SCOTTSDALE — After winning the 2025 5A State Championship, the Desert Mountain Wolves are looking to show they’re a powerhouse program that’s here to stay.

In order to do that, Coach Conrad Hamilton says the Wolves must abandon any entitlement they have after winning last season and go out with their best foot forward every single day.

“Last year we had a successful run there at the end,” Hamilton said. “But this is a new year, and we just want to go out and be our best every single day, every single practice, every single rep.”

“We’re out here to prove that it wasn’t a fluke,” senior Christian McComber said. “We’re gonna put on a show, and we’re gonna show everybody that we’re not the spoiled kids up in Scottsdale. We can hit, and we can stand up to the name.”

When the season kicks off for Desert Mountain, things will look a little different on the field than what they initially expected. Hamilton said while it’s still the same offensive coordinator and they’ll play to their strength, some of their personnell will have changed.

Hamilton said senior quarterback Grant Garduno walked away from football so he could focus all of his energy on baseball, where he thrives as a pitcher. They also lost a receiver in Kai Tschen, who transferred, leaving them with only six returning starters compared to the anticipated eight they thought they would have.

While it’s a blow for the Wolves to lose their starting quarterback, Hamilton said there’s three viable options he has waiting in the wings for their chance to shine.

Seniors Bodie Walker and Rocco Madda along with junior Jake Pilarcek, who came over from Saguaro and won his hardship, all will be competing for a chance to be the starting quarterback.

Hamilton also noted the Wolves return a handful of other top receivers, as well as two of the top running backs in the state in junior Easton Conner and senior Ryan Cratty.

The biggest question mark, Hamilton says, surrounds the offensive line.

“I have to rebuild that because we’re going to have three new starters up front,” Hamilton said.

Conner, who plays on both sides of the ball, says he hopes to pick up a bigger workload this season.

“I want to be better at defense and also lead the offense in the receiving game and rushing game,” Conner said.

Defensively, Hamilton said the Wolves return 80-percent of their roster from last season, with other guys they can plug in who have experience starting.

“We’re gonna have probably 11 guys that’ve had starting experience at some point in time within our organization over the last two or three years,” Hamilton said.

“Our defense is going to be very explosive,” McComber said.

Part of the defense includes the 2025 5A defensive player of the year in McComber, as well as returning captian Jeneral Solomon. It also features all-state player Braylon Wilkerson, as well as two-year starter and Boise State commit Hassan Smith.

“Defensively, I think we like where we’re at,” Hamilton said. “I think continuity, understanding the expectations, the scheme, you know where we all fit, all of that is pretty much in place so we’re excited about that, as well.”

Conner said the offense is going to be relying on not only defense, but special teams to set them up for success.

“Just setting up our offense in good positions, really ... Our defense should help our offense a lot.”

When asked about a player who had the opportunity to have a breakout year, Hamilton first noted the junior transfer quarterback Pilarcek.

“He’s about 6-foot-3, 200-pounds,” Hamilton said. “He’s athletic. He can run, he’s got a big arm from a quarterback position. I think he could be a real breakout player.”

Conner, who has been working with Pilarcek, said he believes he’s going to have a big season this year as well.

“Everyone should really know (Pilarcek) after this season,” Conner said.

McComber also agreed that Pilarcek should be on everyone’s radar, and also mentioned he believes Solomon could have a breakout year this season on the defensive side of things.

“He’s a dynamic player, a really strong player for us, and I just feel like one breakout season for him could do wonders,” McComber said.

Hamilton said he believes the team’s identity this year will be the same as years’ past. He anticipates they’ll play complementary football in all three phases of the game.

“We’re gonna play a physical brand of football,” Hamilton said. “We just want to play an aggressive, physical band of football.”

Desert Mountain football’s schedule gets progressively harder throughout the season, and it doesn’t help that the Wolves play in the toughest region in 5A. Hamilton said in order to help keep the boys healthy, they practice a little differently than most teams.

“We only practice Monday through Thursday,” Hamilton said. “Our players don’t come into the facility at all on Saturday. Most teams all do that, but we give our players a day off on Saturday.”

Hamilton also noted that on Monday and Thursday, they practice light during the season.

“Monday it’s a very light practice, no pads at all,” Hamilton said.

They spend Monday reviewing the previous game’s film, doing a walk through and then doing some conditioning.

“Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they are our big practices, and then Thursday is more of a review day,” Hamilton said. “It helped us last year get through 15 straight weeks without a bye.”

Hamilton said Desert Mountain is looking to be a top-eight seed this year to help avoid having to play an extra game down the stretch.

The Wolves have an exciting schedule this year and will face off against some of the other top teams in 5A just in region play alone.

Hamilton said they have two games he and the team are excited for this season; Arizona College Prep and Chaparral. He noted both of them are at home for the Wolves this season, which makes it even more exciting for the players.

“Arizona College Prep is one of those games,” Hamilton said. “They actually beat us last year over there and they threw a parade after they beat us, so you know we’ll want to come out and play our best game.”

Hamilton said Chaparral is the team’s rival, and the number one program they want to beat every year.

“We circle that every year and it’s something that’s discussed as we kick off our season,” Hamilton said. “It’s a neighborhood game, and if we want to continue to progress as a program, we want to beat those guys.”

McComber said it’s hard to choose what game he’s most excited for. He agreed with Coach Hamilton, noting ACP and Chaparral as games he’s looking forward to, but also mentioned Horizon and Cactus Shadows.

“We want the smoke with everybody,” McComber said. “I feel like people can expect a lot out of this team this year, and we shouldn’t be something to be looked down upon.”

Conner echoed McComber, noting Cactus Shadows and Horizon were the two games he was looking forward to.

“During the summer in 7-on-7, we played Cactus Shadows and they kicked our tails pretty bad,” Conner said. “They rubbed it in our face a little bit, so we’re just waiting to get them back in the regular season. With Horizon, it’s a close game every time. We knocked them out in the playoffs. I always look forward to that game because it’s our toughest competition.”

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.