San Tan Foothills coach Rodger Schenks knows about small-school football.  So does his former boss and now subordinate Jim Jones.

It's made for a healthy move for the pair from Division I Red Mountain almost two years ago to the four-year-old  Division V school tucked away in Queen Creek.

"Coming over here has been a blessing, it's rejuvanted me," Schenks said. "It's a small area. You deal more with the kids and community than at a bigger school. I'm having a great time."

Schenks, who played at Mesa Mountain View (1991-92 place-kicker) for Jesse Parker at Mesa Community College (1993-94) and later coached along side Dan Dunn at Mesa Community College, got a glimpse of small-school football a decade ago as head coach at Globe. Globe won a 3A state title at Globe in 2002, a year after Jones racked up back-to-back 5A titles at Red Mountain.

Schenks was blessed with an outstanding group of athletes at Globe that put together a 12-1 championship season in 2002. Teams like that aren't easy to come up with at small schools, but that doesn't stop a coach from trying to get the most he can out of smaller numbers and usually smaller kids.

"You look at the kids you have and take a lot of deep breaths," Schenks said. "They are not like the kids you have at a Red Mountain or Mountain View or junior college. Depth is going to test you. For the most part, you know when you play schools in your division you have six or seven kids that never leave the field and so does your opponent. It's still rewarding to coach kids that often have little or no experience with the game when they come out."

Jones, who played at tiny Antelope High School (2A or at that time Class B) in the late 1960s, allso was head coach at Mohave (a 3A school  30 years ago). Those experiences have conjured up memories of getting the most out of small numbers.

"It's a challenge," Jones said. "These kids are making strides. We're starting to win more. Rodger is doing a nice job as far as football and winning goes, but better than that,  he's helped make these kids leaders beyond football. They've taken the responsibility to be leaders on campus. They take that to heart. At a school this size, that's a role they can take on."

Jones, who coaches the linemen, joins in with them to tease Schenks at practices.

"The kids have come up with their own signals, names for certain calls and Rodger doesn't know them" Jones said.. "I know most of them, but not all of them. It's funny to see him confused and wonder what's going on. They know what they're doing. It's one of the ways they have fun."

If Schenks had a problem with the shecanery, he'd put his foot down and order it to stop. But he wants his players to enjoy what they're doing.

"The kids are having fun," Jones said. "We have some real characters out here. A bunch of the linemen are really close. One of them is a younger kid (Jake) Lee. His nickname is Mop because of his long hair. He has a motor that won't quit. They all have a dry sense of humor. It's part of the fun they have."

Schenks lcottons to the fun stuff and the success. He was gleaming over the effort of Jason Gale, a 5-foot-6, 145-pound receiver-defensive back last week .That's Gale's size listed on the roster. Most heights and weights on rosters are jacked up. That's also true in Gale's case.

"It's something when you see him giving it his all with that size," Schenks said. "He' probably 130, 135 pounds tops. Last week he had two or three catches (two) and an interception."

San Tan Foothills was 3-7 last season, the first year with Schenks at the helm. The Sabercats were in 3A. This year with the new alignment they are Division V (2A equivalent last year) with a litltle more than 400 students enrolled. San Tan Foothills sports a 4-2 record in 2011. Three of the four wins have come against D-V opponents and one against a D-IV. The losses were both to D-IV schools. They are gradually building a solid program and hopefully can continue to set an example for the school as a whole.

"We've been able to compete with biggers schools for a half," Schenks said. "In the second half the extra 15 to 25 kids those schools have wear us down. But our kids know to have a chance to win they have to play four quarters and not two. No matter who we play."