Valley Vista Preseason Overview
0-0 OVERALL
0-0 NORTHWEST REGION
Home Games in ALL CAPS
* denotes Northwest Region games
8/24 | |
8/31 | |
9/7 | |
9/14 | |
9/20 | |
9/28 | |
10/5 | |
10/19 | |
10/26 | |
11/2 |
Schedule Breakdown |
Valley Vista’s first varsity schedule isn’t the toughest in the state, which could help the Monsoon’s fortunes in 2007.
VVHS faces only one team with a winning record in 2006, a second-year program in the opener, and five teams total who had three or fewer wins a year ago.
Here is a team-by-team breakdown of the Monsoon’s opponents:
- Boulder Creek (2-8): A second-year program under a new coach. The first game is also the first Northwest Region game as both teams agreed to move this game from mid-season.
- Skyline (2-8): Skyline changed regions this fall. The Monsoon could have an advantage as this is Skyline’s first game of the year.
- South Mountain (5-6): Needed wins in final four regular season games to make 2006 playoffs.
- Camelback (3-7): Program has seen better days than in the recent decade.
- Tolleson (5-7): Probably the best of the non-region opponents, but remember it made the 2006 playoffs with a losing record.
- LaJoya (3-7): Rumor is this program is on the rise, but it may not show in the school’s killer region, which includes defending state champion Centennial.
- Goldwater (6-6): Northwest Region favorites make trip to Surprise.
- Willow Canyon (4-7): The first of a long, and hopefully, healthy rivalry. But couldn’t they play this game the final week for drama’s sake?
- Deer Valley (6-5): Lost in a classic playoff game to Goldwater last year.
- Kingman (1-9): Is there any way to tell if Kingman is going to go 10-0 or 0-10 from one year to the next? If there is, I can’t tell.
by Jason Stone
SurpriseLights.com
Aug. 24, 2007
There are no two ways about it. New football programs do not win many games. Schools without seniors almost never do.
That being said, it’s not easy to see what is driving the Valley Vista Monsoon during the 2007 season, the school’s first at the varsity level. If nothing else, the Monsoon certainly can match the state’s best with enthusiasm, hope and inspiration.
The program took a minor hit in the spring when original coach Ed Barnes returned to Apollo, his former school, which did not allow Valley Vista to bring in a new coach for spring practices.
But, let’s face it: The real work was going to come this year at the varsity level anyway. It was still not too late to bring in a new coach to help shape the program’s future.
Jason Wilke, a coach who led Glendale High School to two 4A-Division II playoff appearances in three seasons, was hired just before the summer, and only had a little more than a month with the team before the Monsoon’s first game Aug. 24.
His first Monsoon squad features 33 juniors and 16 sophomores, who will be doing on-the-job training about life at the varsity level. Wilke said the support system is in place for Valley Vista to have a bright future.
“Just look at all the parents that are here,” Wilke said about a large number of parents who attended a recent booster club meeting in the school’s media center. “We did have that support at Glendale.”
