Eight years ago, Mark Carter could not turn away. He stood silently on the grass and watched a team celebrate earning a state championship appearance. The team he was an assistant coach for at the time, Cactus Shadows, had just lost on the final play of the biggest game of the season.

Fast forward to a Friday night a few weeks ago. Carter’s South Mountain squad had just lost to rival Fairfax and those emotions returned.

“I was mad, I’m a sore loser I hate losing, but I was more hurt for those seniors cause they worked their tails off,” Carter said. “That supersedes anything I’m feeling cause if we’re going to be real, I get to come back. I get to play them again. And those seniors, they don’t.”

The contest effectively decided the region championship but unlike that Cactus Shadows team, Carter’s Jaguars (4-4) still had more to play for.

The program he shares with his twin brother Marcus and 27 seniors refused to let it define their season.

“We want to set the foundation for the next group of varsity players, so they have more records to break,” said senior two-way starter Marvin Cotton. “We have to lead the program, execute our assignments and do what we got to do to win these two games.”

The attitude in the locker room is obvious. “Don’t let Fairfax beat you two weeks in a row,” said Mark, “Treat this loss just like any other loss, just like a win. You get 24 hours and then it’s back to work.”

After a bye week, South Mountain is preparing for Carl Hayden on the road Friday.

A homecoming game is supposed to be an easy win for the home school. This season South Mountain has turned that theory on its head for Camelback and Sierra Linda in dominant fashion, so one would think teams would start to think twice before scheduling the Jaguars for the celebratory night.

Carl Hayden did not. They chose the Jaguars as their homecoming opponent.

“If we needed anything to motivate and spark the juices again, there it is,” said Mark.

South Mountain ends the season Oct. 24 at home against Central.

Both games have individual meaning, but the seniors are thinking big picture.

“We just got to finish hard and finish these last two games with wins. We’ll be 6-4 and last year we went 5-5, so it’s making the program go up and that’s what’s important,” senior Jaiden Hayes said.

This graduating class has not only improved the program at South Mountain, but have achieved goals not reached before them.

The last time their school had consecutive winning seasons these seniors were seven and eight years old, playing “Mitey-Mite” Pop Warner. The four years before their arrival as freshmen, the program totaled one victory.

The class of 2019 and the team’s co-coaches have left their mark and the culture at South Mountain is changing.