Salpointe Catholic High School quarterback Treyson Bourguet remembers the first time he threw a pass to Elijah Barclay.
“Wow, he’s really fast,” the junior recalled as he watched Barclay secure seemingly every spiral Bourguet uncorked his way during a summer workout session.
He knew right then and there, something special was brewing between them.
“I’ve heard other people say he’s fast, but seeing it in person, he’s the real deal,” Bourguet said.
Those same impressions were forefront in Bourguet’s mind last Friday night as he watched his friend, and new favorite target, haul in for four touchdowns from him — three of which came in the first quarter — en route to a 38-21 home win over Glendale Mountain Ridge.
“I’d never done that before,” Barclay said, referencing the number of times he celebrated his scores in the end zone.
The Lancer wide receiver blew by the defense all night long, grabbing TD receptions of 7, 12, 40 and 49 yards, each one looking more effortless than the last.
Barclay, also a junior, transferred to Salpointe from California powerhouse Mater Dei and arrived in Tucson during the early part of summer, a time when AIA protocols still prohibited organized practices with coaches at team facilities.
Bourguet was elated to hear of the addition of the 6-foot-2-inch, 175-pound wide receiver after the bulk of his offensive weapons from a year ago graduated. When the California product got settled in his new town, the Lancer QB invited Barclay to meet him at a nearby park for a few hours with some other teammates to run routes and throw the football.
“I practiced really hard during summer, then when I got to Salpointe and met Treyson, we just clicked right away,” Barclay said. “It felt like we’d known each other for so long.”
The duo worked on their craft the rest of summer and into the ramp-up period feeling ready to take Southern Arizona by storm.
That storm, however, didn’t form fully until this past week.
In Salpointe’s first game, the script favored a run-heavy attack in a win against Casa Grande on Oct. 2; Bourguet attempted just 10 passes compared to 30 rushes for the Lancers’ backfield. Barclay made the most of the game plan and hauled in four catches for 82 yards making for a solid debut.
Things got dicey after that as the Lancers football program went into quarantine for two weeks due to a positive COVID-19 case on the team and they didn’t play again until Oct. 23 against Sierra Vista Buena. Barclay missed the game against Buena as well as the following week because of a low grade in class he needed to bring up.
Despite not suiting up for a full month, Barclay stayed the course during practice leading up to the Mountain Ridge game and had no doubts about how he and his quarterback would perform in the team’s final home game.
“We knew that we’re going come out and kill everyone,” Barclay said.
The pair believed leading in that they could take advantage of a vulnerable Mountain Ridge secondary. Bourguet overshot Barclay on the first drive.
“Just missed him but we knew we were going get it back next drive,” he said.
Sure enough, Bourguet didn’t miss on the next possession and found the wideout in the end zone to draw first blood with Barclay’s first TD of the year. The Killer ‘B’ connection between Bourguet and Barclay added two more in the first quarter, followed by another one in the third.
Barclay finished with seven receptions for 125 yards, while his quarterback doubled his passing touchdown output on the season.
“We saw that they had a lot of corner blitzes,” Bourguet said. “We really executed those when their safety didn’t have much time to get over the top of Elijah. There’s not a lot of people in the state, or even in the nation who can cover him because he can run right by you.”
Though Salpointe has only two regular-season games left, Barclay thinks this is a sign of what’s to come for the Southern Arizona duo that’s only getting better by the day.
“I think we can have three or four touchdowns every week,” he said.
