2026 High School Football

Catalina coach Keith Edwards embodies what his team is about: fortitude when counted out

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FINAL SCORE

Catalina 28, Santa Rita 20

PHOTO GALLERY BY GILBERT ALCARAZ

STORYLINE

Catalina suited up only 17 eligible players to compete against Santa Rita under a coach — Keith Edwards — who is in his fifth year in the program and served under three different coaches in the last three years: Greg McKinstry II in 2023, Andy Fetsis in 2024 and Virgil Henderson last season.

Edwards was finally given the keys to the car this season, and his first ride as head coach Friday night at Catalina was joyous at first but became nerve-wracking in the fourth quarter when the strapped Trojans were running out of gas.

“Hey, we’ve got to get some conditioning in,” said Edwards, whose team led 28-6 early in the fourth quarter. “It was good that they fought it out, but hydration and more conditioning for us.”

Edwards has discussed the previous coaches and their impact on his players when interviewed. He has credited McKinstry for instilling hard work, Fetsis for organization and Henderson for bringing toughness.

“It’s a process,” Edwards said of how his fortitude of finally being the head coach has rubbed off on his players. “I showed them, ‘Hey, people might doubt you, just keep grinding and having that belief.’ I believed in these guys the first day I got here as an assistant coach.

“I kept believing, kept believing. Eventually, they said, ‘You’re the only one who believes, let’s put you out there and give you a shot.'”

Catalina junior Nate Gastellum had two interceptions deep in Trojan territory and caught two passes for 163 yards with a touchdown in the Trojans’ 28-20 win over visiting Santa Rita (Gilbert Alcaraz/AllSportsTucson.com)

PLAYERS RALLY AROUND EDWARDS

Two of Catalina’s standouts — junior athlete Nate Gastellum and senior quarterback/safety Caden Ozmet — each speak of Edwards in glowing terms having grown along with Edwards with Edwards being one of the lone constants of the struggling program.

Catalina has not had a winning season since 2007, when the Trojans finished 6-4 under Shawn Wasson. The program’s record in the 18 seasons since: 38-128.

Henderson and Edwards won their first game as head coach the last two seasons. The previous Catalina coach to do that was former Arizona and NFL linebacker John Kaiser in 1992. The Trojans have had 10 coaches after Kaiser.

“Coach Edwards, man he’s the best coach I could ever ask for,” Gastellum said. “He believes in me when no other coach did. So I thank him a lot.”

After one play when Catalina’s Zyaire Nash emerged from a scrum with his helmet off, Edwards pulled Nash aside and talked to him that he needed to keep his cool because of the Trojans’ lack of players. The dearth of players at programs such as Catalina is a constant struggle. Catalina’s coaches have to actively recruit for players at the school who have rarely if ever played tackle football before.

Edwards told Nash he could not afford losing players and put the game in jeopardy with a forfeit. He made Nash feel his value and Nash ended the conversation with, “Yes sir.” Not one swear word from Edwards. No demeaning words. Coaching 101 of handling a player under stress. A video should have been made of that conversation.

“Coach Edwards is a great coach,” Ozmet said. “He hasn’t been the head coach for this whole time, but he’s been here since before I was a freshman. I’ve always loved the guy. He’s always been there for us. He likes to know all of us.

“He’s a great coach. I love that guy. … Four different coaches (in his career at Catalina), and he’s my favorite coach.”

BIGGEST PLAYS

— Ozmet’s two rushing touchdowns, an 84-yard touchdown catch-and-run pass to Gastellum and a 12-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Rogers perfectly placed at the back of the end zone highlighted Ozmet’s impeccable play. He completed 6 of 9 pass attempts for 206 yards and accounted for all four of the Trojans’ touchdowns.

The scoring strike to Rogers put Catalina ahead 28-6 with 8:29 remaining.

The touchdown was set up by Ozmet’s interception as a safety and 40-yard return to the Santa Rita 35-yard line. Three plays later, Ozmet connected with Rogers for the score.

“Honestly, I was expecting to do great, but I wasn’t expecting two (rushing) touchdowns,” Ozmet said. “I was hoping for one and that pick, that was out of nowhere. I was just explosive, doing what I do, doing my job. I was just excited to play this first game.”

— In addition to his 84-yard touchdown reception in which he broke tackles and outran Santa Rita’s secondary, Gastellum hauled in a 79-yard catch before he was tackled at the Eagle 1. After a false start penalty, Ozmet scored on a 6-yard run with 9:23 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 20-0.

Gastellum also had two interceptions, both deep in Catalina territory, at the 9-yard line and 23, in the first half.

Gastellum was in tears after the game, overcome by emotion, from the hard-fought win.

“I feel a lot of emotions right now, I can’t even explain,” he said. “I just thank my players back there (pointing behind him) and my coaches for helping me out and believing in myself.”

— Santa Rita, which is on a 25-game losing streak dating to 2021, showed a lot more fight and endurance under star alum Cam Gaddis, who made his head coaching debut.

The Eagles rallied from the 28-6 deficit in the fourth quarter on Omar Wright II’s 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 8:14 remaining and Daniel Vindiola’s end-around 13-yard score with 3:54 left.

Wright will be one of the top players in Southern Arizona this season no matter the classification. He had six catches for 85 yards and felt like a threat every time the ball was in his hands.

Alejandro Astorga then had an interception that gave Santa Rita the ball at the Catalina 38 with 3:24 left.

The Trojans’ defense held firm, forcing a fourth-and-16 situation from the Catalina 25. A personal foul against the Trojans gave Santa Rita the ball at the 10, making it fourth-and-1 with 1:45 left.

UNSUNG HERO

Catalina senior linebacker Dylan McCoskey stuffed Santa Rita’s attempt up the middle short of the first down at the 10. The Trojans then went into Victory Formation and ran out the clock.

McCoskey also bulldozed his way to two 2-point conversion runs.

McCoskey spearheaded a defense that limited Santa Rita to 7 yards on the ground on 15 attempts. Catalina, with three significant interceptions by Gastellum and Ozmet, held the Eagles to 132 yards in total offense.

PENALTY OVERLOAD

A total of 27 penalties were called in the game — 19 on Catalina for 155 yards and eight on Santa Rita for 60 yards. The Trojans’ defensive effort, including the three takeaways, made up for the excessive penalties (indicative of the Trojans becoming increasingly fatigued mentally and physically because of their lack of numbers).

“It’s tiring; that 12 minutes (in the fourth quarter) took a long time,” Ozmet said. “I was praying and hoping they don’t score. I did my best. Thank God we got there.

“I thought it was their ball still (with a first down) because it was an unsportsmanlike penalty (that gave Santa Rita the ball at the Catalina 10). I was a little nervous, I’m not going to lie. We turned it around and we won the game.”

NEXT FRIDAY

Catalina hosts ALA-Sierra Vista, which won its first AIA game Friday, a 48-0 win over Scottsdale Coronado at home.

Santa Rita hosts Miami in Gaddis’ first appearance at his alma mater since leading the Eagles to the 2009 state championship game under Jeff Scurran. Miami is coming off a 40-6 loss at Tombstone on Friday.

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