Coach Jason Lyons talks to quarterback Dayne Silver during an Eastmark High School football game. The school has benefited from a rapid population growth in the area. (Photo courtesy of PBJ Media)

The community that feeds Eastmark High School, which includes parts of Queen Creek and Mesa, is among the fastest growing in Arizona, and that population boom has fueled a rapid rise for the school’s football program.

In 2022, just three years after the school opened at 9560 E. Ray Road in Mesa, the Firebirds won a Division 3A state championship. A year later, the program advanced to 4A.

However, the quick advance has come with growing pains — in part because the success has led to turnover.

Already the school is on its third coach since opening and its third athletic director in four years.

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