It was a happy homecoming for Tucson native Jake Rogers as the Chandler Basha quarterback threw for four touchdowns on Friday night.
No. 4 Basha beat No. 19 Salpointe 35-0 in Jake Rogers’ return to his first high school.
“It’s definitely a surreal feeling playing on this side of the field, growing up on that side for really the first 15 years of my life and so I mean it’s really surreal feeling, it’s great to get a nice win, cool to play against some of my guys that I’ve been playing with for years,” Jake Rogers said.
Jake Rogers threw for touchdowns of 65, 69, seven and nine yards, though the 69-yard score was a screen pass.
Jake Rogers went to Salpointe as a freshman, where his dad Eric Rogers was the Lancers’ head football coach before they moved north.
The elder Rogers said his son’s development in high school has been unbelievable.
“The program, just the resources that they pour into the entire Chandler school district is quite amazing with what they’re doing for kids and how they’re wanting to promote the athletics, what they want to do to support the kids and let them grow and develop,” Eric Rogers said. “I mean, with our nutrition, with our weight room, all of it matters, you know what I mean? And so for him, he’s continued to grow, he’s gotten bigger, stronger, faster every single year and that’s just a tribute to the way that they organize and the way they structure everything.
“I miss it, no question about being here and I know he misses it and we got nothing but love for Salpointe and everything that they stand for, everything that they’ve done, but it’s been a blessing for us in the move and going up there and preparing him now and whether that’s Princeton, I think it’s a great setup for him.”
Chandler Unified School District features five prominent 6A football schools like No. 2 Chandler and No. 3 Chandler Hamilton and 5A No. 10 Chandler Arizona College Preparatory.
After the game, Jake Rogers moved around to greet scores of Salpointe players for handshakes and photo ops.
“It was definitely fun, playing against them competing against them and now that the final whistle is over we’re brothers again,” Jake Rogers said, “those are definitely family.”
It’s been a wild past year, he took the reins as Basha quarterback, led them to the open state championship last year and then committed to Princeton over the summer.
Going into the Salpointe game, Jake Rogers had passed for 1,409 yards this year and 12 touchdowns.
“It’s been a really exciting and fun last 12 months,” Jake Rogers said, “getting to come in last year and play those last five games and got an open state championship and then kind of start my recruiting process a little bit later than others, but just trusting trusting God’s plan for me and then committing to Princeton and now just the senior year, just looking to keep on stacking days, going one week at a time to get back to the state championship game.”
Jake Rogers played for the Arizona Jets 15U that won the Showdown Series championship in Los Angeles and the Tucson Jaguars 14U team in 2021 that made it to the national tournament in Orlando, Fla. He kept a diary of the Orlando trip for All Sports Tucson.
Eric Rogers essentially succeeded Dennis Bene, leading the Lancers as they transitioned to 5A and then 6A. Eric Rogers went 35-12 as Salpointe’s head coach, reaching the 2020 open semifinals, the 2021 5A state championship game and the 2023 6A semifinals.
He said his son plays the game the right way.
“As a dad and as a coach — I mean you got to try to separate the two a little bit — but couldn’t be more proud of him, he takes a lot after his mother, let’s put it that way,” Eric Rogers said. “He’s just even keeled, great teammate, all the guys love him, he plays hard, he’s a competitor. It’s just fun to watch that as a football player, as a coach, as a dad, like that’s all that’s all you want, you just want your son to go out there and have fun and be a great teammate and trust the process.”
Eric Rogers also went to school in the northeast, serving as captain for UConn after graduating from Canyon del Oro. Nowadays he is Basha’s JV head coach and recruiting coordinator.
“I don’t know if you can pick a better school, you know what I mean, like number one university in the country, just the coaching staff, the love that they poured into him, they were his first offer, he’s very loyal that way and I think it was just special,” Eric Rogers said. “There’s no question about it and the school’s unbelievable.”
Basha (7-1, 3-0 6A Southern) opened the season with a 37-26 win over Chandler on ESPN but dropped their next two on the road at Orange (Calif.) Lutheran and Phoenix Pinnacle. The Bears have won six games in a row though.
“We had a nice first game win and then we had a little rough two games, rough little patch but we got through it,” Jake Rogers said. “Now we’re stacking games, stacking days, just getting better every single day in the classroom, in the weight room, on the field, and just continuing to get better every single day.”
Salpointe (3-6, 0-3 6A Southern) closes out the regular season at No. 20 Mesa Westwood (4-5, 0-3 6A Southern) on Friday in what could be a 6A tournament play-in game. The top 20 teams in 6A make it to the postseason.
SHORT READS
— Former UA star Lance Briggs serves as Basha’s linebackers coach.
— Basha features seven players that are UA targets, including junior receiver Makai Nelson, who caught the Bears’ fifth touchdown.
— Salpointe inducted their 2026 hall of fame class on Friday before the game and honored them at halftime. The inductees were 2011 boys tennis, 2012 boys soccer, 2013 boys soccer, 2017 dance, 2017 cheer, Bene (’84 football), Rich Tomey (’89 baseball), Douglas Rappaport (’04 soccer), Analisa Marquez (’06 soccer), Dan Slania (’10 baseball, basketball, lacrosse), Andrew Trouard (’13 track and field, cross country, swimming), Michaela Crunkleton Wilson (’14 track and field), Chandi McCright ’15 (dance) and Phil Gruensfelder (Director of Athletics and softball).
— Friday’s game was Salpointe’s Games for the Greater Good contest, where they promoted teen suicide awareness. The Lancers wore stickers on their helmet with the teen suicide hotline number, 988 (call or text), and the coaches, support staff and players who weren’t suited up wore ribbons.
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