THE HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT STARRING ANTHONY RAMIREZ

Let's hit the West Valley for this week's edition of The High School Highlight.  It brings us to Raymond S. Kellis High School, home of the Cougars.  The Cougars are coached by Shawn Copeland and they are currently 2-1 this season. 

The team has already surpassed it's win total from a year ago.  This was easy to do because they went 0-10 last year.  They have been able to turn the program around because of players that stuck it out through the tough times.  Players like senior running back Anthony Ramirez.

Ramirez had 463 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns in the season's first two games.  Those yards helped the Cougars start 2-0.  They lost last week to Agua Fria and look to bounce back tonight when they host Verrado.  He had 290 of those yards last week and broke the school's single rushing record.  The record was 214 yards set back in 2007. 

Ramirez has been playing football since he was eight years old and is aspiring to be a firefighter or a personal trainer.  He has a 2.265 GPA which he is continuing to improve daily.  He also would like to play football in college and knows his performance this year will help him reach that goal. 

Ramirez is accomplishing two things so far with his great start to the season.  Number one he is giving his teammates the great season he promised.  The second accomplishment is he is helping put Raymond S. Kellis on the football amp in Arizona.  Kellis has already gotten attention they don't normally get and will continue to do so as long as Ramirez  is running the ball.

Ramirez is nicknamed "The Ram" for his ability to run people over every time he carries the ball.  Ramirez hopes to "Ram" Kellis into the playoffs and make other teams respect him and his teammates.

WEEK 1 IN THE NFC WEST

The NFL season is finally here and week one was as exciting as we had anticipated.  We had many great performances and even a few upsets.  The NFC West was no different.

The Arizona Cardinals hosted the New Orleans Saints and came away with a victory 31-18.  A great rushing attack helped lead the Cardinals to their home opening victory.  Wide Receiver John Brown and rookie running back David Johnson both made an impact.  Brown caught quarterback Carson Palmer’s first touchdown and Johnson caught his last touchdown.  Johnson's catch proved to be the nail in the coffin.  The Cardinals now travel to Chicago to face the Bears in week 2.

The St. Louis Rams also used a good rushing performance to get a victory.  Theirs was a little more sweet because they beat defending NFC Champ and division foe Seattle 34-31 in overtime.  New Ram QB Nick Foles lit up the Cam Chancelor-less Seattle defense for 297 yards and a touchdown.  Seattle now faces starting 0-2 when they play Green Bay on Sunday Night Football.  The Rams play the Redskins.

In what some are saying is an even more shocker than the Rams victory, the San Francisco 49ers beat up on the Minnesota Vikings.  People tuned in to Monday Night Football for the much anticipated return of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.  But it was the Carlos Hyde show that everybody stayed to watch.  He rushed for 168 yards and two scores.  The 49ers now play Steelers in Pittsburgh.

THE HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT STARRING CHASE HULBERT

               CHECKOUT CHASE HULBERT'S HIGHLIGHTS HERE

This week's edition of The High School Highlight takes us to Peoria.  There you Liberty High School coached by Mark Smith.  Smith and his Lion's are becoming a dominant team in Arizona High School football.  One of the team's leaders is senior all state linebacker Chase Hulbert.

Last year Liberty went 14-2 and was the state runner up.  This year the team is off to an 0-3 start, but if you look at who they have played you can understand why.  They have played three of the state's best and held their own against them.

Chase Hulbert is in his final season at the school and is definitely the heart and soul of the defense.  Counting last season and this years first 3 games he has 137 tackles and 9.5 sacks.  Those are stats of someone who will be playing Division I Football next season.  Hulbert refers to himself as a motor because he keeps going and doesn't stop when he is on the field. 

Hulbert, who has been on Varsity since his freshman year, talked about his school's tradition of having pride in their community on and off the field.  That shows with his 3.5 GPA and his commitment to the brotherhood of the sport.

Hulbert has a goal of leading his team to a state tittle and playing college football.  These goals are very reachable for this bright young man.  He already has an offer from Adams State, but has not committed yet. 

Hulbert and the Lion's look to start working towards that goal of a championship tonight when they travel to Gilbert to take on the Perry Pumas.  It will be another tough game with Perry being unbeaten but anytime you have #35 Chase Hulbert leading your defense you have a great shot at winning.

MAYWEATHER SAYS HE IS BEST FIGHTER EVER

Floyd Mayweather looks to continue his unbeaten streak and improve to 49-0 Saturday when he faces Andre Berto.  He is claiming it will be his last fight, but only time will tell how true that is.

Mayweather recently said he was the greatest of all time.  Yes it sounds a lot like Muhammad Ali but the fact is he is right!

