David Montoya is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sunrise Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com

Travis Ward has endured a complex journey to becoming the starting quarterback for the Sunrise Mountain Mustangs. From playing in New York to partaking in an intense battle for his starting spot, Ward’s road to Sunrise Mountain has been interesting to say the least.

Ward’s story began in Syracuse, New York. Ward played in Syracuse for his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons before moving to Reno, Nevada. Ward planned on attending Reno High School until its football season was cancelled due to COVID-19 related issues.

After Reno High School’s football schedule was cancelled, Ward and his family moved to Arizona so he could play during his senior season.

With only a few months before the start of the season, Ward was faced with the task of learning an entirely new offense. According to Sunrise Mountain coach Steve Decker, Ward had no issues in taking on this challenge.

“We have quite an extensive offense,” Decker said, “He’s picked it up quite a bit.”

Although Ward has done well in learning the offenses that his new team runs, he said that there’s always room for improvement.

“The two offenses that we run, they’re similar. There’s a lot of hand motions. It’s fast. It’s quick,” Ward said. “I know it all, but I’m still perfecting a few things.”

When Ward transferred to Sunrise Mountain, he entered himself into a quarterback battle between fellow transfers Michael Chavarria Jr. and Hunter Kronengold. Although both quarterbacks Ward was up against were also transfers, each of them had more time with the team.

“Hunter had an extra month, and Mike has been here a year,” Decker said. “That was a lot of help for them. So, Travis had to pick it up and do a lot of studying, which he did.”

Ward’s efforts eventually paid off as he was named the starting quarterback for Sunrise Mountain. However, Ward was informed only hours before his team’s season debut against Cactus.

 “It was a couple hours before the Cactus game,” Ward said. “I was mentally prepared, starter or not, to lead my team.”

According to MaxPreps, Ward holds a 114.0 quarterback rating through his first three games. In addition, Ward has completed 32 of 62 passes for 637 yards and nine touchdowns, with two interceptions. The 6-foot-4 quarterback also has run the ball 29 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

Ward has quickly gained chemistry with starting wide receivers Ezekiel Marshall and Chase Birdsong. The receivers have combined 21 catches for 467 yards and eight touchdowns. In addition, Ward said he’s gained some chemistry with every position group on the offense.

“It took a little bit, but I think [the chemistry] is pretty close to 100 percent,” Ward said. “I love these guys. They’re great for me. I can just tell they’ll always be there for me.”

Ward has led the Mustangs to a 4-0 record. Ward said he is ready to continue his team’s success for the rest of the season.

“We’re still focused. We still have the goal of going undefeated,” Ward said. “We’re focused on winning it all.”