Running back Chase Lucas, who ran for 1,126 and 13 touchdowns last season as a junior is one of the top returning players for Chandler. Photo: David Kadlubowski/azcentral sports
While the preseason Super 25 football rankings won’t come out until late July, this is one of a series on teams that could contend in the Super 25 high school football rankings next season. We previously looked at De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), South Panola (Batesville, Miss.), Colquitt County (Moultrie, Ga.) and Miami (Fla.) Central.
Team: Chandler, Ariz.
2014 finish: The Wolves went 13-1, won the state Division I title and finished No. 16 in the Super 25 rankings.
Tradition: Though last year’s state title was the school’s first since 1949, the Wolves have not had a losing season since 2005.
Spring football: Spring practice began May 4 and runs through May 21.
2015 schedule: Opens Aug. 20 at Pinnacle (Phoenix), which went 10-2 last season. Plays Aug. 29 at last year’s Super 25 champion, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas). Closes regular season at home vs. Hamilton (Chandler), last year’s Div. I runner-up.
Top returnees: Senior LB KT Tilini; senior WR N’Keal Harry; senior RB Chase Lucas; senior QB/S Mason Moran, RB Micah Reed-Campos; junior WR Kolby Taylor; and junior LB Sam Pepper.
Toughest to replace: QB Bryce Perkins, who threw for 3,001 yards and 46 touchdowns and rushed for 697 yards and five touchdowns, will be a freshman at Arizona State this fall.
Outlook: The Wolves have a very talented group returning, led by four highly recruited players in Tilini, Harry, Lucas and Moran.
Tilini led the team with 85 tackles last season. Harry averaged 21.9 yards a catch and led the team with 659 receiving yards and 13 touchdown catches. The speedy Lucas, who is being recruited by nearly every Pac-12 school, led the team in rushing with 1,126 yards and 13 running touchdowns. He also had 368 receiving yards and three touchdown catches.
Though Perkins was a big part of the team’s offense last year, coach Shaun Aguano told Richard Obert of the Arizona Republic that Moran, who played defensive back last season, is capable of being just as good. The 6-3 senior already has offers from Boston College, Colorado, Massachusetts, Air Force, Northwestern and Louisville.
“Of course, coming off this last season, everyone is expecting us to do big things,” Moran told Obert. “I have a little weight on my shoulders but I am feeling confident with the coaching staff and the team.”
