Following his graduation from Sedona Red Rock High School in 2017, Chas Rescigno headed off to Michigan to attend Concordia University Ann Arbor and play for the school’s football team. In the three years that have passed since, a lot has changed.
Rescigno headed to college as a quarterback, the position he played in high school for the Scorpions. Shortly thereafter, he went from throwing passes to catching them and was moved to receiver. He came home to attend Yavapai College for his sophomore year, but returned to Concordia to play football for the Cardinals. Now as he’s entering his junior season, Rescigno is again learning a new position as a tight end.
“It’s going well,” Rescigno said of his experiences on the college gridiron. “I’ve been bounced around. I’m playing the weight gain game, trying to get up to the proper size. I’m learning and trying to get better so I can start making an impact on the field.”
Looking back on his time with the Scorpions football team, two games jumped out for Rescigno. The first came in a 49-6 win over North Pointe in his junior year. Rescigno attempted only three passes in that game but they were all completed for touchdowns. He also intercepted two passes and recorded a sack on defense. The following year, Rescigno fondly remembered scoring the only touchdown in a 7-6 win over Tonopah Valley on Senior Night.
Rescigno’s best memory so far in his college career came when he recorded his first collegiate touchdown, playing a junior varsity game against Manchester University. Overall, though, what he’s enjoyed most about football at Concordia is being part of a team and getting to meet a diverse group of people.
“I like branching out and meeting people from all over the country,” Rescigno said. “You get along with them over a common sport, build up a brotherhood
and make friends for life. They’re an extension of my own family.”
Last year, the Cardinals’ season came to an end in a narrow 31-30 loss to Grand View University in Iowa in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics playoffs.
Rescigno hopes that he can be an integral reason why the team achieves even greater success in his remaining two seasons.
“We’ve been in the playoffs three years in a row — we’re knocking on the doorstep of the National Championship,” he said. “I want to be part of the reason why we get there and bring it home.”
Long term, Rescigno noted that while he’d like to continue playing football after college, he realistically hopes to work for the Department of Public Safety or for a federal agency. To that end, he is studying criminal justice in college.
And while Rescigno’s time at SRRHS is long over, he hopes that the school’s recently canceled football program can be restored in the future so that other high school kids can experience the same benefits of football that he did over the years.
“I’m not a fan of the decision [to cancel football],” Rescigno said. “It’s just something that’s meant so much in this town. It’s where I met most of my friends and got to meet people from all over the state — some really cool people. It’s depriving some of the guys who have been playing over the last couple of years of something they’ve been trying to work hard for.”
“I love how many great people you get to meet from all over with different backgrounds,” he added. “Playing for the same team or the same sport, you’re a family and you care about everybody. That’s been my big takeaway from football.”
