Bennett Silvyn is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Shadow Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com.

Last year the Shadow Mountain football team had a season to forget, finishing with a record of 1-7. The team was led by then-junior twin brothers, Christian Thomson and Anthony Thomson. 

Christian Thomson was the quarterback who finished the season with 671 yards and seven touchdowns through the air. He also had the third-most rushing yards on the team with 139 yards and was tied for the most rushing touchdowns with two. Anthony Thomson was the second leading rusher with 155 yards and one touchdown. In addition to his contribution on the ground, he was the leader of the defense.

The team had 12 juniors and looked ready to bounce back for a strong 2021-22 season led by the Thomson twins. However, only seven of those juniors returned for this season, with the Thomson twins both opting out of their senior year.

According to head coach Ron Fagan, the reason for the twins and the other seniors opting out of this season is, “All the kids got used to doing nothing outside, so they did not want to play football.”

The Shadow Mountain football team currently has a record of 0-6 with four games remaining in the season. The Matadors had their closest game of the season on Oct. 8, falling just short to Washington, 21-14. 

Fagan was hired in 2017 by Shadow Mountain, making this his sixth year as the head coach of the football team. This is by far the smallest and youngest roster he has had. The roster consists of only 28 players, 11 of those players being sophomores. For reference, the average number of players Fagan has had on his roster in the last six years is 35 players.

Sophomore Nico Alvarez has taken over at quarterback and is starting in his first games for the Matadors. Alvarez was inconsistent through the first five games, but he has his moments of showing off his talent. Alvarez’s best performance this year came in the first half against Vista Grande where he threw for 255 yards and four touchdowns.

“That boy [Alvarez] is going to be good,” said Vista Grande head coach Jon Roberts after their game against Shadow Mountain. “He extends plays well and he was giving us some issues.” 

There has been a common theme so far in the season for this young team. They tend to start the game and finish the game strong. However, during the second and third quarters, the Matadors tend to lose some momentum. 

Fagan says this is due to all the young players playing “hero ball” instead of making the simple play. Something that he hopes will stop happening as the young players get more games under their belt. 

The few seniors on this team have had to step up as leaders for this young team. For senior Edward Welch, the highlight of being a leader is, “It has been cool to see them [younger players] grow and improve.” 

Fellow senior Carson Becktold agreed with Welch, saying that being a leader entailed stepping up as a player while also teaching the younger players what to do. 

This very young Shadow Mountain football team will continue to mature as the season goes on.

The Matadors will host Glendale at 7 p.m. on Oct. 22 as they try to win their first game of the season.