2021 Team Preview: Prescott Badgers

<strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Overview </span></strong> Prescott comes off a 4-4 2020 season with a first round playoff loss to the 4A state runner up Cactus High. After starting 0-3 in 2020, Prescott bounced back to win 4 straight which included big time wins against Flagstaff (38-28), Mohave (55-0),  rival Bradshaw Mountain (32-10), and Mingus (43-35). Prescott is a very young team, but is loaded with promising upcoming potential. This is the youngest group of varsity players that head coach Cody Collett has ever had throughout his career, and he did a remarkable job to help the young talent step up and overcome adversity to clinch a 2020 playoff birth. Prescott is that old school, gritty, tough football town with a tremendous amount of support from the community, so the youngsters up north are forced to step up quick and fill big shoes every year. Unlike big phoenix area schools, the smaller schools up north don’t typically have division 1 depth throughout their roster, so losing seniors to graduation makes it tougher on these smaller programs. Prescott will lose a big key C/O 2021 two-way standout in [player_tooltip player_id="93294" first="Nathan" last="Wright"], as well as a handful of others. However, the upcoming talent is something to take notice of, especially 2023 ATH [player_tooltip player_id="42932" first="Cody" last="Leopold"], who could very well be the most versatile player in northern AZ. The season is approaching quickly, and Prescott is looking to surprise a ton of people in 4A football across Arizona. <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Players to Watch</strong></span> [player_tooltip player_id="42932" first="Cody" last="Leopold"], <em>ATH, ’23</em> Leopold will be the key guy for Prescott, as he will carry the workload at RB and also look to play lights out on the defensive side of the ball. A raw talent that continues to take leaps and will make plays from anywhere on the field. He’s strong at the POA and is explosive through the tackle, also possessing excellent instincts all-around. Well rounded ball carrier with a great combination of vision, speed, physicality and flashes elusiveness as well. A D1 level talent who projects to have a huge season. <strong>Alex Vaughn</strong>, <em>QB, ’23</em> This was Vaughn’s first year playing football, and he took over the QB1 role week 3 against Coconino. He’s a very good athlete all-around as he is also a standout baseball player for Prescott. Dual-threat kid who can make plays on his feet and has shown the ability to throw under pressure. Tough kid as he took numerous shots after release last season, and could be a sneaky player to pop off for Prescott as he continues to mature. <em><strong>Cervando Vega,</strong></em> <em>DB, '22</em> Prescott DB's coach Cody Colville had a ton of good things to say about Vega as they expect him to fill a huge role and have a strong year at safety. He comes off a solid junior campaign as he racked up 60 tackes, 2 INT's, and 6 PBU's in the short COVID season. <strong>Cody Hanna</strong>, <em>LB, ’23</em> Hanna stepped up during his sophomore campaign as he averaged around 9 tackles per game. He sizes up with a solid frame and build at 6’0" 185lbs and is still growing into his frame. Hanna flashes strength at the POA with a nice striking ability when he gets squared up, and started to mature and identify opening alleys as the season progressed in 2020. &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Key Departures </strong></span> [player_tooltip player_id="93294" first="Nathan" last="Wright"], <em>ATH</em> (Rushed for 1,069 yards and 16 TD's, 1 TD rec., 89 tackles, 4 sacks, 15 hurries) <em><strong>Luke McCauslin</strong></em>, <em>LB/SS</em> (95 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 INT) <em><strong>Brayden Nelson,</strong> WR/DB</em> (8 rec for 116 yards and 1 TD, 4 INT's with 2 pick six) <em><strong>Vincent Oldfield</strong></em>, <em>OL</em> <em><strong>Nathan Briseno,</strong></em> <em>WR</em> (19 rec for 214 yards and 1 TD) <hr /> &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>2021 Schedule</strong></span> <span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em>*4A Grand Canyon Region Game</em></span> 9/3- @ Glendale<img class="alignright wp-image-46082" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/08/IMG_4317-300x268.jpg" alt="" width="369" height="330" /> 9/10- Camelback 9/17- @ Washington 9/24- @ *Lee Williams 10/1- Blue Ridge 10/15- @ *Coconino 10/22- Mesquite 10/29- *Flagstaff 11/5- *Bradshaw Mountain 11/12- @ *Mingus