TUCSON, Arizona — Four years ago, the football field at Palo Verde High School in Tucson, Arizona, was barely marked, with no lines painted. The program was forced to cancel a season due to a lack of senior players.
When Coach Jamal Chatman took the helm, he faced a daunting task: rebuilding a team that hadn’t seen a winning season since 2009. “I’m a coach that says if you give me four years, by that fourth year we should be winning,” Chatman declared.
To turn things around, Chatman had to recruit players who were skeptical of the team’s reputation. “Going out and asking them, ‘Hey, do you want to come out and play football?’ And the first thing they say is, ‘You all are sorry. You don’t win games,’” he recalled.
But Chatman’s mission extended beyond the scoreboard. “My job is not just to win games. My job is to develop these students and help them find themselves and build character,” he said.
Slowly but surely, the Titans began to transform. A move to Class 2A provided a more competitive landscape, and standout players like Kamaiu Ortiz, quarterback Jackson Tyson, and running back Cameron Pippen stepped up.
Last week, Palo Verde clinched a 21-16 victory over Bisbee, securing a 6-3 record—their first winning season in 16 years.“The way I started, we started off not so well. To watch the outcome and progress we’ve made the last few years is just amazing,” said quarterback Jackson Tyson.Now, with the Class 2A flex schedule, Palo Verde hosts Benson this Friday night in what could be the program’s most significant game in years. A win could propel the Titans into the postseason by earning enough power points.
Despite being underdogs against the higher-ranked Benson, Chatman sees it as a chance to seize the moment. “It’s another opportunity. Don’t ever let another opportunity pass. If you sit there and watch the bus pass, you don’t know where you’ll ever get to,” he said.
Win or lose, the Titans have already rewritten their story. “I believe in the young players, they believed in myself and the staff, and look at where we are now,” Chatman said.
For the team representing Tucson’s 85710 zip code, the field on 22nd Street is once again a place of pride and victory.
