46 SEPTEMBER 2017 ARCAD A NEWS By Nick Smith s it has done for many Augusts before, the Arcadia Titans football team assembles in late afternoons for practice. A scattering of visitors and parents watches the familiar scene from the stands as players run through drills, enduring the same heat in the same uniforms on the same practice field as in seasons past But then the players put on their helmets and head onto the field. Within seconds, nothing looks familiar at all and it becomes clear that this is a very different Titans team than in years past. The offense lines up wide, with four to five receivers on almost every play. The quarterback takes the snap and completes a perfect pass within three seconds. Before the receiver can even get up after the tackle, his teammates are already running toward the line of scrimmage, preparing for the next play. If you checked your phone for 10 seconds during this kind of offensive series, you’re liable to miss an entire play. Running toward the line of scrimmage with the players to start each new play is a 41-year-old coach, hat pulled tightly over his head, shouting encouragement. This is the new Arcadia High School football coach, Tony Stillings, and he’s the man responsible for the high-flying offense that is sure to provide fireworks this fall. “The pace is definitely the biggest difference,” said Stillings, who spent seven seasons as the head coach at Ironwood before coming to Arcadia. “That’s probably the biggest adjustment in terms of style. But the more the kids get used to the offense, they see the big play potential. We have a lot of untapped resources on this team that will benefit from this offense.” Friday nights during the previous five seasons at Arcadia saw a run-heavy Wing-T offense under former coach Lenny Abt. There were successes during Abt’s tenure, like the eight-win playoff season in 2015 and running back Ryan Alexandre rushing for more than 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. But that was during a 2-8 campaign, which saw a dwindling number of kids come out for the team. During the offseason, Arcadia decided to make a change. “What appealed to me most was the community,” said Stillings, who took over A NEW STRATEGY New football coach brings high-flying offense to Arcadia Christ Lutheran School Preschool - Grade 8 • www.clsphx.org LC-MS 3901 E. Indian School Rd., Phoenix | www.cclphoenix.org | (602) 955-4830 LOVE GROW SERVE Worship Sunday 8:00am & 10:45am – Traditional* | Sunday 8:30am & 10:30am – Contemporary* Sunday School/Bible Classes – 9:40am* | Sunday 12:30pm – Spanish Sunday 5pm – Sunday Night Devotions 3rd-4th Grade Youth Group – Sunday 3:30 – 5:30pm 5th-6th Grade Youth Group – Sunday 5:00 – 7:00pm Wednesday 7:00pm – Traditional | Saturday 5:00pm – Contemporary *Nursery Care is available at all Sunday AM services & SPORTS COLLECTOR CAR CENTER Servicing Your Car Is Not Our Job, It’s Our Passion • F actory Trained Technicians Using St ate of the Art Equipment • F amil y Owned & Serving The East V alley Since 1973 • Shuttle Service, Pick Up & Delivery A v ailable at no extra cost 480.968.5000 | www.sccarcenter.com • Jaguar & Range Rover Experts • Honor Most Extended W arranties • All Service Guaranteed/ Parts & Labor * All required factory maintenance Services S E R V I C E

47 SEPTEMBER 2017 Arc A d A News the head coaching position at Arcadia in the early weeks of this year. “There’s a small- town community feel in the Arcadia area, but with big school numbers.” Stillings described the first months of his new job as a giant assessment process. He would spend time in the weight room with his players, developing relationships and getting to know everyone. Then there were meetings with the athletic director, boosters, staff and parents, all with the goal of assessing what the program needed to get it on the right track for success. The first test for the new coaching staff came in July, when the Titans left for football camp to start the season. The players who attended were coming off a losing season, playing under a new coach and trying to grasp a new offense. It’s fair to say that no one was quite sure how everything would go. But by the end of the week, Stillings was calling it the best camp he’s ever coached. “At camp, you’re running up hills in the morning, practicing twice a day, running 7-on-7s at night,” Stillings said. “By day two or three, you’re sore, and usually you have kids dropping out. We didn’t have a single kid asking to sit out the entire time. They picked up stuff from the offense really well and everyone was just ready to play.” Another positive from the camp for Stillings took place when the team captains were chosen. Stillings makes his players nominate captains by writing down names and reasons for their choices. “They had some of the most intelligent reasons for their captain votes that I’ve ever seen from a team,” Stillings said. “No one was writing, ‘I’m voting for him because he’s my buddy.’ Instead, we got ‘I’m voting for so and so because he pulled me aside and helped me learn my position.’ Very well thought-out and you can just tell that the captains are respected by their teammates.” The four captains are among the Titan standouts to watch for the coming season. Captain Marq Wilkerson will be one of the main beneficiaries of the new offensive system as a running back and receiver. Captain Mitch Arndt is a two-way player who ran the hills with such robotic determination at camp that he was nicknamed “The Terminator.” The offensive line will be led by Captain T.J. Feulner, who will be helping protect the fourth captain, third-year starting quarterback Luke Ashworth. “He’s a guy who is very coachable,” Stillings said when talking about his quarterback. “This offense is completely different than what he’s run in the past, and he’s embraced it. To have someone that smart under center while dealing with all this change has been super helpful.” The team aims to rebound from last year and get back to the state playoffs this season. But for Stillings and the rest of the Arcadia football community, the upcoming year is the first step to rebooting a program that most feel has the potential to achieve much more than it has in the past. “It’s about starting that march back to where this place should be,” Stillings said. “Whether we measure that in wins and losses or in the number of bodies that come out next year. The main goal is to get a positive vibe about the program, on campus, among the kids. We want people to want to be a part of this. This is not going to be a great football program overnight, but it has the potential to get there if we do the work together.” The Titans new offense, led by Tony Stillings, includes multiple wide receivers and lightning-fast plays. PHOTOS BY GABE TURNER/ARCADIA NEWS Our programs are internationally-recognized - stop in and find out why! Heated indoor pool & small class sizes FREE BABY SPLASH ages 8 wks - 5 mos LITTLE SNAPPERS ages 6 - 35 mos GROUP LESSONS ages 3 - 12 yrs Our Riverview location is just 15 minutes from Arcadia HUBBARDSWIM.COM · 602.971.4044 SPLASH, PLAY & LEARN! Redefining Swim Lessons since 1998