Cody Marmon is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover San Tan Charter for AZPreps365.com. 

GILBERT — Behind all his accolades, quarterback Zayden Neill is just a 17-year-old having fun playing football with his teammates and trying to be a leader on and off the field.

San Tan Charter’s field general presence alone is felt. 

“When Zayden speaks, people listen,” said San Tan Charter coach Chase Cartwright.

But Neill has prospered to be more than just a vocal leader. He leads by example with his performances on the field as one of Arizona's most highly regarded 2A quarterbacks. It's the position he was determined to play since eighth grade. 

Named the 2020 2A Freshman Player of the Year, Neill backed that up by throwing for  2,680 yards and 26 passing touchdowns in a breakout season as a sophomore. That led to an offer from Missouri State, a Division I FCS program.

Neill continued to build his legacy at San Tan Charter as a junior, throwing for 2,479 yards and 28 touchdowns. He completed 69 percent of his throws and was intercepted just five times for an impressive quarterback rating of 134.8.

In the Roadrunners’ AIA State Football Championships - Conference 2A tournament playoff game against Camp Verde, Neill threw for an eye-popping 494 passing yards and three-touchdown passes – all to sophomore wide receiver Uriah Neloms on plays of 46, 35 and 85 yards.

He was named 2A Salt All-Region first-team quarterback for the second year in a row.  

“Every accolade the kid gets is 100% on him,” Cartwright said of his quarterback. “He did a great job of doing what we needed from him to win football games this year.”

The Roadrunners finished their 2022 season at 7-4 overall and 3-2 in the 2A Salt Region, ranked No. 9 by AZPreps365.com, and clinched their first playoff berth in Cartwright’s first season as head coach.

“I’ve always noticed Zayden’s hard-working mindset,”  said Neill’s teammate, Daniel Dippre, a 2A Salt All-Region first- team wide receiver, who has had a close relationship with him since they attended freshman summer camp together at San Tan Charter. 

“We’ve always found a way to bring each other up and keep rolling in the middle of games when we’re in the huddle. Especially when adversity hits.” 

Matt Neill, Zayden’s father and defensive coordinator for San Tan Charter, coached Zayden Neill in youth football from the age of 5 through his seventh-grade year, then decided to step aside.

“Being on the sideline with Zayden, his coaches are his coaches,” Matt Neill said. “Truth be told, in practice, I never even talked to him. I believe you have to get that coaching from others. It’s important for kids to develop from the outside, so they’re ready for the higher level.”

One thing Matt Neill did instill from the beginning, was physicality. He is a believer in playing tackle football.

“As a family, we wanted to teach Zayden the value of hitting young,” he said. “Both my kids have been prepared to take on contact and learn the fundamentals of tackling.” 

Zayden Neill is part of a sports family that includes a younger brother Tayvian and his mother,  Desiree Neill, who said she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“Matt has always coached our kids in various sports,” she said. “Sports have been the way for him to connect with them. Sports have always brought our family together.”

 

Zayden (left), San Tan Charter assistant coach (right), in pregame warmups prior to Oct. 7 game hosting Morenci. (Cody Marmon/AZPreps)

In the classroom, Neill has a 3.4-grade point average and is focused on catching the attention of more college scouts when he plays his senior season at San Tan Charter in 2023. 

Zayden had 5A and 6A programs interested in him entering his freshman year of high school. But he had built many connections in the Queen Creek community and brought other teammates to play with him at San Tan Charter that weren’t getting their opportunities elsewhere.

“I wanted to stay true to them and stay,” Zayden said. 

His mom believes it was the right decision for the entire Neill family as they built connections in youth sports. 

“With not a ton of blood-family in Arizona, our friends through the local youth sports have brought us together like a family to support Zayden and his team,” she said.

Zayden has thrown 70 touchdowns in his three years as the starting quarterback for the Roadrunners. 

“I give credit to KT’s staff,” Cartwright said of Kerry Taylor, the program’s former coach, who played college football at Arizona State and wide receiver in the NFL for nine different franchises including the Arizona Cardinals. 

“They gave Zayden a system that exploited his talents. They ran an offense that was explosive and scored a lot of points.”

Zayden was running a new offensive system this season. The pro-style offense, and excelled at it leading two game-winning comeback drives against Miami and Tanque Verde.

“The premise of a pro-style offense is building plays on top of plays,” Cartwright said. “Our goal throughout the season was to build off our run game, play-action bootleg, and make it all look the same.”

Neill learned to play under center and called plays in the huddle, made checks at the line of scrimmage, and demonstrated at a high level the ability to retain and execute a complicated offense. 

“In year two in the same offense, we hope Zayden can take on an assistant coach role – start to see the game from a coach's perspective,” Cartwright said of his plans for Neill next season. “When you have a quarterback that can do that, then your team can soar.”

Cartwright was elevated to head coach for San Tan Charter in Feb. 2022 after stints as the quarterback coach at Wagner College and as offensive coordinator for the Roadrunners.

But he has been working with Neill for the past three years and is practically part of the Neill family. 

“Zayden coming in as a freshman, we thought making the choice to go to San Tan Charter was all about building a legacy,” Matt said. “When Chase took the open coaching position, we knew it would be a smooth transition for Zayden. We’re blessed to have Chase.”

Zayden was the first quarterback in the Gilbert area that worked with Cartwright in his First 3 Training quarterback development program.

His focus in the program is on the foundational mental and physical development of quarterbacks.

“Chase was like my older brother going into high school,” Neill said. “We had spent all day training throughout my eighth-grade summer going into my freshman and sophomore year.”

It paid off in a major way. 

San Tan Charter broke through in its second full year of AIA competition, reaching the playoffs. Now, the Roadrunners are looking forward to 2023 when they hope to follow their quarterback to the school’s first deep playoff run in 2A.