Desert Sunrise JV football to debut at cross-town foe

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The Desert Sunrise High School junior varsity football team will open its inaugural season at cross-town opponent Sequoia Pathway on Sept. 1.

And the regular season will close with an intra-Maricopa Unified School District game with Maricopa High School on Nov. 9 at Ram Stadium.

Desert Sunrise, the city’s second high school, will open in July on the east side of Maricopa. The $41 million school will open with freshman and sophomore classes, which is why the football program is limited to junior varsity for now. Junior and senior classes will be added in 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively.

The Golden Hawks are one of six teams that will play in the 4A – East Sky region. The team expects to play home games at the new school at North Murphy and West Farrell roads. Home games will include Greenway, River Valley and Eastmark.

Jonathan Clark is head coach of the program. He is returning to Maricopa after four seasons as head coach at River Valley High School in Mohave Valley, on the Arizona-California border.

Spring practices have already started and will continue throughout the summer.

Here is the team’s 2022 season schedule:

Sept. 1 @Sequoia Pathway
Sept. 7 Bye
Sept. 14 @Ben Franklin
Sept. 21 @Glendale
Sept. 28 @Payson
Oct. 5 Greenway
Oct. 12 @J.O. Combs
Oct. 19 River Valley
Oct. 26 Eastmark
Nov. 2 Bye
Nov. 9 @Maricopa (Ram Stadium)