Who’s the one Arizona team that has been ranked nationally in 8th for football? For more than a century, Chandler High students have been able to enjoy the hobby, sport, and pastime of football right here on their own campus. Varsity Football had their annual media day on August 13, hyping up the players and getting pumped for the coming season. Knowing some of the players on Varsity has me excited to go to the games and cheer them on from the stands. In the last decade, Chandler has been ranked first on sports reporting website MaxPreps’ Top 20 Most Dominant Arizona football programs. Despite our status as a nationally-ranked high school football program, the Wolves have a championship title to recover for both the Battle for Arizona Ave. and for the state. The Battle for Arizona Ave. is a friendly annual competition between the Chandler Wolves and the Hamilton Huskies to raise money for the Make-a-Wish foundation. While they lost to the Huskies last year, the Wolves want their Arizona Ave. road sign back, and they’re going to take it.
As a fan of football, I’m personally excited to see the Wolves perform at all levels and witness another incredible undefeated season from our Freshman and JV teams. Last year, both teams didn’t lose a single game throughout the whole season. Freshmen impressed last year by having two games where the opposing teams didn’t score a single point on the Wolves, leaving big shoes for the incoming freshman team to fill. I’m excited to see how this year’s freshman class will perform and if it’s anything like last season, then JV and Varsity have some new fresh members for next season.
JV also had a stellar season with a game where the opposite team didn’t score. JV’s assistant coach Mr. Thiel, who’s been coaching for six years (four years at Chandler) is excited about this season. Coach Thiel explained that he’s been playing football ever since fifth grade, and once he became a teacher, someone suggested that he coaches football. From his many years of playing and coaching football, it looks like the JV team is going to be on track to perform as well as they did the previous season. When questioned about how playing football has changed his life, Mr. Thiel explained, “Coming from a small town in Wyoming I always tried to get out of that small area and go see what the rest of the world is like and football has allowed me to get a college education and that job allows me to be also a coach.” As the true season is starting rather quickly, the Wolves started practicing after school perfecting their strategies and plays.
Varsity this year has me excited knowing some of the players and hoping the best for their season. The championship loss last year was just a minor mishap in the legacy of the Wolves. Let’s have a great season—go Wolves!
