Bagdad’s football players went to visit their teammate Brendan Garza in a hospital before playing in Saturday’s state semifinal game.

Seeing his football brothers cheered up Garza, who is fighting something that doctors are trying to diagnose. Two tumors in Garza’s brain were recently discovered.

He hasn’t played since Sept. 6, but Garza’s teammates are doing all they can to keep his spirits up. Garza had another reason to smile Saturday, when Bagdad won its state semifinal game, advancing to the Division VI final for the second consecutive year.

Bagdad won the title last year, and in the state semifinals in 2013, Garza had two sacks and a 19-yard touchdown run. Because of his athleticism and smarts (3.8 GPA), Garza has played multiple posititions during the past two seasons.

Bagdad, which opened in 1948, won its first ever official football title last year and hasn’t a lost a game since Nov. 2012. To show its support for Garza, Bagdad gave out ribbons at school with Garza’s name and nickname, “Chunk,” on them.

Bagdad has adopted “Chunk Strong” as this year’s mantra. Mogollon, Bagdad’s championship opponent on Saturday, also is showing its support for Garza. Mogollon requested about 50 ribbons for its school.

Garza has been in a Phoenix hospital for the past week and will likely be there during Saturday’s final. He’ll likely be cheering loudly for his team as he watches the game online. 

“We have a brother who is down,” Bagdad coach Dalton Mills said. “But we are playing well for him. We miss him.”