PHOENIX - Bourgade Catholic Football is kicking off its 2024 season Friday night against Fountain Hills and head Coach Chris Crockett is ready to get a full season under his belt after taking over half way through the 2023 season.
"We had a rough season last year," Crockett said. The Golden Eagles went 0-10, but with more than half of last season's roster returning, Crockett says they are a really good group of kids who are excited about what's happening at Bourgade. "They came back ready to go and that tells us a lot about those kids and what their mental makeup is, what their heart is like."
One of those returners is starting quarterback Eli Salas, a sophomore, who continued to look on the bright side despite the struggles last year. "We've been trying to adapt to this new offense and I really like it. I've been working all off season," Salas said. "I'm pretty confident that we will be a better team this year and I'll be a better quarterback."
Another one of the leaders on the team this year is junior offensive lineman Orlando Ruelas who explained during Catholic School Football Media Day on August 17 that he had to keep his head up last year so the team would follow his lead and look to him as an example. "If one of us start putting our heads down, our whole team will put its head down," Ruelas said. "It's very important as a team sport that we all stick together and we stay confident in what we're doing."
During that same press conference, Coach Crockett pointed out that despite their struggles, the Golden Eagles are entering this season optimistic. "Every game we play is the most important game of our season, and we will try to win game one. A success for me would be those guys walking on campus with their heads held high after getting their first victory of the season," he said.
The Golden Eagles will open up the season at home at 7 p.m. on Friday, August 30. This year, home games will look a little different after Bourgade's Director of Athletics Ritesh Khatri gave an important update regarding Bourgade Catholic's bleacher construction project.
"Due to unforeseen circumstances, our timeline for installation has been pushed back until November but we have worked diligently to help facilitate home games for our football program," Khatri said in an email to parents on August 16. "As a result, we have secured portable rental bleachers, allowing us to host home games at Bourgade Catholic High School! We are thankful we can maintain a home-field advantage giving our team the experience they deserve,"