Editor’s note: The Star is counting down the 22 best high school football players in Southern Arizona, in no particular order.
Name: Treyson Bourguet
The rundown: Bourguet is a 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior at Salpointe Catholic High School
Who he is: Although the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the high school football season in Southern Arizona, this summer was still productive for Bourguet, who is now in his second season as Lancers’ quarterback.
In June, Salpointe Catholic was one of two teams — the other being Pusch Ridge Christian — in Tucson to begin its re-entry plan under its own guidance. The months of pod workouts and cautious training sessions allowed the Lancers to develop a bond on the field.
For a Salpointe offense that lost its entire receiving corps from last season — All-American running back Bijan Robinson (Texas) and Pac-12 offensive linemen Bruno Fina (UCLA) and Jonah Miller (Oregon) — connection is essential.
“We’ve created this family friendship that can’t be matched. I’ve met new people and became close with people … and it’s all because of this COVID thing,” Bourguet said.
One of those friendships could result in a number of touchdowns for Salpointe this season, when the Lancers resume play against Sierra Vista Buena on Friday.
Southern California transplant and former Mater Dei High School wide receiver Elijah Barclay, who holds scholarship offers from TCU and Purdue, transferred to Salpointe during the summer and immediately became close with Bourguet. Bourguet and Barclay connected on four passes for 82 yards in the Lancers’ 29-21 season-opening win over Casa Grande.
“We’ve already got this quarterback-receiver chemistry,” Bourguet said. “I knew he was the real deal.”
Quarterback Treyson Bourguet pitches to a back during preseason practice for the Salpointe Lancers, Tucson, Ariz., August 7, 2019.
Besides building relationships with teammates and the new coaching stuff under first-year head coach Eric Rogers, the other important part to Bourguet’s summer was when he verbally committed to the hometown Arizona Wildcats over Vanderbilt in August.
“Committing to my hometown was a big move not just for me but the whole state of Arizona,” Bourguet said.
Bourguet became the second in-state player to join UA’s 2022 recruiting class, joining Chandler wide receiver Kyion Grayes.
Bourguet is considered one of the top players in Arizona, but that reputation was built in a limited amount of time. As a freshman, Bourguet backed up his older brother, Trenton, at Marana High School. After sitting out the first half of the 2019 season due to the Arizona Interscholastic Associations’s transfer rules, Bourguet threw for 805 yards and 13 touchdowns in seven games for Salpointe.
Now his junior season is limited with an already condensed schedule along with the team’s two-week quarantine after one player tested positive for the coronavirus. Bourguet may never play an entire season until his final hurrah at Salpointe, but he’s expected to show why he’s considered arguably the top player in Southern Arizona. The best has yet to come, according to Salpointe’s head coach.
“We’re going to see a lot of that over the next several weeks when we get to playing some more football,” Rogers said. “I don’t think we’ve really seen just yet where he’s going to come to shine. We still have a great surrounding cast and he just needs to go out there, take what the defense gives us and we’ll be just fine.”
Bourguet could end up being the most underrated quarterback to ever sling the ball in Tucson.
“When I’m done with this high school football thing, everyone will remember who I am and what I did even if that means I get to only play one full season. I’m just super excited and blessed to be a part of the Salpointe program and I just want to leave my mark.”
Proof he’s good: Bourguet’s commitment to the UA didn’t prevent other schools from recruiting him hard. Louisville, Colorado, NC State, Maryland and Oregon State, among others, offered the pro-style Bourguet in September.
“I’m not going to take anything for granted,” Bourguet said. “I love the relationships that I’ve built and that I’m going to build. It’s a dream come true for me.”
Bourguet is rated by 247Sports.com as a three-star quarterback and the 12th-best prospect in Arizona for the 2020 recruiting cycle.
A lot would have to happen for another school to sway Bourguet away from UA considering the close connection with offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone and head coach Kevin Sumlin.
“It’s a father-son relationship (with Mazzone),” Bourguet said. “Coach Mazzone is a father to me. Calling him, his energy and humor is awesome. I feel like I could talk to him about anything. I can’t wait to play under him in that system. Same with Sumlin; He’s always been good to me and the other recruits.”
Bourguet’s older brother, who was the top-rated player in the Star’s 2018 countdown, was recently named the backup quarterback at Arizona State.
The former Marana quarterback joined the Sun Devils as a walk-on last season, and if the Bourguets play their cards right, there’s a chance Treyson and Trenton could quarterback against each other in future Territorial Cup games.
“That would be unreal and it seems more and more likely that it’s going to happen. … It doesn’t seem real to me, it sounds like something that would be in a movie,” Bourguet said.
He said it: “I’ve talked to him a lot this offseason about (last season’s Open Division playoff loss to Chandler) last year, and he’s very, very competitive. I really saw him grow up in that football game. That’s a big-boy football game right there, and the way he handled himself — I mean, he got knocked around and it was physical. It was everything you ever want in a football game, and he really grew and matured in that game in my eyes. — Rogers
