Desert Edge WR Valentine salvages senior FB season
Wide receiver DHayven Valentine didn’t see football opening up any time soon at Avondale Westview High School this summer.
So he left.
He transferred to Goodyear Desert Edge, where he had to sit out the first four games because of the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s transfer rule.
Last Friday, the day the Tolleson Union High School District, which includes Westview, cancelled football season because of rising COVID-19 metrics, Valentine played his first game for the Scorpions.
The kid with the 10.8-second, 100meter time caught five passes for 84 yards in a 28-17 win over Mesa.
“I noticed that the district wasn’t going to let them play,” Valentine said. “I just needed to get out of there.”
Westview was expected to challenge for a 6A playoff spot and maybe even win a playoff game or two this season with one of coach Nick Gehrts’ better rosters and senior quarterback Nico Vasko leading the way.
Valentine, a senior, was the only Westview player who transferred this summer.
Now Vasko and other Westview seniors are left without a season (unless they now transfer), while Valentine has a chance to show off his talents to college recruiters and maybe end up with a championship ring.
“I still hit them up,” Valentine said of his former Westview teammates. “I see how they’re doing. I know some of them are scattering out to different high schools. It’s just a sucky process.”
Desert Edge coaches and players couldn’t be happier to have Valentine as part of this stretch run.
The Scorpions (5-0), ranked No. 2 in 5A behind Scottsdale Saguaro, play at 4-1 Peoria Sunrise Mountain on Friday night with Valentine figuring in cocoaches Mark and Marcus Carter’s game plan.
“It gives us a lot more options,” Marcus Carter said.
Valentine was a two-way standout at Westview, where he had five interceptions last season as a junior.
He is just playing offense at Desert Edge, which has a talented secondary.
His speed and skills open up the passing game more for junior quarterback Adryan Lara, who had been going to Andrew Patterson (26 catches, 367 yards, four TDs) and Richard Kulik (22 catches, 363 yards, two TDs).
“Now we have a 10.7 kid (Patterson) and a 10.8 kid,” said Lara, who has committed to Washington State. “It opens things up with the motion, jet sweeps, everything like that.”
Mark Carter, who works primarily with the offense, is starting to get into the groove. “He just gives us another guy,” Mark said. “You have to pick which side you want to bracket. If you don’t want to bracket, then you got one-onone matchups. And then it opens up the box for (tailback) Jeryll (McIntosh) and Jeryll has been eating all season.”