3A North football coaches like realignment changes

WINDOW ROCK – Earlier this year the Arizona Interscholastic Association finalized the placement for the 2023 high school football season.

Some movements were made as the AIA scrapped the 3A Northeast Conference and placed the eight teams into two separate, but familiar regions.

Three teams – Blue Ridge, Round Valley and Show Low – were put back into the 3A East along with Payson and Fountain Hills.

The five other squads moved back into the 3A North with Ganado, Monument Valley, Page, Window Rock, Winslow and Chinle making up this year’s six-team conference.

Former 2A member Chinle successfully petitioned the AIA reclassification committee to move up to the 3A North.

“Collectively, we always wanted to stay together as much as we could,” longtime MV coach Bryan Begay said of the reservation and border town schools.

“The AIA has a funny way of placing teams,” he said. “I feel like they try to make things simple, but they don’t know the realities of coming from a rural setting.

“Overall, we’re just glad to be back,” Begay added. “It’s always good to be in a conference like ours. We obviously know each other, and we take care of one another.”

Last season the MV Mustangs went 6-4 overall and 3-4 in that competitive conference. Despite graduating 23 seniors they are one of the favorites to win the 3A North this year. (Page and Winslow are also part of the conversation.)

“We returned about 15, 16, 17 (veteran) players and we had a decent JV team that went 6-3 last year,” Begay said. “We’re going to mix those kids with our current kids, but our expectations are still going to remain high.”

After participating in some offseason workouts and summer camps, Begay said his team is looking to reload with a bevy of new playmakers.

“All summer long, we were averaging about 40 kids,” he said. “We stayed busy until Independence Day and we gave them the time off; they came back rejuvenated and, you know, they’re itching to get after it.”

On Tuesday, the Mustangs had 90 kids come out for an early evening practice at the high school. With those numbers, Begay said it gives him the luxury to shift players in and out.

The Page Sand Devils also boost numbers like MV as head coach Leland “Bubba” Billie is looking to have separate platoons on offense and defense.

“That’s one of the advantages that we have,” Billie said on Tuesday. “The first day of school we had over 70 kids show up and we had almost 60 kids at our summer camps. It just shows how much the kids are making that commitment to our program.

“They have really stepped up,” he added.

The Page coach said he’s happy with the realignment, especially with Winslow in the mix.

“I’ve always believed that Winslow belongs in the 3A North,” Billie said. “It’s a good fit for them.”

Billie said the town of Page is “hungry” for a league title with the Sand Devils claiming its last league crown in the 3A North during the 2018 season under then-head coach Mitchell Stephens.

That year, Page went 10-2 and reached the second round of the 3A state playoffs.

“I’ll be 100% honest with you, this town is hungry for it,” Billie said. “They’re ready. We launched a fundraiser, and we raised $10,000 in two days. I put out a request that we needed water bottles and I had 50 cases of water show up. I put out that I needed a new fridge, and I had a brand-new fridge show up on the doorstep of my coach’s office.

“This town is behind us,” Billie added. “They’re hungry, and they’re ready for football. And it’s gonna be exciting, man. We can’t wait.”

Billie said the school is in the midst of putting up a new scoreboard that has an LED screen.

“It’s not going to be ready for week one, but hopefully we should have it up and running in week two,” he said.

Looking at the schedule, the Sand Devils will play at Monument Valley on Sept. 15, and they will host Winslow Oct. 20 for homecoming.

“It’s going to be hard,” Billie said of winning the conference. “You know, Winslow beat us by two points, and we beat MV by five last year, so we were kind of neck-and-neck.

“Moving into this year, I think it’s going to kind of play out the same way,” he said.

Like his peers, Window Rock coach Wilbur Begay said he likes being placed in the 3A North.

“I like this conference better,” Begay said. “It’s the original 3A North Conference. I kind of wish we were in this conference last year but, again, our strength of schedule was really good last year.”

With a heavy senior class that graduated last season, Begay said playing in the 3A North has the potential to play “into our hands.”

“You know, we got a lot of underclassmen,” he said. “With our conference and schedule, I think we should be fine.”

Begay acknowledged that there are going to be some growing pains, but he’s willing to be patient with his young Fighting Scouts team.

“My expectation is to play football, you know, just basic fundamental football,” Begay said. “I understand there’s going to be a lot of teaching. The tempo at practice is going to be slow, and I have to deal with that, but the goal right now is just teaching football, playing the game and doing it the right way.

“Hopefully, in a couple of years the underclassmen will fill those shoes,” he added. “By then we should be OK, and we could make a run at the 3A North title.”

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