Taylor leads Centennial to improbable state title

TEMPE, Ariz. — Former Western Reserve head coach Dick Taylor's Centennial High School Coyotes pulled off the impossible on Dec. 7. The Coyotes capped off a four-week Arizona state high school playoff run by beating Mountain View Taos, 31-21, to win the school's eighth state championship inside Sun Devil Stadium, home of the Arizona State University football team. One of the most unlikely state champions ever, the Coyotes finished the season with a 7-7 record. They won just three regular-season games. After an 0-4 start, Centennial won three straight games before ending the season on a three-game losing streak. "Admittedly, we were pretty bad in September," Taylor said. "But, we were not getting blowed out; just not making the big play like were used to doing. Then we win those three in a row and things started to turn around. "We closed with three tough opponents, losing all three of them, but again we were competitive. That might have been the reason people stuck with us. And the players believed. They did not turn on each other. It remained a positive locker room." Likely because of their history of winning football over their 35-year history, the Coyotes were awarded the No. 14 and final seed in the state playoffs. That proved to be a mistake, because the Taylor's, Dick and his son, longtime assistant, Andrew, had a team that was improving. The first to find this out four weeks ago was No. 3 seed Red Mountain. The Coyotes won, 21-7, and suddenly the alarm sounded. Then No. 11 seed Casteel could not keep up, losing 37-14. In the semifinals of the 6A class tournament, the Coyotes only had Queen Creek standing in the way of advancing to the championship and a shot at pulling off the impossible. Mountain View, the No. 4 seed, was for real. Taylor's team, although never trailing, could not put them away. It was still a 24-21 game late in the final quarter. Only after a late touchdown, did Coyote fans start to celebrate their improbable state championship. Taylor was also keenly watching the impact of two transfer players who had to sit the first five games of Centennial's 2-3 start. And when they hit the field, they did so running and catching. One of them, Nikko Boncaro, caught five passes for 121 yards in the championship game. One of those passes was a one-handed grab for 35 yards in the fourth quarter that helped set up a 45-yard field goal that gave Centennial a 10-point lead with 7:49 left. Every reporter after the game asked the veteran coach if he was going to go out with the title that made him the all-time best in Arizona football. He ducked the question, but admitted he is tired, though he still has to think about leaving a job he has so much fun doing. "Let me put it this way, I have a defensive coordinator who deserves as much credit for these titles as I do," Taylor said. "My son, Andrew, brought in a weight program a number of years ago that makes Coyote football players for certain stronger and maybe faster than most of our opponents. "If I step aside, I would hope he would get the chance to carry on the tradition." After serving as an assistant at Edison, Taylor was the head coach at Western Reserve from 1977-85. His teams finished with a 49-38-3 record, including a Firelands Conference championship and playoff win in 1984.