Floyd Mayweather is the greatest boxer of all time.  He has yet to be beaten.  When he fights he may not get a knockout ever time but he truly dominates his opponents.  This was evident with wins over some of boxing's greatest fighters.  He has beaten such greats as Canelo Alvarez, Marcos Maidana and Manny Pacquiao to name a few.

Mayweather controls his fights.  He may not be as active as people would like him to be but  uses his experience and his brain to beat his opponents.  When Mayweather faces Andre Berto you will see why he is the best fighter.

MARYVALE GETS FIRST WIN IN FOUR YEARS

It was a nice cool and somewhat wet night on the West side of Phoenix Arizona.  A perfect night for high school football.  A perfect night for a losing streak to come to an end.  Maybe this was the reason all of the Phoenix union High Schools were placed in the same region in division III.  Not so you can have one of the Phoenix teams make the playoffs, but so you can have schools that have been doormats for so long finally compete and have a chance at a victory.

That's what happened last night when the Carl Hayden Falcons hosted the Maryvale Panthers.  The pregame atmosphere was amazing.  The Carl Hayden band and student government had the crowd rocking as they sang and danced to the Carl Hayden fight song.  There was even an appearance by the schools legendary basketball coach, Argie Rhymes. The Falcons coming off a huge win last week were beginning to think win streak.  Dating back to last year they had won two in a row.  That's huge for a team like Carl Hayden.  Excluding Fairfax and Cesar Chavez that's huge for any school in the Phoenix Union.

Maryvale had other plans.  They used a great return on the opening kickoff that started their drive at the Carl Hayden 35 to help them take and early 7-0 lead.  The Falcons couldn't get anything going offensively and the first quarter ended with the Panthers up 14-0.  The second was more of the same and became the theme of the game,  Maryvale dominating between the trenches and taking advantage of Carl Hayden mistakes.

The game was an all around sloppy one but in the end Maryvale heard something that they haven't heard in for years, "You won".  The final score was 52-0 and now Maryvale looks to start a win streak of their own when they go home next week to host the North Mustangs.  The Falcons now travel to South Mountain as they try to get back in to the win column.

THE HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT STARRING SHAVEZ HAWKINS

Shavez Hawkins Highlights 

 

This week the High School, Highlight takes us to the far east valley.  There you will find a high school called Poston Butte.  The football team is coached by the legendary Paul Moro.  Moro and his Poston Butte Broncos are led by quarterback Shavez Hawkins Jr.  He is in his second year under center.

 

The Broncos are coming off a 7-4 season last year and have high hopes for this season.  The season hasn't started the way they would like but they plan to change their 0-2 record starting tonight. 

 

With #2 Shavez Hawkins leading the offense they should be able to get their first win of the season.  Hawkins is a 5'10 165 pound junior who also plays safety.  He has only thrown a limited amount of passes this season but is completing them at 64%.  Hawkins is very impressive in the way he controls his offense.  In the season opener at Tolleson  he looked very impressive and kept plays alive with his feet. 

 

With his style of play and his dreadlocks one of his coaches started calling him SHII.  He is a small reminder of RGIII.  Although he is off to a much better 2015 season then the former Redskins starter. 

 

Hawkins was inspired by his dad, who played college football, to start playing football.  He has a goal of getting a full ride scholarship in either football or wrestling.  Hawkins has the talent and he also has the grades.  He has a 3.9 GPA and works just as hard in the classroom as on the field.

 

As for team goals,  he wants to do whatever it takes to help his team win a state championship.  When he is on the field he it's all about his teammates, or bothers as he calls them.  He is worried about his own stats.  He is worried about helping his team and the coaches get the victory.

 

I was fortunate to watch Hawkins and the rest of the Bronco's in action when they traveled to Tolleson.  Hawkins impressed so much that as I watched from the stands I told my self, "man I have to do a story on this kid."  I will leave you with a quote from him that he got from his dad, and defines the kind of quarterback he is.  "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."    

SUSPENSION LIFTED!

A Federal Court has decided to lift the four game suspension given to Tom Brady for his alleged part in deflate gate.  Brady has claimed he had nothing to do with the incident which occurred in the AFC Championship game.

The judge must have also agreed and now Tom Brady will be able to play next Thursday when New England opens up its season.

Now with all this deflate gate stuff behind him, well maybe not, Tom Brady is now looking for revenge in the form of a Super Bowl repeat.  The Patriots are also a dangerous team with a bulls eye on their back.  Now they are a team that is pissed off and wants to show the world they are not cheaters.  They can do so by winning another Super Bowl.