A dramatic fall as 13-time champs in 2000s can't field freshman, JV teams

With only about 35 players in the program, first-year Scottsdale Saguaro football coach Butch Goncharoff told The Arizona Republic that he has decided to keep them all together on the varsity in 2026.

There will be no freshman or junior varsity teams.

Saguaro begins its first day of practice in helmets on Monday, Aug. 3.

"We've got a few more freshmen out," Goncharoff said. "They're good kids. They're inexperienced. Our sophomores are in our depth because of numbers. The general thought was, instead of putting those guys on a separate field and letting them go, that we get them around us. They practice with us. They learn how to play. They're coached by us, varsity coaches.

"We decided, after meeting with them and talking to them, we're going to keep one team. We're trying to do what's best. I've never done this before, but I've never been in this situation before."

This is a long way from Washington state, where Goncharoff coached 11 state football championship teams.

This is a big fall for Saguaro, which was once the destination school in the Valley for football. The Sabercats won 13 state championships from 2006-23. But after the 2023 6A state title season, about 30 players transferred out for myriad reasons, as Darius Kelly took over the program from Zak Hill.

Goncharoff was part of Kelly's staff last season. But Kelly was let go after 1-9 and 3-7 seasons.

Another 35 players or so have left during the time it took to bring Goncharoff on board to lead the program in April, as the Sabercats had an interim principal and the school was searching for a new athletic director. Assistant football coach Frank Ruben kept the athletic program together during that search.

Goncharoff said only 13 players showed up for the first spring football practice. It has grown since then, but not enough to feel it would be safe to field a freshman or JV team.

He hopes more players trickle in once the helmets go on. He said there are about 15 freshmen on the team now, but some of them have never played football. Goncharoff said he never played freshmen on varsity when he coached in Washington.

"The whole thought was, 'Let's do what's best by these kids and keep them out of harm's way, '" he said.

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don't miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: A dramatic fall as 13-time champs in 2000s can't field freshman, JV teams