Like most fathers, Shadow Mountain football coach Ron Fagan remembers the distant days when his son, Ronnie, was afraid of the dark. Even as recently as two years ago, a 150-pound Ronnie didn’t appear to his father as much of an intimidating figure.

Things have changed.

Now, opposing defenses are afraid of him.

“As a coach, he’s the kind of kid you want,” Ron said. “I knew he could run the ball, I knew had good speed and things, but he didn’t have the same toughness that he does now.”

The little boy that Ron fondly remembers is long gone. Now a junior and key leader for Shadow Mountain, Ronnie stands strong at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds.

His role as one of the Matadors’ star players — particularly at the running back position, where he eptiomizes the term “power back” with a relentless resistance to being dragged down by defenders — didn’t come without hard work.

Both in his maturity and his physical prowess — the latter having come from countless hours in the Shadow Mountain weight room — Ronnie is starting to reap the benefits of his years of growth.

Of course, Ron saw it all unfold over a decade’s time, since first coaching his son at the youth level.

“I’ve really seen him grow as a leader,” Ron said. “On the youth teams, he was just one of the players, but now he’s more vocal. I’m glad he’s turned into the young man he is, he’s doing really well.”

Over the years, football largely dictated the lives of the Fagan family, and Ron and Ronnie in particular.

Being involved in youth leagues, the Fagans frequently traveled to football tournaments and camps, including one in San Diego around which they often planned their family vacations.

“It’s a good thing,” Ron said. “It’s a big part of our lives, it’s good. We laugh, we see kids that have been on teams that I’ve coached, I like the fact that I get to see him grow, see him grow up into a young man.”

For Ronnie, spending such a large portion of his life under his dad’s tutelage in the sport he loves has admittedly strengthened the father-son relationship.

“I don’t even know how to explain it, it’s just an awesome feeling,” he said. “With him there, it’s just an awesome bond, and with him knowing so much about the game it’s helped me become the player that I am. It’s always good to know that he’s always there, he’s always going to be that leader.”

Much more like the average football parent, Ron also experienced some of his son’s games from the stands. During Ronnie’s seventh- and eighth-grade years, Ron was no longer coaching his son’s teams, but rather found himself on the sidelines at Centennial High School, his first major coaching job.

Then, at the outset of the 2015-16 school year, both father and son made their Shadow Mountain debuts — one on staff with the football program, and the other as a freshman student.

They’ve been working to “change the culture” at Shadow Mountain ever since.

“When I first got to Shadow Mountain, there were maybe five or six kids in the weight room and we had probably 50 on the team,” Ron said. “Now, we averaged 25 or 30 kids in the weight room during the summer, they’re really working hard.”

So far this season — Fagan’s first at the helm since former coach Brock Farrel accepted an offer at Highland High School — it’s working.

The Matadors, who by many accounts weren’t expected to win a game this year, split their first four contests, including a gutsy win at North Canyon and a 53-7 drubbing of Coronado in their home opener.

“We’ve had a fire this whole season,” Ronnie said. “We really just want to let people know that we’re here and we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”

And with a father-son tandem that has already helped bring Shadow Mountain a solid start, the future is bright for the Matadors, and it starts this Friday night with a road test against undefeated Greenway.

“These victories are short-lived,” Ronnie said. “It’s back to the drawing board, fixing the things we need to fix. Greenway’s a very good team, but we’re not backing down from a challenge at all.”