Desert Edge QB Adryan Lara not thinking about Spencer Rattler’s record,
Adryan Lara’s teammates will mention the record to him now and then, but Goodyear Desert Edge quarterback insists that’s not what drives him as he works towards his final high school football season.
In 2018, Spencer Rattler, now established at Oklahoma and considered a leading contender for the 2021 Heisman, set the Arizona high school all-time passing record in 11-man football his senior season at Phoenix Pinnacle, finishing with 11,083 yards in his four-year varsity career.
Lara needs 3,190 passing yards next season to break Rattler’s record. He’ll come into the season with 7,894 career passing yards.
In nine games during the COVID-reduced 2020 season, Lara passed for 2,393 yards and 23 touchdowns, leading the 5A Scorpions to an 8-0 regular season before losing to eventual state champion Chandler in the first round of the elite eight Open Division.
So can Lara catch Rattler, with whom he has worked out under local quarterback coach Mike Giovando?
“The team jokes around about it, but nothing really serious,” Lara said. “Spencer is a good guy. He’s taught me a lot along the way.”
Lara’s higher expectations are on the team.
“An Open Division or 5A championship, nothing short,” said Lara, who committed to Washington State before his junior season.
Desert Edge basically began Year 2 under co-head coaches Marcus and Mark Carter a few days after losing to Chandler 52-0.
That game showed what Lara needed to do. It showed what the whole team needed to do.
Not wanting to waste a moment after a 2020 season marked by uncertainty because of the pandemic, the Scorpions have taken advantage of the time they’re able to have together during this spring’s workouts.
“It was an amazing experience,” Marcus Carter said about the Chandler game. “They made us better. They made us a better program. It’s a classy team. I love (Chandler) Coach (Rick) Garretson and all of them over there. It just put things in different perspective.
“There are levels to this. We’re trying to get to that level. Once we get there, we’re trying to surpass them. But that
gave us a lot of experience. There were a lot of guys on the sideline coming back. That gave them a hunger and lit a fire under them.”
It lit a fire under Scorpions’ offensive tackle Gavin Broscious, who last season committed to Michigan State.
Broscious is one of the top linemen in the country with a non-stop work ethic who picked it up a few more notches since that loss.
Now he knows what it takes.
“We really haven’t had a break since the season ended,” Broscious said Tuesday, during a spring practice. “Of course, it came to a tragic loss. But, hey, it just showed us where we need to be.”
Broscious felt he could hang “with the best,” after facing Chandler and the likes or Oregon-bound defensive end Brandon Buckner.
“It shows that our team just needs to be more connected,” Broscious said. “There’s a lot of new guys coming in. A lot of older guys leaving. We’re starting the cycle now for more kids transferring in to Desert Edge.
“We’re more a family than we were last year and the previous years before.”
Desert Edge also returns rugged tailback Jeryll McIntosh (1,187 yards, 11 TDs rushing last season), wide receiver Richard Kulik (42 catches, 573 yards, four TDs), defensive backs Breshaun Brown, Amir Smith and Cameron Foster, defensive end Cris Contreras, Athlete Fabian Lopez , tight end Matthew Willis and defensive lineman Paul Medina.
Kulik had offseason surgery and may not return to the team until Week 8 next season, Mark Carter said.