Connor Morman is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chandler High School for AZPreps365.com

 

A lot can happen in four years.

One thing, however, that has been constant at Chandler the past four seasons - winning. Following a perfect 10-0 regular season, the Wolves find themselves three wins away from adding a fourth consecutive state championship to their trophy case.

They meet Chaparral Friday in the first round of the Open Division playoffs.

If the Wolves pull off this feat, the months of hard work and grueling practices will be worth it.

“We started all the way back in February and March in the spring,” junior receiver Jalen Richmond said. “To bring that (a championship) back here, with all the work we’ve put in, that’s what we want.”

It would be hard to find anybody on the Wolves who wants to win a championship more than senior running back Dae Dae Hunter, a transfer from Denver, Colorado.

In the 2017 and 2018 Colorado state tournaments, Hunter’s Thomas Jefferson High Spartans failed to advance past the first round, which gives Hunter extra motivation to help his team win three more games and cap off a perfect season.

“It’s my last year, so it makes me want to go even harder to get out of the first round and go farther than I ever have,” Hunter said. “It’s lit a fire under me.”

Coach Rick Garretson finds it easy to keep his talented team hungry and ready to perform at their best week in and week out.

“Their motivation is that if they don’t do the right thing, they don’t play,” Garretson said. “I’ve got plenty of guys looking over their shoulders to come in and play for them. That’s plenty of motivation in itself.”

While immensely talented, the Wolves are a young team that relies on the experience of its senior class to keep everybody in line on and off the field

“We lead by example,” senior linebacker Tate Romney said. “We’ve been here a couple years and we know what is expected of us. We try to do everything right, being vocal on the field and in the film room and making sure everyone is keeping their grades up. We are making sure everyone is doing their job and motivating others when they need it.”

The Wolves strong leadership led to a perfect regular season, but the Wolves know the work is far from over.

“That (the regular season) was great, but we’re not done yet,” junior quarterback Mikey Keene said. “We’ll take it one game at a time in the playoffs and get this win against Chaparral on Friday night. That’s a good team, but we need to take it one game at a time. We had a 10-0 record, which is cool, but that’s not the end all be all of what we want to accomplish this season.”

Garretson has little concern over his team faltering on the big stage of the state tournament, because his team has been playing big games all season.

“We’re everybody’s big game,” Garretson said. “That’s what we’ve talked about. If they’re worried about what’s going on in the stands, surely they can’t execute and they can’t play for us.”

At this point, all Garretson and the Wolves can do is focus on the task at hand and not get too far ahead of themselves on their quest for four consecutive state championships.

“A four-peat is hard, no matter how you look at it. We have to earn it, take it day-by-day and step-by-step, and go out there and do our thing.”

As for the thought of not winning a fourth straight championship, Keene said matter-of-factly, “I don’t plan on that happening.”