By Don Ketchum

After stumbling out of the gate in its season opener, Glendale Apollo has become a team to watch in Class 4A Division I football.

The Hawks were 4-1 entering their Western Sky Region game on Friday night (Oct. 8) at Phoenix Shadow Mountain.

Apollo fell to Phoenix Washington in its opener, then went on to defeat Peoria Sunrise Mountain, Avondale Agua Fria, Phoenix Thunderbird and Phoenix Sunnyslope. The last two were 43-0 shutouts.

“That Washington game, we learned a lot about ourselves,’’ said Apollo coach Zack Threadgill. “It helped having the group together to refocus. We needed our seniors to step up and help to be leaders. We learned to face adversity and the value of practice.

“It was a hard, tough lesson to learn, but I think we can look back and realize that we grew as a team.’’

The Rams’ defense is playing well, as evidenced by the shutouts. Threadgill said the special teams need to play with more consistency and the offense needs to find its rhythm.

The offense is led by junior quarterback Jonathan Brown.

In this year of the dual-threat quarterback, he has been right up there with the best of them.

The 6-foot, 205-pound Brown has rushed for 498 yards and seven touchdowns. He has rushed for 100 or more yards in four of the games. He also has passed for 862 yards and nine touchdowns, with five interceptions.

Threadgill said that Brown, who played most of the 2009 season as a sophomore, is a year better due to off-season conditioning and his comfort level with the offensive scheme.

“He just understands more,’’ Threadgill said.

Brown looks to throw more often and he has thrown, although some of the passes have been dropped. The receiving corps has worked hard to correct that, Threadgill said. Apollo’s top receivers are Chrisdeon Ayiyi and David Gonzales.

The coach wants to be as balanced as possible, and the running of Brown and Richie Martinez has helped to achieve that. Threadgill said Martinez has been a pleasant surprise, having moved up after playing on the junior varsity last season.

After playing a number of non-region opponents, Apollo is now in the middle of its region season.

Threadgill calls it “a different season. I think all of the teams in our region are stronger than their records might indicate. We just need to keep going, do whatever we’re doing and improve as much as we can.’’