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By Ethan Desjardine
Cronkite News
CHANDLER – At Basha High School, nothing draws a larger crowd than when the Bears play under the Friday night lights at Jim Wall Stadium. The stands are packed with a few thousand fans, and as the Bears enter the field, the crowd’s roar is deafening.
The fans expect success, and the Basha Bears under coach Chris McDonald have been one of the best success stories in all of Arizona high school football over the past few years.
Not surprisingly, the Bears are off to a hot start in 2024 and have talent on both sides of the ball.
“Our kids work hard, we’ve got good team chemistry, we’ve got multiple athletes on the field offensively that spread the ball around the field, and then defensively, I think we’re physical. We’ve got a lot of kids that are hungry for success,” McDonald said.
Basha secured its eighth straight home win last Friday, defeating Saguaro 50-0. The Bears have now scored 136 points in three games while allowing only 28.
The Bears improved to 3-0, earning a No. 2 overall ranking in Arizona as a member of the 6A Premier division, according to MaxPreps. Basha has a tough test this week, traveling to take on the 4-0 Mission Viejo Diablo in Mission Viejo, California, on Friday.
Sophomore running back Noah Roberts has been a big part of the team’s success this far, averaging 101.3 yards per game and totaling six touchdowns in three contests.
Roberts explained how the preparation and practices at Basha play a large role in how well the team performs under the lights.
“Our practices are tougher than the games, so it just prepares us to be good and be prepared for the game,” Roberts said.
Gio Richardson, a three-star receiver currently committed to Arizona, also praised McDonald’s weekly preparation for his team.
“We’re way different from other schools around here,” Richardson said. “We’ve got coaches from the collegiate level, which already helps us. Our practices are run like collegiate-level practices.”
However, Basha’s athletes aren’t just working hard on the field – they are also expected to be dedicated in the classroom.
“School comes first, so I just get that done, so I can just play on the field with nothing to think about,” Roberts said. “Every day I’m taking a step by just working hard, working as hard as possible, getting school right, workouts, all that.”
It is a state championship or bust for McDonald’s squad, and his players are putting in the effort every day to achieve that goal. After McDonald took over the Basha football program in 2019, when the Bears finished 4-7, the team improved drastically over the next two seasons and, in 2021, finished 10-1 before losing to Liberty High School 38-20 in the Open Division quarterfinal playoff game.
In just a few years, McDonald had turned the Bears from a struggling squad to a true state championship contender, and in 2022, that is exactly what Basha would do.
Led by quarterback Demond Williams Jr, an All-American and four-star prospect who is now playing at Washington, Basha steamrolled its competition, with its only loss coming to Liberty.
The Bears continued their historic run into the Open Division playoffs and defeated Saguaro 28-21 on a late-game defensive stop to secure the first state championship in school history.
McDonald would again have a one-loss regular season in 2023 before a heartbreaking loss to Centennial in the state semifinal game ended the Bears’ hopes of a consecutive state championship.
Basha approached the 2024 season with the same mentality as years before, and McDonald wants his team to continue to be a nationally recognized program.
“Win every week, and win the state championship,” McDonald said about his goal for the season. “Be a top team in the country.”
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