Arizona Lutheran Season Preview

Champions aren’t made overnight, but the Arizona Lutheran Coyotes might just have the recipe to compete for the 2A championship this season.

Last season, the Coyotes had a record of 8-4. They lost to a talented Tonopah Valley team in the regular season, then eventually in the playoffs too. There is much from last season to build off of though, including a win over a 9-2 Phoenix Christian team in which they won 42-12. They had 11 seniors last season that won’t be back for this season, but will have roughly 60 percent of the roster returning this season.

Arizona Lutheran has become one of the premier teams in the 2A division for Arizona high school football. They have a combination of young and veteran talent on the roster for the 2025 season, along with head coach Dave Peter, who is now going into his eleventh season with the program. The Coyotes are coming off back-to-back winning seasons, and in the last eight seasons, they have had seven winning seasons. 

The Coyotes want to always compete for the 2A championship, and that starts with the little things. Peter believes that every single day on the field counts for his team to be the best version of themselves. 

“They've got to be valuing their time that we have on the practice field and just working to be learning and students of the game,” Peter said in reference to his team.“If we can continue to get better every single day, we believe it would be a challenge for a lot of teams.”

One of the players who has been a student of the game is senior defensive tackle and fullback Liam Enter. Enter has been a varsity player all four years with the Coyotes and is one of the leaders on the team. 

Heading into his senior season, Enter is looking for another career season after coming off an 11.5 sack season during his junior year. Along with a great season, he also wants to show the new players what mentality to have, not just on the field, but off the field. 

“We love to hit, we're tough, and we've got a good mentality,” Enter said. “We just need to share that with all the new guys and then boom, go forward.” 

Another on-field leader the Coyotes have is senior running back and middle linebacker, Sebi Guye. Guye, just like Enter, is coming into his fourth season on varsity for Arizona Lutheran. He is coming off of his most productive year, as in the 2024 season, he had over 600 rushing yards, five touchdowns and 49 total tackles. 

With players like Guye and Enter stepping up as seniors this season, they understand the importance to not be stagnant. The leaders of the team bring a culture to the program that helps everyone to improve and be better each week. The Coyotes know every day counts to get better.

“We've got a lot of work to do, and that's what we strive to do now as the season goes on,” Guye said. “We just [have] to strive to be better, keep each other hungry, and get better.”

How determined the players and coaches are, it seems like they may be able to have a different outcome this year. They have the talent, work ethic, and coaching to make some noise in the 2A conference.

Arizona Lutheran will open up its season on August 22nd when they travel to Chino Valley to take on the Cougars. Peter has a main message to his team before they kick off their 2025 season. 

“We've just got to focus on all the different areas of the field, and that includes our practice,” Peter said. “If we can have a good next few days of focused practice, we'll be going into the season, and it'll be fun no matter what. Whether you win or lose, we're going to have fun.”