Ben Parks is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Ridge High School for AZPreps365.

The 2020 high school football season was a strange one that had been hindered by the COVID-19 virus, and many schools were forced into unusual settings, resulting in teams playing shorter seasons, being moved around divisions or regions, and some teams having to forfeit their season.

In the 2020 football season, players and coaches would unexpectedly catch COVID-19, and even being in close contact with someone who had the virus would sideline them for two weeks. When it came to high school football, games could be canceled on short notice if either team had a COVID-19 outbreak.

That year set back high school football programs around the Valley. Desert Ridge was a prominent football program for years, led by former head coach Jeremy Hathcock. Hathcock led the team to 14 straight playoff appearances. That streak ended in the 2020 season when the Jaguars went 1-5, a year where they had two games canceled due to COVID-19.

Desert Ridge only played six games that season, as opposed to the usual 10-game season, starting on October and playing its final game on November 20. Compared to this season, the Jaguars’ first matchup was August 25 and their final regular season game was November 3.

The following year, Arizona high school football returned to its standard format, but Desert Ridge was forming a new identity after one of the biggest setback years football has seen.

After Hathcock’s resignation, Desert Ridge brought in Roy Lopez, who has over 20 years of experience coaching high school football in Arizona. Lopez's most success came at Tempe Marcos de Niza, where he accumulated an 88-23 record, and reached two state finals appearances. He also coached at Tucson Sunnyside, but it was his tenure at Tolleson High School before Desert Ridge when the pandemic began. He coached the Wolverines in the 2019-20 season, but lost the entire 2020 season due to COVID-19. The following year, Lopez moved to Desert Ridge.

“Tolleson was awesome,” Lopez said. “They had a lot of good kids; it was hard for me to leave. I loved every minute that I was there… You could tell the pandemic did a little on our numbers.”

While Lopez said he is grateful for his time at Tolleson, the opportunity at Desert Ridge has given him a chance to grow as a coach. Lopez led the Jaguars back to the playoffs in his inaugural season, but missed the playoffs the following year. It was this past season where the Jaguars had the most success under Lopez, who led them to a 5-5 record, ranking them second in the 6A Fiesta region and earned them a playoff berth.

“The growth has been amazing,” Lopez said. “We made improvements every year, and this year, with those kids, it made us a very tough team, so we’re pretty lucky.”

Desert Ridge lost to No. 4 Pinnacle in the first round of the playoffs, leaving room to grow on a still successful season. But Lopez has been able to rebuild the culture of this team and make the program competitive against the top teams in Arizona. In three seasons with the Jaguars, Lopez has grown with the athletes, and this year was his first year of seniors who he coached during their entire varsity stretch.

As far as the culture goes, Lopez said he aims to change the mindset of his players, and keeps the team together. Lopez’s son, Roy Lopez Jr., is an NFL player for the Arizona Cardinals, and while Lopez Sr. said it doesn’t give his team an advantage, it still provides his players with a unique experience. Lopez Jr. has a heavy passion for the sport even still at the high school level, and will hang around the Jaguars team at practices and even games when he can to support his dad. Lopez Sr. said he and his son still go around the Valley to go to different high school games in Arizona. Lopez Jr. also has football camps over the summer that provide an opportunity for everyone to get experience.

When Lopez got the head coach job at Desert Ridge, he brought with him Sammy Johns, the Jaguars defensive coordinator. Johns coached with Lopez at Marcos de Niza from 2003-2011, and while they went separate ways afterwards, Desert Ridge has provided them the opportunity to team up again.

To Johns, joining Lopez was a no-brainer: he lives across the street from Desert Ridge and the two coaches know they work well together.

Johns says they’re both players-centered coaches, and building those relationships with players is how they build a successful team and culture.

“It takes two years to wash the old program out, and get the players to buy in,” Johns said. “Usually it’s the third year you see that turnaround, and we saw that this year.”

Players need to take time to learn the system, and by building relationships with the players, they build a successful and competitive team, and this winning culture spreads not just through the football program, but the entire school.

Despite a 1-4 start from the Jaguars where they lost a few really close games, they flipped their season around and finished 5-5. With every high school season that passes, teams lose their senior players, and this year's Desert Ridge team was led by seniors in several crucial aspects of the team. Quarterback Major Wootan, tight end Creed Hallows, linebacker Logan Rogers, defensive back Samuel Johns, the anchor on the offensive line Greg Bienvenue, and several others are all moving on to their next chapters.

Lopez and Johns, alongside the rest of the Jaguars coaching staff, will have to move on from these leaders and turn a new group of seniors into big impact players.

“We have a great senior group coming back as well,” Lopez said. “We’re not as big as we were, but we have some good tough kids. With the combination of the sophomores and juniors we’re gonna be pretty tough.”

Desert Ridge athletic director Kevin Swann has high praise for the two coaches.

“Roy and Sammy both do a fantastic job of establishing positive relationships with kids,” Swann said. “They are both teachers on campus, so they have the opportunity to positively impact our school climate in the classroom as well as on the field each and every day. They are extremely supportive of all sports and programs on campus and they help [Desert Ridge] build and grow a positive campus culture.”