AWC football opens camp
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| Defensive coordinator Jerry Dominguez, Tight Ends Pinao Awai (81) and Paxton Bergdoll (82) |
On the first official day of practice Wednesday, Arizona Western football coach Tom Minnick scanned the field and noted how many freshmen the team has.
It’s probably the most freshmen he’s had in his 11 years as the Matadors’ coach.
“We’re going to be real good next year,” he acknowledged.
And with that, Minnick indirectly answered a question on the minds of junior-college football fans around the state — a question about the future.
Since last season ended, five of the eight programs in the Western States Football League have announced that 2018 would be their final season. After this season, those programs — the four Maricopa County schools (Phoenix, Glendale, Scottsdale, Mesa) and Pima — will be no longer, leaving just Arizona Western, Eastern Arizona and Snow.
So, could Arizona Western follow suit? Could 2018 possibly be the final season for a program that is coming off back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA national championship game?
Minnick says no chance.
“We’re good, we ain’t going nowhere,” Minnick said Wednesday after practice.
Reached earlier in the day, Arizona Western athletic director Jerry Smith declined to comment on the matter. But Minnick pointed out that he already has a schedule for 2019.
“We’ve got (New Mexico Military Institute), we’ve got Snow twice, we’ll have Eastern (Arizona) twice as long as they keep (football), we’ve got Air Force Prep, I got ASA Miami coming here, I got a bye date with Iowa Western if they decide that’s what they want to do, College of DuPage at Chicago will play, and I haven’t even tried some of the Texas schools yet.”
Minnick added that at least some of that isn’t set in stone, because if the Maricopa schools reverse course and end up keeping football, they would jump back on the Matadors’ 2019 schedule.
There has been a push to save the Maricopa football programs, and Minnick believes it will come down to who is voted to the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board on Nov. 6.
Minnick strongly believes that the programs will ultimately be saved.
And if those programs do go away, just to be clear, he still won’t worry about AWC’s future?
“There’s not any concern in my mind,” he reiterated.
When news first broke of the Maricopa schools dropping football, it came just days before signing day in February. At the time, Minnick worried it may hurt his recruiting efforts.That ultimately proved not to be the case.
“We got a pretty good freshman group,” he said. “It hurt it a little bit maybe right at the beginning, but I was up three days straight (making) non-stop calls assuring kids that we were good, you know, this and that.”
Now those freshmen are on campus, and have been for nearly a month. Though Wednesday was AWC’s first official day of practice, the team has been working out for more than three weeks now. The only difference Wednesday was that helmets were allowed, and beginning today, the team will put on shoulder pads.
The report on this year’s group so far?
“I think this is the best group of receivers we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Minnick said. “They’re all young. The quarterbacks are young but athletic. Running back is probably the one position I’m not as sold on yet; I guess we’ll find out here as soon as we start hitting and letting them run inside.
“Defensively, I think we’ve got some athletes over there once they get healthy.”
Returner-wise, the Matadors have just a few players back on offense — and they’re all on the line. Ted Hessing and Dontae Powell were starters last year, and Desmond Bland — who took the 2017 season off — was an NJCAA All-American for the Matadors in 2016.
On the defensive side of the ball, defensive backs Bryce Beekman and Elijah Blades are the only players back who had more than 20 tackles last season. But Beekman was an NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention selection.
As usual, the Matadors have their share of Division I transfers — at least 10 were on the field Wednesday — including former Yuma Catholic defensive end Daniel Callender, who is back in Yuma after one season at South Dakota State University.
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