By Adnan Alam and Tre Heard
TEMPE – Winning football games hasn’t always been the problem at Corona del Sol. Winning them consistently has.
The Aztecs have experienced flashes of success over the past decade, but those occasional winning seasons have been surrounded by more losing records and coaching changes. Four coaches have led the program during that span, and Corona entered 2026 having posted just two winning seasons over the previous 10 years.
The Aztecs went 8-1 under coach Jon Becktold during the 2020-21 season, only to fall to 5-5 the following year. Jake Barro took over and led Corona del Sol to an 8-3 record in 2022-23, but that success was short-lived, too. The Aztecs went 3-8 the next season and 2-8 the following year.
Two winning seasons. Two quick regressions.
For junior running back Cortez Young, the challenge of building something different starts with the mindset behind it.
“Staying strong mentally and just always keeping your head up,” Young said.
Corona del Sol is back in bounce-back mode, a trend the Aztecs hope to continue Friday when they play 1-7 Casteel.
The Aztecs are off to a 6-2 start in coach Eric Lauer’s second season, a sharp turnaround from his 3-7 debut a year ago. But for Lauer, building a program capable of sustaining that success matters more than producing one winning season.
The current record comes with context. Corona del Sol’s six wins have all come against teams that currently hold losing records, while its two losses have come against a team with a winning record and another sitting at 4-4.
The results don’t erase the Aztecs’ improvement from three wins a year ago, but they leave another question for the final stretch: Can Corona del Sol’s turnaround translate against stronger competition? The Aztecs think so.
“We just got more guys that are locked into the process,” Lauer said. “Year one, it’s kind of hard for the seniors that have been there to totally make that turn. Good kids, but it’s just different and that change doesn’t happen as fast.
“So now year two, you got things implemented, guys are in rhythm and understanding expectations, which speeds that whole process up.”
Changing those expectations was among Lauer’s first priorities when he took over a program coming off consecutive losing seasons.
He wanted the Aztecs to become more intentional about everything they did. He established what he calls a “fast, physical” mentality on the field and built the program around four core values: trust, accountability, leadership and love.
The weight room became another pillar.
“Our confidence is built from a lot of the things we do in the weight room,” Lauer said. “So it’s not a suggestion. We’ve got to do it.”
Senior quarterback Luke Farrell has seen that mentality spread through the program.
“I think he kind of just changed everyone’s attitudes,” Farrell said. “We have to lift. It starts there. We have to go hard in practice, and have to take every rep seriously.”
Few players better illustrate Corona del Sol’s transformation under Lauer than Farrell.
Last season, Farrell completed 174 of 317 passes (54.9 completion percentage) for 2,020 yards, throwing 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Through eight games this season, he has completed 87 of 147 passes (59.1%) for 1,371 yards with 18 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He has also carried the ball 60 times for 313 yards and eight TDs.
Lauer attributes the change to growth that extends beyond Farrell’s ability to throw a football.
“Him just maturing as a football player and as a human being, knowing mistakes that he made last year and being willing to correct those things,” Lauer said. “He’s done a complete 180 in that regard. He’s definitely got over the hump and been our greatest asset this year.”
Farrell sees it similarly.
“I had to grow up in a lot of ways,” Farrell said. “I think that’s helped me realize that I have to take everything seriously, especially when it comes to football because that’s my passion. It’s what I want to do.”
Farrell said maturity and confidence have been the biggest changes in his game – confidence to make throws, remain in the pocket knowing a hit is coming and use his legs when necessary.
But Farrell’s value to Corona extends beyond his production.
With his final high school season nearing its conclusion, the senior understands that helping the Aztecs become a sustainable program means his influence must remain after he leaves.
“I think about it every day,” Farrell said. “I want to leave my mark in a positive way.”
For Farrell, leaving that mark has meant following Lauer’s lead and becoming what he describes as another coach on the field – correcting mistakes, making sure teammates know their assignments and holding others to the expectations that have helped reshape him.
It has also meant preparing the player who could eventually replace him.
Farrell regularly talks with junior backup quarterback Evan Dunn, passing along lessons he learned after getting a similar opportunity to observe the varsity quarterback as a freshman before playing varsity as a sophomore.
“I’m talking to him every day, so he’s going to learn from me, whether I’m talking about football or just regular stuff,” Farrell said. “I’ve seen a lot and I feel like him just watching me helps him out a lot too.”
That passing of responsibility from one class to another sits at the center of what Lauer is trying to build.
Corona del Sol will lose more than 30 seniors after this season. Lauer, however, said another group of roughly 30 players is coming right behind them, providing an opportunity to test whether the program’s improvement can survive the departure of one of its most important classes.
Lauer wants the results of 2026 to change how players in the area view Corona del Sol football.
“Hopefully, we’re creating a football environment here at Corona del Sol where instead of, ‘Why would you go to Corona to play football?’ It’d be, ‘Oh, they’re doing well and they’re on the rise. That makes sense,’” Lauer said. “We want to continue to be on the rise and be a destination for kids in our area.”
Young will be among those responsible for keeping that rise going.
Young has already taken a step forward this season. After rushing 81 times for 329 yards and two touchdowns last year, he has 428 yards and six touchdowns on just 77 carries so far this season.
“I taught myself just to not get tackled on the first contact and just stay up on my feet and always keep running hard,” Young said.
But Young’s value to Corona del Sol’s future could extend beyond his carries after this season. Young is one of the players Farrell expects to inherit the responsibility of leading the program.
“Cortez is only a junior, but he’s still a leader and a captain on this team,” Farrell said. “So I know they’ll be in good hands with him next year.”
Young understand what will be expected of him.
“I look at myself as one of the main leaders next year,” Young said. “I take most of it on me and I just understand that the team’s going to depend on me.”
There are other reasons for optimism. Farrell said all but one of the Aztecs’ starting offensive linemen are expected to return next season, along with players such as Young and a potential successor at quarterback.
Personnel, however, is only part of Lauer’s plan.
If Corona del Sol is going to avoid repeating its recent history, the standards established with this year’s senior class have to reach players returning for next season, including those who had little to do with the 6-2 start.
According to Young, that process has already begun.
“He’s treating us the same way he treats them,” Young said. “There’s no difference, so if he goes hard on them, he’s going to go hard on us, too.”
Young said Lauer approaches his players as though they have already reached the level many of them hope to play at someday.
“He treats us like we’re already at the next level, so we don’t get surprised when we get there,” Young said.
That consistency could prove important for a program that has struggled to find much of it.
Corona del Sol has won before. The challenge is making sure winning no longer represents a temporary departure from the norm.
Eight games cannot answer whether Lauer has accomplished that. Neither can one winning season.
But as the Aztecs continue through 2026 with two regular season games remaining, Lauer sees a program beginning to separate from what it has been to what it can become.
The biggest obstacle remaining, he said, is believing it.
“We did lose, but we’re not losers,” Lauer said. “And now we’ve changed things. I’m not what I was yesterday. My past isn’t what my future holds by no means.”
Be the first to comment