place is special. There’s a lot of tradition here. The place is always packed. I just felt like last year we really did a disservice on our home games. We did good on the road, but any time we come out here we really need to protect this place.”

Battle said he’s the most excited for the game against Cactus Shadows because there’s a lot of former Horizon players who are now on that team, along with kids he played with while he was young.

“I just want to set a statement that game,” Battle said.

Meanwhile for James Klopfenstein, he said he’s the most excited for their matchup against Notre Dame Prep.

“I grew up playing with some of those kids,” Klopfenstein said.

He also mentioned the game against Chaparral as another one he has circled because of personal ties to Firebird players, and the Desert Mountain game because the Wolves knocked the Huskies out of the playoffs last year.

Coach Ditmore said the team has goals every year, but the main ones are having a winning season and winning the region. He also mentioned making the playoffs as a goal for this year’s team, as well as making a run in the playoffs. He said it all starts with improving week by week, day by day.

“If we aren’t improving from week one to week 10, then we’re really kinda gonna be a stagnant football team,” Ditmore said.

While that’s certainly a possibility, it’s not what Ditmore anticipates, given all of the hard work and effort the kids have poured onto the field in the offseason.

“The thing that I’m most proud of is that these kids have gotten better every single day,” Ditmore said. “They’re learning the pace of how we need to practice, which you know, more reps are going to involve those guys getting better.”

Brittany Bowyer is a Report for America corps member, covering sports for Independent Newsmedia in Arizona. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions.