In 2015 Arete Prep's football team posted an 0-8 record. The following year it discontinued the sport. Not enough bodies to compete - 15 maybe -- in 2A  where it's 11-man football. The Chargers took the year off. In 2017 they fielded a team, but did not compete for a championship instead playing an independent schedule.

Now as the 2018 regular season nears its completion, the Gilbert charter school is on the brink of its first ever playoff berth.*  That has  linebacker-left guard Pierce Garver supercharged. 

"I wasn't going to give up on this even when we didn't have a team my sophomore year," Garver, one of two seniors who has seen the program through for four years, said. "The year we didn't have a team was hard. The first day of practice we lost one player to a broken collarbone and another to a broken hand. Two others quit. We didn't have enough players to make it playing 2A.

"I felt it was my duty to help build the team even after my freshman year. A trainer here told Brennan (Weir) and I were the building blocks of the program, even if we never saw a reward at the end."

Arete head coach Cord Smith, in his second year guiding the Chargers, is as excited as his players about the present.

"I remember last year toward the end of the season and we were up at Rock Point (2A)," Smith said. "One of our players was injured, not seriously, but I told our team to take a knee. I looked around and there were only three players behind me. The others were on the field plus our sub."

With a new two-year block commencing this fall and Arete aligned in 1A the Chargers are back. They have 19 players Arete is 4-2. Its two losses are to East Region foes Superior and Hayden, currently two of the top six teams via power-ranking. Arete at present is No. 8.

"We had a few kids stick with us even when the school didn't playa  game two years ago," Smith said. "The year not playing was tough, but the right call.  We were going to be in 2A and we didn't have the numbers. We couldn't get back in the next year in the middle of the two-year block so we cobbled together a schedule. We played three eight-man games and then five 11-man games. We won (first) two, and got our feet wet. We ended up 2-6."

What's important above all is the Chargers are playing again.

"Pierce and Brennan have been with us all the way," Smith said. "They experienced no wins as freshmen in 2015 and had no games the next. They are two of our top players and leaders."

Weir is one of four captains and has put together a nice season to go out on. He claims he was the smallest player on the 2015 team at 5-fot-8, 129 pounds. He's now 6-2, 200.

"We have a great group of guys," Weir said. "Our freshman quarterback is really good, and we've scored a lot of points."

Weir Is Arete's leading receiver with 36 catches for 564 yards and five touchdowns. He's also in the top three in tackles and the sackmaster with 7.5. Garver leads the Chargers in tackles with 48 and longs for that infrequent chance to run the ball. He's especially proud of his current average per carry of  26.4 yards on four rushes.

Another senior, in his second season, is running back Ben White. White is the all-purpose yardage leader this season-- 582 yards rushing, 9 TDs plus 15 receptions for 336 yards and five more scores. Helping ignite Arete's resurgence is freshman quarterback Matthew McClelland. McClelland, all 5-foot,-8 and 140 pounds of him, has thrown for 1,443 yards and 16 TDs. Smith says he has a good arm, makes quick reads and quick throws when he's at his best. 

Arete graduated its kicker - female kicker Skylar Nicholas. She handled kickoffs and placekicking in 2015 and 2017.  Smith took to the school intercom once practice began this year asking if anyone was interested in trying out for kicker after he found that skill was missing with the current group. 

Smith got a response. Frank Kalogirou,  a senior who had never been a kicker, but was a defender on the soccer team. Kalogirou has held his own. He handles all the kicking needs -- kickoffs, punts and extra points/field goals. He's connected on 19 of 23 XP and is 2 for 2 on field goals. Kalogirou got out so late than his first day eligible for contact was the day of the season opener at El Capitan. If only building a team were so easy.

Arete Prep has two games left - hosting Phoenix Day School for the Deaf on Friday and on the road at South Region leader and once-beaten Fort Thomas to close the season. Should Arete maintain or inch up in the rankings over the final two games the Chargers will host a playoff game.

It's really exciting now," White said. "The thought of making the playoffs and playing a game at home is pushing me. I want that home playoff game."

* - The school qualified for the 1A (D-VI) playoffs in 2012 and 2013 when it competed as Mesa Prep. The school moved and changed its name to Arete Prep in 2014.