Recent history has not been too kind to the Phoenix football team.

The Pirates enter the 2023 campaign having lost 24 straight games, and they haven’t earned a conference victory in six years, spanning efforts in the Class 4A Skyline Conference and 3A Far West League.

At some point, though, Phoenix expects to rise again — and Charlie Hall is hoping to play a part in that process.

The former Southern Oregon University and Ashland High football coach signed on in the offseason to help spur that revival, and the first steps have already been underway.

“Clearly, I’m never going to shy away from a challenge and this is certainly a big one given the fact that their history hasn’t been very good,” said Hall. “But I just see so much upside in this program and the high school and the community, where they have come from so far back in so many different ways.”

“Just in my time here, I’ve liked the way the players have embraced sort of a shift in culture,” he added, “and I think they’re hungry to turn this program around. Clearly we have nowhere to go but up.”

Where the Pirates ended last season with around 30 players, they began fall camp with twice as many in the fold. Only five of those players are seniors, however, so Phoenix will be relying on a host of underclassmen in Hall’s first year.

“There’s some good numbers besides the senior class,” said Hall, noting there are around 20 players in each of the other classes. “For the first time in quite a few years we’ll have a JV program, so now you’ll have young kids who have a chance to play and get some experience and really enjoy the thrills of why you play the game rather than watching from the sidelines as a freshman and never getting to play, or maybe even playing as a freshman where you’re so outmatched it’s no fun and you don’t want to do it anymore.”

At the heart of this year’s team will be a capable, albeit largely unproven, set of skill players. Seniors Jackson Shilts, Alberto Gonzalez and J.J. Jimenez, who was injured in 2022, and junior Shane Gordon lend good speed and quickness to the receiver corps.

The biggest wildcard for the Pirates’ offense may come from lengthy tight ends Sidney McQueen and South Medford transfer Tobias Akpan.

“Really at this level to have two kids who are in the 6-3 and 6-4 range and 190 pounds, it’s a good quality to have,” said Hall of the hybrid tight end/receiver duo. “They’re both really good athletes and if we can utilize the tight end game, they would be really unique in that capacity at this level.”

Quarterback duties will be handled by junior Payton Turner (6-3, 175), who will be making his gridiron debut with the Pirates.

“He’s got good vision and a nice arm so he could be kind of a sleeper,” Hall said of Turner, “but he’s still raw because he hasn’t played any games. Hopefully he can kind of get some support from our run game because he would be the one guy that could really help this offense be more balanced and more dynamic.”

That run game expects to feature sophomore track standout Cody Martin (5-10, 175), but juniors Parker DeVey and Derek Corder should allow for some added threats in the backfield to keep the chains moving.

“We’re not going to flat run somebody over play after play,” said Hall, “but we do have enough big-play ability on offense to keep ourselves close in a game.”

“Kind of the motto this year for our kids has just been to try and go 1-0 once a week,” added the coach. “We’re gonna just focus on that first win, and after that we’ll go from there and try to go to the next one.”

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PIRATES

HEAD COACH

Charlie Hall (first year)

GENERAL INFORMATION

ASSISTANTS: Bubba Rylance (assistant head coach/offensive line), Quad Clemmons (receivers/defensive backs), Tarik Moore (running backs/linebackers), Tyvauntae Deloney (quarterbacks/defensive backs), Clyde Bell (tight ends/linebackers), Tony Akpan (linemen).

2022 LEAGUE RECORD: 0-9 (10th, FWL)

2022 OVERALL RECORD: 0-9.

2022 RESULTS

PHOENIX OPPONENTS

6 South Umpqua 50

0 Coquille 48

16 St. Mary’s 56

20 Douglas 28

14 Brookings-Harbor 28

0 Cascade Christian 82

26 Sutherlin 35

6 Lakeview 37

14 North Valley 52

RETURNING STARTERS

OFFENSE (4): Receiver Jackson Shilts (5-7, 140, sr.), tight end Sidney McQueen (6-3, 190, jr.), guard Angelo Thom (5-11, 225, so.), receiver Shane Gordon (5-11, 180, jr.).

DEFENSE (4): Cornerback Alberto Gonzalez (5-8, 160, sr.), cornerback Wyatt Dean (6-1, 165, jr.), defensive tackle Nate Thom (6-0, 255, sr.), defensive end Sidney McQueen.

OTHER NOTABLES

Receiver/linebacker Tobias Akpan (6-4, 190, jr.), quarterback Payton Turner (6-3, 175, jr.), running back Cody Martin (5-10, 175, so.), lineman Diago Vaca (5-11, 220, jr.), receiver/cornerback J.J. Jimenez (5-8, 150, sr.), running back/linebacker Parker DeVey (5-8, 170, jr.), running back/linebacker Derek Corder (5-8, 155, jr.).

2023 SCHEDULE

Sept. 1 at South Umpqua, 7 p.m.

Sept. 8 COQUILLE, 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 ST. MARY’S, 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 at Douglas, 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 at Brookings-Harbor, 7 p.m.

Oct. 6 CASCADE CHRISTIAN, 7 p.m.

Oct. 13 at Sutherlin, 7 p.m.

Oct. 20 at Lakeview, 7 p.m.

Oct. 27 NORTH VALLEY, 7 p.m.