- [Christopher Conover] In the town of Sahuarita at Walden Grove High,
before the first bell rings in the start of the school day,
(metal clanging)
the sound of metal on metal
(metal clanging)
signals that the players
on the school's football team are already putting in work.
- Watch it move! Punch it!
- [Reporter] Leading this pack of Red Wolves,
is coach and history teacher, Corey Noble.
- You're doing five sets of bench!
Right now we're just off-season and our primary,
and probably even our secondary focus,
is all in weightlifting.
It's one of the things that we really missed the most
from this last year, not having really, I mean,
anything after spring break.
(metal clanging)
(students yelling)
- [Reporter] Every lift...
- C'mon, two more!
(metal clanging)
- [Reporter] Pass...
- [Coach] Drive your eyes to the route!
- [Reporter] And play...
- Good job, Gabe!
- [Reporter] An exercise in establishing a new normal.
(feet stepping on grass)
The pandemic started upending longstanding traditions
in March of last year, when Noble was entering
his fourth season as head coach.
- We were just starting to kind of figure out about COVID
and this pandemic, you know, like I remember thinking
and, you know, like telling my coaches things like,
"Hey guys, I think we're gonna be probably taking a couple
of weeks off of workouts." Who would have known?
You know, that'd be a year, like I would've never
even imagined saying something like that.
- [Reporter] Like most schools across Arizona,
Walden High transitioned to virtual learning
and put sports on pause.
(feet stepping on grass)
For Noble and his team that meant suspending practice
through the summer and canceling
an annual trip to California.
A scaling back that weighed heavily on players,
like juniors, Jason Stevens and Ronnie Berg.
- It was heartbreaking, especially because right before that
we had had track get canceled and everything kind of
just started tumbling.
- Are we even going to get a game because
it was still up in the air.
We might, our season might be canceled
and all the practicing we did, was for,
just no season to show for it.
- June came, nothing. July came, nothing.
We were doing online meetings, like zoom meetings,
going over stuff so that would be ready
for when we had a football season.
As it got later and later into the summer, I'll be honest,
like we stopped talking about like
when we have a football season, it started becoming,
there for a while, late summer, early August,
if we have a football season.
- [Reporter] As weeks turned to months,
COVID continued to spread in Arizona.
And the potential for the team's football season
remained uncertain. Its roster, which normally boasts
between 115 and 120 players, also shrank to 85.
- The motivation factor for some of them just went out.
And then, you know, obviously the concerns
and the dangers over, you know, playing a contact sport
in this time, you know, with COVID.
(ball smacking hands)
- [Coach] Yes! Good job!
- If we're going to do it through this,
you just gotta love it. Cause a lot of people fell off.
A lot of people didn't work, but a lot of our guys,
we just stayed through it.
Cause we knew if we were gonna have a season,
we were gonna do everything we could
to be the best out there.
- Go get that, Joe!
- [Reporter] When it came time to regroup in the fall,
the team adapted by adding more practices to accommodate
10 players at a time.
- Here for nine hours a day doing football workouts
in the hope that we were going to be able to do something.
(feet shuffling on grass)
- [Reporter] The school also began requiring weekly
rapid tests for all student athletes.
- [Corey] Every Monday that they've been in school,
they've been getting COVID tested,
and we've had some isolated incidents,
but it hasn't been a thing where a whole position
groups out or anything like that.
So, I mean, I think the big takeaway for us, you know,
was football's not spreading this.
(feet stepping on grass)
- [Reporter] But in a game where success is measured
in yards gained and passes caught,
the pandemic's implications dealt setbacks
and missed opportunities.
- Definitely been the toughest recruiting cycle
that I've been a part of as a head coach.
In terms of just the lower number of opportunities
for players, in terms, you know, from both the high school
perspective, from a high school level of, you know,
less off-season exposure, less in-season exposure,
less coaches being able to come out to practice
and see us actually practice,
see the kids interact with the kids.
You know, it's been a recruiting dead period
for a long time at this point.
Colleges allowing college players to have an extra year
of eligibility for the season that some of them missed,
which, hey, it's great for them, but on the back end of that
the repercussions, that's fewer roster spots,
scholarships for incoming freshmen to go into college.
I think we've got four kids that signed to go play
next year, I honestly think had it been a normal year,
I think we would have probably had seven guys go sign.
- [Reporter] A season normally comprises 10 games,
with a chance to play for a championship.
The team played four.
As community spread of COVID fluctuated,
often exceeding benchmarks set by the state,
canceled games became common.
Noble says being in Pima County also presented disadvantages
compared to schools elsewhere in the state.
- It's incredibly unfortunate that the vast majority
of the schools in the Phoenix Metro area,
the vast majority of the schools, played a full season
and those boys got a full season of opportunities.
And I think, you know, then it's,
like how do I tell my kids because of where we're at,
we're not going to have those same opportunities
for our kids.
We've had close, you know, like firsthand knowledge
of how awful this thing can be, like, in our program.
You know, we've had some parents, some players lose people
in their families and things from it.
So it's certainly not something that we're taking lightly,
but, I mean I've had a lot of students that are,
and players that are traditionally A students,
A and B students that have said like,
"I've never struggled more with school."
- [Reporter] One year later, the pandemic has not
loosened its grip on the globe,
but as more people gain access to the vaccine,
the rules have changed in places like Pima County.
That's evident with the team's gradual return to the field.
- [Coach] Hey guys make sure on those turns...
- Good job! It just feels good to be out here early,
cause last time this year, things were crazy and hectic.
So man, it feels good to be out early and working,
especially with all these guys.
It's just exciting, you know, it just makes me like crave
the season, just cause I just,
there's so much in store for this team.
So every throw I get, I'm just so excited, proud.
- [Corey] It may not be normal, what we would call normal
two seasons ago but I think it will be a full season.
You know, obviously we got to see how everything plays out
and we've got to, you know, keep doing our part.
- We're getting ready.
We're getting ready to play our butts off,
because this time this season we're going to get better,
stronger, we're gonna grind more,
and we're going to be the most disciplined,
and most aggressive team out there.
Because we're going to put in the work,
and this school is gonna get us to the playoffs hopefully.
And win games and maybe a state championship.
- On three, one, two, three.
- [All] Go!
- Let's work! Let's work! Hustle!