Ironwood dedicating stadium to Chuck Esquivel

Glendale Ironwood will dedicate its football stadium and rename it after coach Chuck Esquivel, who died in February, two days after being inducted into the school’s sports hall of fame.

The dedication ceremony was supposed to happen this Friday before the football team’s homecoming game against Phoenix Sunnyslope.

But because there has been a delay on the making of the memorial plaque, the ceremony is being pushed to some time in December, possibly on the 14th, said Erin Dunsey, a Peoria Unified School District spokeswoman.

The memorial plaque will be placed in front of the press box, facing the field.

“They’re going to have a reception and do even a bigger thing,” Dunsey said.

In September, the district governing board voted 5-0 to dedicate the stadium after Equivel, who lost his battle with cancer at age 57. The beloved coach led the Eagles during their greatest era, 1996-2002, when they reached the state championship game twice — in his first and last seasons.

Current Ironwood coach Ian Curtis finished his student-teaching at Ironwood in 1994 when Mark Matheson was the head coach and Esquivel was the offensive line coach. Curtis spent that football season shadowing Esquivel. Two years later, Esquivel was promoted to head coach and Curtis worked with lower-level teams under Esquivel.

Breaking through

Last year, Gilbert Perry beat Chandler Hamilton in football for the first time.

Now, Perry can do something even bigger. If it wins at Chandler on Friday, it will legitimize its No. 1 ranking in 6A. Chandler is the defending state champion and came into the season as the favorite. But since the loss to Florida superpower IMG Academy and an overtime win to Phoenix Pinnacle, the Wolves have been decimated by injuries.

Chandler isn’t saying who is back, but Perry coach Preston Jones is expecting a full arsenal, including junior quarterback Jacob Conover, who has been out since late August after suffering a shoulder injury against IMG.

Last year, Chandler beat Perry twice, including in a state semifinal rout.

In-season adjustments

After an 0-2 start in his first year leading Goodyear Desert Edge’s football team, coach Jose Lucero, the offensive coordinator of Desert Edge’s 2015 state championship team, went back to the drawing board.

Now, the Scorpions (4-2) are on a fourgame roll, heading into Friday’s game against 4-2 Phoenix Barry Goldwater.

“Our coaching staff has done a great job making adjustments to the talent we have,” Lucero said. “One of the good parts about an 0-2 start is that you can see where you are weak. Playing against two really good teams (top-ranked Peoria Centennial and No. 3 Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep) showed us where we can improve.

“Offensively, we have gone away from the spread and are now a shotgun double-wing team. This has helped reignite our running game. My staff has done a great job teaching a new system in the middle of the season and kids have done great job buying into a system that is completely different than what we ran during the start of the season.”

Desert Edge has completed just 18 of 35 passes in six games, but has run for 1,572 yards with three backs gaining more than 300 yards.