During the 2019-20 school year and for the decade before it, the Sedona Red Rock High School boys soccer team played its season in the winter. At the conclusion of last season, the decision was officially made that, starting with the 2020-21 school year, soccer would again be a fall sport. Fortunately for the Scorpion boys, that hasn’t been the only change.
The Red Rock team has come out of the gate strong. The Scorpions have won five straight after losing the opener to Payson 6-4 in overtime. That streak gives the team more wins already than the two they had through the entirety of last season.
Furthermore, Sedona has found itself quite adept at finding the back of the net. The Scorpions have scored more in each of their games than they did in any game a season ago. In fact, they scored more goals in a 12-0 win against North Valley Christian on Wednesday, Sept. 23 — a game that was called at halftime — than they scored through the entirety of last season.
“We’ve been playing pretty decently,” senior captain Jaiah Grondin said. “We’ve got to work on a few things, of course. It’s still early in the season. But in these last wins, we’ve really worked on communication and spreading the ball around. That’s what’s really created these high scoring games.”
Grondin has been another key to the team’s success. He played soccer for the Scorpions in his first two years at SRRHS but opted to play basketball instead of soccer as a junior. The move to fall has afforded him and many of his teammates the chance to play both sports.
His return to the soccer program has been heartily welcomed by Sedona coach Sam Blom.
“Jaiah’s return from two years ago has been a major reason for our success so far,” Blom said. “He is like having two players for the price of one. Not only is he one of the captains but his passion for this sport is a great example for the entire team.”
Despite the addition of Grondin, the Scorpions are a young team. They feature a slew of returning sophomores like captain Max Metzger, Korbin Burke, Heder Montes and Chuy Benitez and juniors like captain Brandon Arias, Kevin Beltran, Berto Sanchez and Jhoan Herrera.
The Scorpions are also buoyed by a strong freshman class. That includes Luis Beltran, Noah Horton, Carlos Gonzalez, Joan Diaz, Reif Stevens and Gabriel Montes. Diaz has occupied the goalkeeper position for Sedona. Meanwhile, when SRRHS defeated Rancho Solano Prep 8-0 on Friday, Sept. 25, Beltran and Horton accounted for seven of the goals, scoring four and three, respectively.
“The players all get along well and the new guys have been accepted by the veterans,” Blom said. “The freshmen are hungry and aggressive; confident but not overly and not intimidated because they are on varsity.”
The depth has been important given the move to fall. While there are many benefits of the move, one of the drawbacks is that it means playing in warmer temperatures.
But with a bench full of quality players, the Scorpions have managed to avoid tiring too much in the heat.
“There have been no complaints from anyone and they have played at a high level,” Blom said. “With a solid bench, we are able to rotate as needed. I think we are still not playing at full potential; coach Jason [Metzger] and I are still tweaking the line ups.”
Another benefit of the move to fall is that it’s kept the travel down, since many of the teams that play in winter are at least a few hours away.
Two of the more local opponents that the Scorpions have yet to play are Camp Verde and Chino Valley. Sedona will play on the road in Camp Verde on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. They’ll host Chino Valley on Wednesday, Oct. 14 and will go on the road to take on the Cougars on Tuesday, Oct. 27. Both games against Chino Valley have 4 p.m. starts.
Those are also two of the better teams on the Scorpions’ schedule. The Cowboys reached the state semifinals last year while the Cougars were the state runner-up.
“Camp Verde is our rival,” Grondin said. “I know some people on Camp Verde and I know their coach. It will be fun to play and hopefully come out with a win. And Chino Valley is one of the better teams in the league. If we can keep up with them, we have a really good shot of making it.”
