By Brittany Bowyer
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SCOTTSDALE — For months, questions have been swirling surrounding Saguaro football and what people can expect to see from them this upcoming season. With a mass exodus of players and the late hiring of Coach Butch Goncharoff, a number of people have seemingly written the Sabercats off.

While everyone is busy doubting them, the Sabercats have been busy working hard to embrace a new culture within the program; A culture of hard work, dedication and determination.

“When I got the job, you’re not wrong, Saguaro was a mess,” Coach Goncharoff said. “When you inherit a program that’s broken or down, you know the first think that has to change is the culture that surrounds that program and we’ve done a great job of that.”

The players expressed their dissatisfaction with the culture surrounding the program last year, and say Coach Goncharoff has brought a welcomed change to Saguaro.

“Last year, we had a whole bunch of players who didn’t care, didn’t show up to practice, everything like that,” junior LB Antony Smith said. “This year, it’s not like that anymore. The program has definitely shifted. Everybody is at practice on time, everybody’s here, everybody’s working, everybody’s going full speed. We don’t have anybody faking being hurt because they don’t want to practice ... It’s definitely way better than last year, Our culture last year was terrible. You can tell Coach Butch has really been putting his hand down.”

Since taking over, Saguaro’s participation numbers have grown from just 13 in the spring to the 30s now.

Offensively, Coach Goncharoff expects Saguaro to look similar to years past, noting they’re a RPO-driven team.

“It kind of fits the personality of the players that we have,” Goncharoff said.

The Sabercats also return the team’s leading receiver from last year, senior WR Oliver Gibson. In addition to Gibson, Saguaro has weapons they believe people have overlooked. One of them is Mar’taj Meadows, a junior wide receiver who transferred to Saguaro and had to sit five games last season.

“He’s a really solid piece, and he’s basically one of the stars on our offense,” Smith said.

“A lot of people don’t know about Mar’taj Meadows, but they will,” Goncharoff said. “I think he’s one of the most talented people in the state.”

Smith also believes the team’s quarterback, Edison Orellana, has the potential to have a big year this year, too.

“You can expect us to come and surprise people,” Meadows said.

Defensively, Goncharoff said things will be more of the same, as they retained their defensive coordinator from the prior season. When it comes to players, Goncharoff said Smith has stepped up as a big leader on the field and expects him to have a big season this year.

Saguaro’s schedule is absolutely grueling this year, but they’re not concerned about what the other programs are doing. Goncharoff believes if they focus on just trying to compete each day and improve, then the rest will take care of itself.

“We’ve been working hard all offseason, making sure we’re getting everything together,” Smith said. “Everybody’s talking about us being light on players, but that’s actually a non-factor to us. You only play with 11, and our 11 can compete with any 11 in the state.”

“Each team has a ceiling, and I don’t know what that ceiling is,” Goncharoff said. “I do know where we started, and where we are now, we like where we’re going.”

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.