Best of the Best: Chandler High School 2015 Football Preview

Written by Ryan Wright

By the end of the 2014 high school football season the on the field success of Chandler High School (Chandler, Ariz.) placed the Wolves among the best in the nation. The Wolves finished the season 13-1 falling to Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) 45-42 in Game 4 but then reeled off 10 straight wins that included a third round defeat of Mountain Pointe (43-22) before topping Hamilton 28-7 in the state championship game.

Chandler has some big holes to fill with the graduation of quarterback Bryce Perkins (Arizona State), wide receiver Justin Jan (Colorado), and defensive end Caleb Peart (Vanderbilt) but a lot of highly recruited talent returns in 2015, on both sides of the ball, making the Wolves one of the top teams in the nation again.

National preseason rankings have Chandler dotted throughout various Top 25 polls: USA Today No. 20, PrepNation No. 21, MaxPreps Xcellent 25 No. 17, and MaxPreps Computer at No. 8.

Offense
Perkins will be tough to replace under center after hitting 75 percent of his passes for 3,000 yards with 46 touchdowns against just six picks. Senior Mason Morgan is expected to fill Perkins shoes in 2015 but whoever drops back to pass will have plenty of talent to hit with 5-star wide receiver N’Keal Harry roaming the field. Harry caught 30 passes for 657 yards with 13 touchdowns last season. The 6’3”, 211 pound, target formed a powerful one-two punch with Jan who caught 48 passes for 918 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Four-star recruit Chase Lucas snagged 28 passes for 368 yards with three scores a year ago but made his presence felt on the field more as a scat-back. The 5’11”, 175 pound, athlete led the Wolves with 1,126 rushing yards breaking free for 13 touchdowns. When Lucas takes a breather fellow senior Micah Reed-Campos (5’9”, 175) can hit the ground running after piling up 418 yards on 51 carries during his junior season scoring the ball 11 times.

Some of the offensive linemen leading the way for Lucas and Reed-Campos are Dustin Woodard (6’2”, 285) and Brandon Ramirez (6’0”, 265).

Defense
The secondary duo of Mason Moran (Oregon State) and Kyree Woods (San Diego State) will make it difficult for any team to pass on Chandler this season. Moran had 52 tackles last year with two picks. Woods had three picks and 45 tackles to help lead the defense. Two to watch in the Wolves secondary is Isaiah Swann and Teaunate Nash.

Up front head coach Shaun Aguano is expected to count on Ian Sparrow, Mario Gittens, and Chance Carson to help shutdown the opposition’s run game. Linebacker Kt Tilini led Chandler with 85 tackles last season.

The path for Chandler to another state championship is not easy with early season matchups against 2014 national champs Bishop Gorman and Chaparral will prove challenging. Of the Wolves 10 scheduled games six are on the road.

2015 Schedule
Aug. 20 Chandler at Pinnacle
Aug. 29 Chandler at Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) *ESPN televised game
Sept. 4 Chandler at Chaparral
Sept. 10 Desert Ridge at Chandler
Sept. 18 Horizon at Chandler
Sept 25 Chandler at Mountain View
Oct. 2 Chandler at Basha
Oct. 9 Perry at Chandler
Oct. 16 Bye
Oct. 23 Chandler at Brophy College Prep
Oct. 30 Hamilton at Chandler

Photo credit: eastvalleytribune.com; No. 2 Chase Lucas looks to punch it in against Buena in Game 2 of the 2014 season.