Back row, from left to right: Isaac Chavez, Jeff Karas, Bryan Barbarena, David Fry, Kyle Zierke; Front row: Shawn Walker and Chris Shipp.
The Prescott Badgers Football team went down in defeat Friday night to a focused and determined Canyon Del Oro team. The score was a lopsided 34-0.
And, although the loss in Tucson means the end of the 2007 football season for these young men, they will carry on, and the lessons they've learned will prove to be valuable in every day life.
As the Badgers played during the season, many names were heard over and over again throughout the season over the PA System. Names like Jake Jarvis, Isaac Chavez, Dustin Olague. There are other recognizable names, too, like Bryan Barbarena, Jordan Magdaleno, Dan Brutinel. And, because of these students' high level of play, they are frequently considered the leaders on the team. But, are they leaders everywhere? Do they need to be? Is character still important, even when you lose?
Assistant Coach Gabe Gahn thinks so. "Hopefully we teach them more than just x's and o's here. Leadership is very important. Leadership translates to a better football player and to a better young man. And character does count, I believe it's one of our mottos here, 'character counts'. They have to be good citizens on campus as well as off campus, because they do represent, like it or not, the Prescottt football team, and Prescott High School. So, character is a big, huge part of it. During season and out of season, they have to show character. It's of huge importance."
Gahn points to several players who stand out as leaders. "Dustin Olague, Chris Shipp, Isaac Chavez. Jordan Magdaleno has really stepped up in the last 6-7 weeks, and it shows on the field, too. He's taken some leadership roles." Gahn considers the entire team has demonstrated leadership. "It's really hard to pinpoint just a couple of guys, because right now they're all working together as one unit, and they're used to producing together on the field. To go 0-4, now they win their last 7, that's to say pretty much all of them are now leaders, and they're leading each other through this."
The Importance of Character
Jordan Magdaleno was asked whether it's tough to be a leader on the field and off. "No, pretty much just be a leader everywhere, just help out people and just have good character," he said. When Magdaleno thought about which is more important, character on the field or off, he responded, "It's more important to be a leader off the field, it shows everyone that you're a great person everywhere you go, not just on the football field but in general."
Dustin Olague agrees. "I think that's just part of your character; you're representing football, and it's more than just playing a sport; it's not that hard to try to do your best in school."
Coach Beneitone thinks that a core component of character is discipline. "The boys know that it takes discipline to win on the football field, and you win because of discipline. There's a lot more to it than people realize, out on the field, 11 boys have to make things happen all at once. Just the discipline, the sacrifice and the commitment builds a lot of character in boys."
Isaac Chavez, one of the team captains, is recognized throughout the school as a leader, a person worth looking up to, and not just in football. (Chavez was also crowned Homecoming King this year.) Chavez talks about what it takes to be a leader on a team. "Well, you have to first of all, have experience. I've been on varsity over three years, this is my third year. You have to have good leadership. Just be like a mentor to all the guys, have someone to talk to, and somebody that's likeable. Just someone that can take charge on the field and take charge in practice and get practice rolling and get the games going."
Chavez believes that character off the field translates to respect on the field. "On the field and off the field. But, I'm going to say it's more important off the field, because you kind of earn some respect off the field. I mean if you're out making bad decisions, and doing stuff that's going to end up hurting the team, or something like that, then you're going to lose respect from your players, and they're not going to want to listen to you, especially when it comes crunch time. You want to look to a responsible kind of guy, more than like a trouble maker."
Another player on the team quietly pointed to Bryan Barbarena. "You should talk to him," the player said. "He's one of the leaders on the team, too."
Barbarena was a little embarrassed. But he didn't hesitate, when asked about the importance of character and leadership. Although he acknowledged it can be tough, he said, "Yeah, you've got to watch out what you're doing, always do the right thing and make the right choices. Be nice to people, don't be mean. It's definitely important, it's really important, it's huge. If you don't have good character and leadership and responsibility, then it's hard to play on the field, especially with all the kids."
This is Jake Jarvis' first year on the varsity team, and his talent has energized the Badgers team all year. But, the leadership thing? That's harder, he admits ruefully. "I still mess around a lot and stuff and it's hard to be a leader off the field. On the field I'm really focused, but then off, I mess around all the time, and it's hard."
Yet, Jarvis knows it's important. "We have a lot of players like that who are leaders both on and off. It's really good... I try to be a leader, but sometimes it doesn't work."
John Johnson - The Importance of Character Beyond PHS Football
Anything that happens in this town related to football probably has John Johnson lurking somewhere in the background. He does the film for the Badgers. He runs Prescott Youth Football. He is an owner of the Titans, a pay-to-play football league in Prescott. And, he's part of the ownership group for the new Arena Football team coming in the spring.
Johnson's perspective on character and leadership is simple, "That's what football for me gives to men and boys. Honor, integrity, semper fi, which is a Marine term for 'always faithful', those are the traits and the characteristics that I'm carrrying from the six-year-old football all the way up through the sixty year old football," he explains. When asked whether having character off the field is more important than on the field, Johnson replied, "You know, truthfully, you can't survive without both. YOu have to have both, and they have to be of equal increments. If they're lacking on their leadership ability or the honor integrity part of it, they're never successful in anything in life."
Johnson discussed his faith in the Badgers team. "The biggest reason I have faith in this team is because of the character that the coaching staff, along with Coach Lou, gives to the football players. That's what this small town has to have. It has to have a fight in them, and that fight will carry on in their lives as far as business and how they treat their own families, and I think that's what most important about our whole program, from Prescott Youth Football to Prescott Football, to the Badgers, to the Titans, to the Arena Team, it's all part of creating men from boys to me."
The End of the Season
This year's unofficial team leaders are mostly seniors. Jarvis is the
only junior in the bunch. With his talent and skill, many younger
players will surely consider him by default to be a leader next season.
Hopefully, by then, he'll have grown into the role. But, it's definite
that he won't be the only leader on the team; by next year, more
leaders will have naturally developed and emerge to inspire those they
play with and hang with.
After all, nobody appointed these kids to be leaders on the team. They just sort of
evolved into the role. Kids like Chavez and Olague and Magdaleno and Barbarena are looked up to because they are terrific
football players. But, they are followed because they are natural and purposeful leaders.
And, that's why tonight's loss that ended their season is disappointing, but not devastating. This team has too much character for that.
A Photo Gallery
Here are some of the players as they prepare to get on the bus for the game against Canyon Del Oro.
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