Ben Munaweera is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mesa High School for AZPreps356.com

Mesa’s lead running back Junior St. Cyr is a dominant runner out of the backfield, but football wasn’t always the plan for him in high school. 

St. Cyr has played sports all throughout his life, but up until high school, he was convinced that basketball was the sport he would play at the next level.

Everything would change for him, however, when he gave football a chance.

Entering his freshman year, St. Cyr became interested in football and decided to try it for fun. It sparked him to think about which sport he’d play going forward.

“A lot of people were telling me that if I took it seriously I could be a great player and I took that into consideration,” St. Cyr said. “ During that off-season, I decided that I was going to take football seriously and work on my skills.”

St. Cyr quickly grew attached to football. He wanted to learn every aspect of the game throughout his first three years at Mesa, and said he was influenced by receiver Trey Brown and running back Craig Montgomery. 

“Trey Brown, who is now a receiver at NAU inspired me to be the best player I can be," St. Cyr said. "Seeing his work ethic and the way he performed made me want to work harder.” 

Flash forward to St. Cyr’s senior year at Mesa and to the end of the regular season. He finished with 1,337 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, putting him second in rushing, and eighth in touchdowns in the 6A division. 

St. Cyr’s running style can easily be described in one word, angry. But for someone who moves so aggressively on the field, he is quite the humble and loving character when he’s not trying to run over the guy in front of him. 

“There’s no better kid than Junior St. Cyr,” Mesa offensive coordinator Joshua Roberts said. “He’s one of a kind, nicest kid in the classroom, first one to show up, straight A student, great football player. You can’t ask for more of a great kid.”

Despite his impressive numbers and accolades, St. Cyr credits all of his success to his teammates and his coaches. He especially has respect and love for his head coach, Chad DeGrenier.

“Coach DeGrenier has been not only a great coach but a great role model for me,” he said. “He [DeGrenier] has had a big impact on me as a football player and as a young adult by helping me learn the skills that are highly needed to be successful. The whole coaching staff as well have done the same thing.”

The feelings are mutual between St. Cyr and Degrenier. His head coach has the utmost respect and appreciation for how far he's come in his program at Mesa.

“Just watching him grow and mature from a young boy to a man has been tremendous,” DeGrenier said. “Everything he does from his work ethic to his grades, he’s the full package.” 

After high school, St. Cyr plans to serve a two-year mission with his church. Then he plans to continue playing football at the next level.

For an idea that initially started off as something just for fun, football has changed St. Cyr’s life in a short amount of time.

“Playing football has impacted my life in a lot of amazing ways,” he said. “Football has blessed me with the opportunity to be around an amazing group of teammates and coaches that I can call family.”