PHOENIX — A small Phoenix school is celebrating a huge win! Maryvale Preparatory Academy recently won the CAA State Football Championship.
Friday, the players and coaches celebrated by taking a victory lap around the school while all their classmates cheered them on.
Senior, Steven Duke played both offensive and defensive line, and was beaming with pride during the walking parade.
"I'm amazed and happy that this is the way I get to go out! This is my senior year! I've only played football for two years," Duke said.
The state title is a huge accomplishment, given the fact that the school didn't even have a tackle football team three years ago, they were playing flag football. But as soon as coach Thomas Barringer got the ok to put on the pads, the team took off! They made it all the way to the championship game in year one, falling just short to rival Skyline Prep. Maryvale returned the favor this year, beating Skyline in the state championship game on a nail-biting last second field goal, winning 15 to 14.
"That last field goal, it took me a second to process it," Duke said. "I wasn't even 100% aware if it went in!"
"It's truly a dream come true," said Coach Barringer. "A movie-type ending for these seniors to go from, three years ago, a 2-14 flag football team, to a 10-1 state championship team," said Coach Barringer.
Maryvale Prep has 1,040 students, K-12, the only low-income, Title 1 school in the network. They opened in Phoenix back in 2012 and celebrated its first graduating class last year, with a 100% graduation rate. Maryvale student-athletes demonstrate a strong work ethic both off and on the field.
"They put in the work," Coach Barringer said. "It's really just been a revelation of the work and time they put in over the spring, over the summer, through camp, and throughout the whole season."
"I'm so grateful for my coaches and my teammates and my parents and clearly all the fans here," Duke said.
"It's been an honor, and a pleasure. I started out here with just a bunch of strangers and I came out with a bunch of brothers at the end of the day. So, I'm happy and I'm very proud of them," Duke added.
And the team was handsomely rewarded for bringing home the state title, as the school sprung huge championship rings for players, coaches and staff.
"And I wouldn't trade it for the world," Duke said.
