Highland’s physical defense is spurring breakout season
When Brock Farrel was hired as the head coach at Gilbert Highland in the spring of 2017, the Hawks were coming off a 3-7 season. Their last seven-win campaign had come in 2008. In the football hotbed of the East Valley, Highland was an afterthought.
In the five seasons since Farrel’s hire, the Hawks have compiled a 40-14 record. In 2018, they took an 11-2 record to the 6A semifinals, losing to eventual champion Chandler, 36-35.
“I’ve really seen a transformation that he’s really been the catalyst for, in terms of confidence in the kids and the togetherness,” said Jason Lyons, Highland’s defensive coordinator, who arrived at the school a year before Farrel to serve as the JV head coach.
In a string of winning seasons, though, this one stands out. Through six games, the Hawks are undefeated. In the latest Open Division rankings, they sit sixth, one spot behind Friday night’s opponent, undefeated Chandler Basha, and two spots ahead of the cut line to secure their first birth in the state’s top playoff bracket.
To Farrel, this is a culmination of an identity he began to forge the day he was hired. “When I took over, I knew that we would have to be able to play defense in order to compete in 6A,” Farrel said. “So my best kids played defense. And my most physical kids played defense. And that’s the way it’s always been.”
Five years later, Farrel sees that physicality as his program’s calling card. The top-end speed — the type that woos Power Five recruiters — is often absent from Farrel’s defenses. Highland simply can’t contend with schools like Hamilton and Chandler for elite prospects. It’s also why the Hawks exclusively play zone defense. But in his team’s physicality, Farrel bridges that gap.
“It hurts the next day after you play our defense,” Farrel said, his pride evident in his voice. Story
This year, his defense has turned that hard-hitting mentality into results. In six games, they’ve given up just 91 points — 15.2 per contest.
By now, in year five, every player in the program has been reared in a winning culture. This year’s seniors, freshman back in that 11-2 season, know what it takes to be elite.
“They remind me of the 2018 senior class where they really reached out to the underclassmen and made them feel like, look, you’re gonna be necessary for us to win,” Farrel said. “I say that every year but not everybody buys into it. Sometimes you’ve got the class warfare.”
Overall, the Hawks’ defense is relatively young. Multiple key starters are first-year varsity players. According to Lyons, that balance works because of the unit’s senior leaders, chiefly linebacker Carson Allen and defensive end Fisher Camac, who is currently injured.
“Those guys have really carried that tradition of the previous group,” Lyons said, adding junior safety Joseph Allen to the list of “driving factors” behind his defense’s success. “(They have) encouraged those younger kids who are in the younger parts of their opportunities to really go after and embrace it.”
While the defense is Highland’s calling card, this season’s success also has been enabled by an offense capable of
moving the ball and avoiding mistakes. Three years ago, Farrel earmarked 2021 as a potential big season in large part due to quarterback Gage Dayley, a three-year starter who has 13 total touchdowns and two interceptions through six games.
“As a freshman, you go, OK, he gives us a chance,” Lyons said.
Through six games, he’s done just that. Now, starting with Basha on Friday, comes the stretch of tests that will define Highland’s season. The following two weeks bring trips to Hamilton and Chandler.
Based on talent alone, the Hawks’ coaching staff knows what the external expectation for these next three games is. “If we go out there and don’t show up and it doesn’t go the way we want it to go … most of the folks outside of this area are gonna say, ah, that’s what we thought was gonna happen anyway,” Lyons said.
Inside Highland’s locker room, though, these games are viewed through the lens of opportunity. The opportunity to elevate themselves to the pinnacle of Arizona high school football. The opportunity to make reality match the vision Farrel arrived with five years ago.