Kooper Holman is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Saguaro High School for AZPreps365.com.

After a disappointing 2-3 start to this season, Saguaro head coach John Mohns wants his players to reclaim the swagger that propelled them to an Open Division Championship last season.

“We got to get back to expecting to win,” Mohns said.

With one game remaining in non-sectional play, Saguaro has faced one of the toughest schedules in Arizona starting with New Jersey state champion, Bergen Catholic (5-1).

The Sabercats have played the No. 2 and No. 3-ranked schools in Arizona, unbeaten Chandler (5-0) and Liberty (4-0).

While Saguaro lost each game, the tough non-sectional schedule should pay dividends in the growth of this year’s team. Following last week's loss to Liberty, Mohns talked about having the hard conversations with everyone in the building.

“We had to look inward on where we’re at, why we’re falling short, and what need to do as a team to get better,” he said. "We had a few players that weren’t living up to expectations that we had to hold accountable. The coaches want to a message that in order to reach to our ultimate goal, we’ve got to tighten things up. Our losses have been on stuff we can control and part of it is details, discipline, and accountability.”

Players and coaches alike understand where the team is struggling and needs to improve as sectional play begins in two weeks.

“We need to clean up the little things,” . senior wide receiver Deric English said. “We watch a lot of film, and during it we catch all that little things that’s causing all  of these losses.”

Senior quarterback Devon Dampier preached a similar message.

“It’s been more mental mistakes then anything,” Dampier said. “Whether it’s dropped balls, me forgetting to send somebody in motion, or the defense not executing correctly, those small mistakes end up turning into big plays. As long as we keep limiting the small ones, we’ve been playing great football, and we want to keep that up.”

On defense, Saguaro's bend-but-don’t-break defensive style has kept opponents out of the endzone but time of possession has been a problem.

For example. the Saguaro offense saw only three touches in the second half against Liberty.

The defense as a whole has been solid, but sophomore defensive back Dajon Hinton wants to see more from his group.

“We’re all frustrated, but we’re not far away,” Hinton said. “Just a couple third down stops can change the game, we need to make the game-changing plays.”

While frustrations have mounted, Saguaro's mentality is only getting stronger as the season progresses. 

“I think we feel like we can play with anybody in the state,” Coach Mohn said. “In both of the last two games, we really left feeling like we let opportunities slip away. If we would have executed at a higher level we could have won and not many teams in the state can say that. Most teams that played [Chandler and Liberty] got blown out.” 

When Mohns took over the program in 2012, he looked to continue the winning tradition at Saguaro.

After winning seven state championships in 10 seasons, he has certainly achieved that.

Now in his 11th year, Mohns wants his young players to embrace the Saguaro tradition.

“We have to get back to feeling like everytime we step on this field, we’re going to win,” he said. “We’re going to have tough games all year long, but we are battle-tested, we know we can play with anybody. We’ve been playing at an extremely high level, playing much tougher competition then most of the teams on the remainder of our schedule, so we have to use that as an advantage.”

Heading into Friday’s matchup against Desert Edge, English spoke about how their recent schedule and adversity will impact the team going forward.

“We’re definitely coming in with a little more experience,” English said. “We got three big stage games in and we look to show how we’ve grown from those games. 

Then without hesitation, English said, “We feel really good about this game.”

Mohns has preached how his Saguaro teams tend to improve as the season progresses. Dampier has seen it since the season opener against Bergen Catholic.

“There’s been more chemistry in the locker room and the knowledge of the game has improved,” Dampier said. “We used to have film sessions where maybe I was the only one answering questions and receivers didn’t know what plays we were doing. Now we’re in there saying more then just the play. We’re knowing why we do certain plays as our whole mental aspect has gotten better.”

Despite the losing record, one of the few bright spots on offense has been the running back tandem of Jaedon Matthews and Zaccheus Cooper.

With over 300 rushing yards combined, the dynamic halfback duo has been the one consistent part of the offense. 

“Having Jaedon and Zaccheus in the backfield is a great fit for both of them,” Dampier said. “On one side, you got Jaedon with the speed, breaking runs for ten or more yards and then Zaccheus come in and runs hard through those holes. Fourth-and-one, we know we’re going to get it when Coop is on the field. They’re both great to have in my backfield.”

The Sabrecats look to get back in the win column on Friday night. With a bye next week, the roster looks to get healthy for sectional play.

Following the bye, the Sabercats begin sectional play with a road matchup against Highland (3-2). While the team is locked in this week against Desert Edge, Saguaro has been looking forward to the matchup against the Hawks.

“Hopefully we can have a great effort (against Desert Edge) and ride some momentum heading into the bye week,” Coach Mohns said. “Looking to get head start on a really good Highland team. They play great defense, they’re physical. If we can handle business tomorrow night, Highland will be one of the biggest roadblocks of us being able to get into the Open Division or not.”

Dampier and English agree.

 “They’re a great team,” they said simultaneously.

As Saguaro reaches the halfway point of its season, there’s no panic. Their play hasn’t translated into as many wins as expected, but the building blocks have been set for the Sabercats to make another run at a state championship.