Last year, the Hamilton High football headlines were all about its high-scoring offense, led by receiver Roye Oliver III and quarterback Jax Sculley.
Sculley's season ended in the final regular-season game with a torn ACL, his second in two years. Oliver, a USC commit, ended up being The Arizona Republic's Player of the Year.
Sculley has been back since the beginning of this season and continues to make strides every week. Oliver has appeared in only two games and has had just one catch as he rehabs from an injury.
But the Huskies, part of the Chandler Unified School District, are 7-0, ranked No. 15 nationally by MaxPreps and No. 1 in the AIA/MaxPreps Open/6A state rankings.
All three phases of the game are clicking.
"I like where we're at," coach
Travis Dixon said. "We've got great-caliber teams on the back end of this stretch. Everyone is looking for their best football now. You have to continue to find those measuring sticks. Not at the beginning of the year, but at the end of the year."
Sculley has thrown for 1,382 yards and 14 touchdowns with three interceptions. The offense is balanced. The Huskies have rushed for 1,299 yards and 15 TDs with Devante Roebuck leading the way with 649 yards and seven TDs.
Now comes the toughest stretch.
The Huskies travel to play Peoria Liberty (6-1), which is ranked No. 3 by AIA/MaxPreps in Open/6A on Friday, Oct. 23. The Lions, who won back-to-back Open Division state football titles in 2023 and '24, will finish the regular season against No. 2 Chandler.
So the final stretch brings some big-time matchups.
At Hamilton, sophomore Roman Oliver (39 catches, 619 yards, 10 touchdowns) has picked up the receiving slack wiht brother Roye slowed by injury. The defense has been consistent all year, giving the Huskies a chance to win their first Open state title since the AIA added that top-level bracket in 2019.
The defense is led by ends Derrick LeBlanc Jr., and Dylan Linder, linebacker Mitchell Raner and safeties Kacey Allen Jr., and Keaton Fields.
"Our biggest focus is playing four quarters as a program, as a team," Dixon said. "It's not a first-half, a second- or a fourth-quarter team. Can we put four quarters together? Can we play collectively and complementary football in all three phases?"
The Huskies gave up 22 points to Perry and 25 to defending 6A champion Queen Creek Casteel in back-to-back weeks in September. But since then, they have given up a combined 27 points in their last three games. They're coming off an impressive 34-13 win over a good Phoenix Pinnacle team.
LeBlanc, Linder and Raner all have double-digit tackles for losses this season, with LeBlanc leading the way with 19. He also has 7.5 sacks and Linder has five.
"I think our defense is the same or a little better than last year," LeBlanc said. "Most of the guys here have experience. I'm in my third year. It's been great."
Allen said experience is paying off this year.
"We've been around each other for a while," said Allen, who returned an interception for a touchdown in Hamilton's season-opening 24-6 win over Phoenix Brophy Prep. "I feel like the chemistry is there. We're playing way better. That's helping us this year."
Raner sees all three levels of the defense improved from last year.
"The D-line has improved tremendously," said Raner, who has 12 tackles for losses. "Our safeties are all good and there is great communication with the corners. The linebacking corps, we're improved. We've been good against the run."
The Huskies miss Roye Oliver III, but his absence hasn't hurt them. Dixon is proud of the resiliency that Sculley has shown, overcoming not just the physical part of going through two ACL surgeries in two years, but the mental aspect.
They're still rolling, even if they're not scoring as many points as they did last year, when the Huskies put up 600 points during an 11-1 season that ended in an Open Division semifinal loss to Chandler.
"We're fully loaded with our guys," Dixon said. "Just be competitive every play and we'll continue to keep competing for 48 minutes."
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don't miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Defense sparks top-ranked Hamilton football with big tests ahead
