Phoenix high school football team hopes to get first playoff win in decades
PHOENIX - The football program at Central High School in Phoenix has quickly turned around, and currently, the team is red-hot.
"We're trying to take the next step in the program," said Head Football Coach Chandler Hovik.
Hovik was hired in 2018 as the youngest head football coach in Arizona. Besides Hovik, the team has talented athletes, and they are hoping to bring the school their first playoff win since 1974.
"We haven't won a playoff game in 50 years, so that’s really been a goal for this team and program," said Hovik.
In 2022, Hovik was Coach of the Year, taking the team to the first round of the playoffs.
"I think it’s been a shock to a lot of people," Hovik said. "Winning football games hasn't really been a thing here over a long period of time so the fact that these young men have bought in and able to do well on and off the field the city is starting to notice."
However, Coach Hovik has not done it alone: his mother has been a big help.
"When he took over, we had a very, very small team," Nance Hovik said. "Not just numbers, but stature. And [Chandler] said to me right off the bat: ‘mama, we got to feed these kids.’"
Nance, along with other parents, run the team's booster club.
"A lot of these kids end up having to take the Light Rail home. Maybe two buses. They're here until late at night," Nance said. "They're hungry, so if we can help feed them snacks or meals."
Money raised provides the team food before game days like today, and then on game day.
"Yeah, you have the school and coaches, and you have the parents that even though you’re not my child, you're still a part of this brotherhood, and we support everybody," mother Quinae James said.
"The comradery with all the kids, coaches, it’s a family, it’s a unit, and it takes a village," mother Jen Gilmore said. "This is the village."
This team truly is a family. Senior Ismail Foz, also known as EZ, fled Africa for a better life.
"It’s meant a lot. He’s like my dad," Foz said.
Central High School Head Football Coach Chandler Hovik
Coach Hovik realized EZ was struggling with his living situation, so he and his wife invited the refugee to live with them.
"Some of the struggles that they go through, some of the things that they overcome, I couldn't imagine doing that at 15, 16, 17 years old," Hovik said.
EZ, who is a kicker and cornerback, will attend Northern Arizona University the following fall. He is one of the many success stories at Central High.
"These kids are amazing they're the reason that I’m here," Hovik said.
Right now, the team is focused on their season, and Central High is taking on South Mountain at 7:00 p.m. on Sept. 28, in a home game.
If you want to help the team, you can contact the school and Coach Hovik. The booster club is a 501c3.
Central High School