Football season is here and the Eastmark High School football team will be relying on its seniors to make the difference this season. Eastmark opened four years ago, meaning the team’s freshmen in year one are now seniors, with plenty of experience behind them.
Eastmark plays in 3A where they finished the season 7-4, making the playoffs but falling in the first round to River Valley. Despite not making the postseason run they had hoped for, they did finish the regular season top of the 3A Central region, with a record of 4-0.
The team’s head coach, Scooter Molander, has been with the team since the beginning and has had the responsibility of building the program from the ground up. His son, Mack, is a senior and the team’s quarterback, making it a special year as it’s Molander’s last season coaching his son.
The team has veteran experience on both ends of the ball, with 25 seniors on the squad. That leadership has been key over the course of the off season as the team prepares for its first game at noon on Saturday, Aug 20.
“This year, we will have our first full senior class, meaning that these guys have been with us for four years. Having 25 seniors, really, really helps, you know, from a maturity standpoint and they've done a great job of leadership and motivating in an honorable, ethical way,” Molander said. “It's really fun to get to work with these guys. They operate like professionals and they really lead practice. So that's been, you know, huge. It's been a long process to get here. Nonetheless, we have the opportunity to have a very good year.”
Eighth- and ninth-graders can take weight training classes while football players have their own weight class at school. This means players come into the program physically ready to play, often much more than other kids their age. Along with the guidance of the large senior class, the young players’ transition into the team has been much more seamless.
“It's neat to see our 10th graders, you know, use the same language and have the expectations, as they're leading each other the way that they've learned from the older guys...So I'm proud of young guys in the way they’re leading as well,” Molander said.
The seniors have taken charge in the off season as the team gets prepared for its first game, out of state against Robertson High School, from Las Vegas, N.M., who finished last season 11-2.
Over the summer the team competed in 7-on-7 competition with multiple schools in the area including Queen Creek, Mountain View and Skyline. Molander said it helped the team to gel and gave them experience against some top competition, with all three of those schools playing in 6A. He said the staff has been focused on bringing energy to every practice and the players have continually stepped up.
“Guys bring great not only leadership but great energy to practice. We harp on that, we have to create our own energy…when it's over 100 degrees and you're practicing day after day after day without a game in preseason, you know, we have to make each and every day special,” Molander said. “We have to create the energy and they've done a great job with that. You're not having to pull teeth to get guys to hustle and work hard. You know, I’m really proud of that, that they've come so far in just being mature.”
As the team has grown in maturity new opportunities have arisen. The team has the chance to travel out of state for its first game, giving them a good test to start the season.
Molander said he wanted to reward the seniors by taking this trip to New Mexico this weekend, while it also gives them the chance to learn about themselves early on.
“It's pretty rare to get to play a day game and equally rare to get to travel out of state. So our guys did a ton of fundraising in the off season to be able to purchase these tickets and we got them…it’s neat, they've earned it. We wanted to do our best to give them a college experience, a college travel experience, so that was the idea and impetus behind it,” Molander said.
Eastmark’s first home game is Sept. 8 against ALA Gilbert North. Molander said he hopes the players continue to grow and develop as young men, and if they do that, postseason success should come.
