When the day finally came that Camp Verde High School senior Mike Boler was able to walk across the stage, shake hands with his teachers and accept his diploma, instead of thinking about the future, Boler reminisced about the past.
“It was a great feeling to finally get something I’ve worked hard for, but all I could do was think about the past and how much fun high school was,” Boler said.
Camp Verde football Head Coach Luke Steege shared a fun story about his first memory of Boler when he recalled the first time they went to Blue Ridge High School to play a football game.
“We stayed Thursday night in a hotel because we played Friday and the boys started a Madden tournament, so of course, I had to play in the Madden tournament,” Steege said.
Steege went on to say Boler picked the Dallas Cowboys as his team in the tournament, his favorite team in the NFL, and of course, Steege picked the Arizona Cardinals.
“I hate the Cowboys,” Steege said laughing. “He ended up beating me, and to this day he’s never let me forget it.”
Boler grew up in Camp Verde and found himself admiring Brett Favre, a gunslinger quarterback who played for the Green Bay Packers over 1,800 miles away from his hometown.
Favre, along with Zach Houser, Camp Verde’s senior quarterback when Boler was a freshman, are the biggest reasons why Boler wore No. 4 throughout his high school career in football and baseball.
Boler was a four-year varsity letterman in baseball, starting at shortstop all four seasons and lettering three years in football.
Boler also played varsity basketball his freshman season, then returned to the court this past season to play out his senior year.
“At the time I was looking at shoring up my baseball skills so basketball went on hold I guess,” Boler said.
The move worked for baseball as he was the unanimous choice to be the 2A Metro 1 MVP this past season and was a first team All-State selection this spring.
Despite his many athletic accomplishments at Camp Verde, including being responsible for 1,000 total yards of offense and 10 touchdowns the first five games of the football season in the fall before breaking his arm, Boler is even more proud of something else.
During his senior year academically, Boler recorded a 3.2 GPA and made the honor roll, something he won’t soon forget.
The 19-year-old high school graduate is planning on pursuing a college degree, hopefully a two-year associate’s degree at Southwestern College, a small private school in Phoenix where he might get a chance to play baseball.
He has other options, but according to Boler, the new coach at Southwestern is interested in him playing for them.
In the meantime, Boler will be a part of the Wildland Fireman group this summer, which is something he wouldn’t mind doing when he gets older.
“I knew a few guys on the engine, I took a few classes and I’m ready to go to work this summer. It’s something I would like doing as a career,” Boler said.
Knowing Boler, Steege said if there was ever something you needed done, Boler is the guy you go to, and he spoke of trust.
“If you needed something done, he would get it done, and you don’t have to worry about him ever. That says a lot about him,” Steege said.
Boler has done well for himself so far and with his parents Mike Sr. and Colleen behind him and his older sister Morgan and his younger sister Shelby by his side, there isn’t anything this young man can’t accomplish.
