Don Ketchum
Former Staff Writer, AZPreps365.com

Notes: FB coaches on the move; long-time Prescott ump dies

December 19, 2013 by Don Ketchum, AZPreps365


Cleaning out the notebook for Phoenix and the west and north Valley and northern Arizona . . .

A pair of well-known football coaches in the Valley are changing addresses.

According to azcentral.com, Phoenix Paradise Valley’s Donnie Yantis is moving on to become the leader of the brand-new NAIA program at nearby Arizona Christian University.

Yantis led PV for 14 seasons, winning nearly 100 games and putting a very competitive team on the field virtually every year.

Also, Kelley Moore has left Mesa High and has landed across the Valley at Buckeye High.

I first met Moore when he was head coach at Glendale Independence and he always seemed to have things in the proper perspective, helping his players become well-rounded young men in academics and life in general while competing on the field.

He will replace long-time Buckeye coach Bobby Barnes, who resigned and is moving back to Oklahoma to take care of ailing relatives.

Thanks for all your hard work, Bobby, and good luck to Yantis and Moore with their new assignments.

Umpire passes away

The state’s high school and youth league umpiring community suffered a big loss on Sunday (Dec. 15) with the death of Jeff Cook, 58, who umpired contests in the Prescott and Prescott Valley areas for about 20 years.

Cook is survived by his wife and son and other relatives in the Phoenix and Seattle areas.

Funeral services for Cook will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday (Dec. 21), at Canyon Bible Church, 8075 N. Prescott Ridge Road, off Highway 89A in Prescott Valley.

Cook also served as an umpire at college and junior-college levels and was helpful in the development of younger umpires along the way.