Editorβs note: The Star is counting down the 22 best high school football players in Southern Arizona, in no particular order.
Name: Chase Randall
The rundown: Randall is a 6-foot-2-inch, 255-pound senior at Canyon del Oro High School.
Who he is: There are two versions of CDOβs defensive end.
On the field, βhe just goes and heβs aggressive and physical,β coach Dustin Peace said.
βBut on the flip side, heβs one of the nicest kids,β Peace said. βCoaching those types of kids are unbelievable, because you know heβs nice and genuine at heart and cares.β
Away from football, itβs hard to spot Randall without a smile on his face. The moment he laces up the cleats and steps on the field, βthereβs this switch and I turn into an animal on the field, and I canβt really say where it comes from.β
βI just love football and competing β¦ Iβm a different animal, but I try to be the nicest person I can be off the field,β Randall said.
Peace described Randall as a βsic βem guy,β a similar role to New York Giants linebacker Blake Martinez, a former CDO star.
βI used to do this with Blake Martinez where Iβd be like, βBlake, that guard is a little underweight, run right through him.β Chase is the same way. We tell him, βHey, that guy is a little bit of a weak spotβ β or even if heβs a strong spot, weβll flip it the other way and say, βHey, this tackle thinks heβs good; Chase, you better turn it on.β And boom, weβll unleash him.Β
βHeβs one of those football players from 20 years ago thatβll just run through a wall.β
As a junior, Randall recorded 30 tackles in six games β including five stops for loss. After an offseason dedicated to packing on muscle to his 6-2 frame and working on footwork, Randall could be the top defensive lineman in Tucson. But the numbers on a stat sheet or his performance on a highlight film is the least of his worries.
βI want to be remembered as a nice guy,β he said.
βObviously, thereβs football and I want to be remembered as Chase Randall, the football player, but I also want to be remembered as a nice guy and hard-working guy thatβs never missed a single practice, never been late, shows up day in and day out and busts his butt for the program.β
Proof heβs good: Last seasonβs game against Salpointe Catholic was a gauge to measure Randall against arguably the top offensive line in the state.
Alternating between defensive end and defensive tackle depending on the formation, Randall went toe-to-toe with current UCLA freshman Bruno Fina and Oregon Ducks commit Jonah Miller, and led the team with four tackles and one hurry. He was the most disruptive Dorado on defense that night.
βFor him to take care of his tackle that night, that was proof that heβs that good,β Peace said.
Randall is committed to play for Sioux Falls University next year.
He said it: βHeβs a top-five highest-motored kid that Iβve ever coached, without a doubt. His motor is full-speed in practice and in games. Last year, it was an ongoing joke that we had to tell him to tone it down from time to time, and we would only let him go against one or two other offensive linemen, because otherwise it would be a mental discouragement to some of those guys.β β Peace
