Kaiden Fesler is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Williams Field for AZPreps365.com.

The Williams Field football team had a bye last week and their next game is this Friday, Sept. 24 against Campo Verde. Having started their season 2-0 while outscoring their opponents 91-14 in the first two weeks, the Black Hawks look to use this momentum to prepare for a much tougher opponent.

Williams Field is currently ranked No. 10 in the state of Arizona and No. 8 in the 6A conference, according to MaxPreps' rankings (which are used throughout the story). After a 5-3 season last year the Black Hawks look to make a deep run in the 6A playoffs. They are off to a strong start, defeating the La Joya Lobos in their last game and cross town rivals the Higley Knights in week one. Williams Field head coach Steve Campbell made sure his team did not get satisfied or overconfident at practice during their bye week. 

“We beat two teams we're supposed to beat,” Campbell yelled out during practice. Coach Campbell is right, the Hawks beat the No. 98 and No. 26 ranked teams in the state in their first two games, both of which they were favored against. Now, Williams Field prepares for a tougher matchup against Campo Verde, who is the No. 6 team in the 5A division. 

“We have to prepare each week like we are playing Chandler or Hamilton”, junior quarterback CJ Tiller said when asked about the 2-0 start. “Those wins were great and they helped us a lot motivational-wise, but we have to move forward and not get too cocky."

CJ Tiller is the leader on the team and holds an offer from Northern Arizona University. To start his junior campaign, Tiller started the season hot, completing eight of his 13 pass attempts and throwing for 216 yards against Higley. Four of those catches and 122 of the yards were to his top receiver, four-star 2023 Kyler Kasper. Kasper stands at 6-foot-6 and holds 17 Division I offers. 

Kyler Kasper snags the catch along the sideline at practice on Tuesday. (Kaiden Fesler/AZPreps365)

 

Tiller and Kasper have been close friends off the field for a long time, which has helped make them one of the top quarterback and receiver duos in the entire state. 

“Last year was pretty difficult since we didn’t have an off-season because of Covid, but this year we’ve had a whole off-season to train, and we’ve been at it everyday, which has helped us build a special relationship and our connection definitely got a lot better.”

Kasper spent the weekend in Iowa City for an official college visit at the University of Iowa. Kyler’s dad, Kevin Kasper is a Hawkeye great who went on to win Super Bowl XXXIX with the New England Patriots.