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Best in the West 2023: Semifinals & 3A Championship Previews

Devon Henry

It’s a massive weekend for the West Valley as one team has a shot at a state championship and others look to punch their ticket to their own state title game. Best in the West kicks things off with a preview of the 3A Conference state title game this Saturday night along with semifinal action on Friday and Saturday night!

 

3A State Championship: #4 Sabino vs. #3 Paradise Honors

A magical season comes to a conclusion on Saturday night as one of the highest-scoring teams in the state is in search of its first golden ball.

Since their inaugural AIA season in 2012, the Panthers have only qualified for the postseason on four occasions. But 2023 has felt like one of those magical seasons where everything has come together and the program has a shot at writing their names in the history books. Senior quarterback, Gage Baker, has toppled records and leads the nation in passing yards by nearly 1,000 yards while throwing for an insane 84 touchdowns and just nine interceptions en route to completing 76% of his passes.

In a high-octane 72-56 victory over Valley Christian in the quarterfinals, Baker completed 44 of his 54 passes for 656 yards and a whopping nine touchdowns while throwing three interceptions. Fellow seniors, Josh Morales, Isaiah Thomas, and Coleman Burkhart, all caught multiple touchdowns and combined for 594 yards. The receiving trio has combined for 4,055 receiving yards and 68 touchdowns this season with Morales and Thomas possessing the second and third-most receiving yards in the state and sit in the top 25 in the nation this season.

Paradise Honors only lost twice this season in games against ALA – West Foothills and Mohave. But those two teams are a combined 0-3 against Sabino, who defeated Mohave not just to end the regular season but also in the semifinals, 30-16.

Baker’s accuracy will be more important than ever as Sabino’s defense averages two turnovers per game and has racked up 11 interceptions this season, led by senior quarterback and cornerback Cameron Hackworth’s three takeaways. Sabino will also bring pressure to the offensive line with their 17 total sacks this year, including four last week against Mohave.

The Paradise Honors defense forced five turnovers against Valley Christian, including a pick-six from junior, Cougar Holt, his fifth interception of the season. Senior, Bode Joncas, leads the team with nine sacks with fellow senior, Jalen Cox not far behind with eight sacks. The defensive ends also lead the team in total tackles. They’ll be tasked with slowing down Hackworth who has also racked up insane numbers with 3,755 passing yards and 38 touchdowns alongside 845 rushing yards and another 14 touchdowns.

This state championship matchup is the first meeting between these two schools. The 3A State Championship game kicks off at 6 p.m. at Mountain Pointe High School.

 

Semifinals:

5A Conference: #3 Horizon @ #2 Desert Edge

We kick off our semifinal coverage with Friday night action as #2 Desert Edge will host #3 Horizon to decide who will move on to the 2023 5A State Championship game.

In every season since their last state championship in 2015, the Desert Edge Scorpions have either made the state title game or lost to a team that would make their way to the state championship match. This year, DEHS hopes to finally seal the deal and claim their second state championship in program history.

But first, in order to make the state title game for the fourth time, they have to make it through the 2021 5A Conference Champion, Horizon Huskies. Future Kansas talent will be spread on both sides of the field in this semifinal with stars such as Deshawn Warner, Jonathan Kamara, Aundre Gibson, and Carter Lavrusky taking the field.

Junior quarterback, Hezekiah Millender, leads this DEHS offense with 2,055 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes in 2023. Millender can also open up the game with his feet, accumulating another 554 rush yards alongside 7 more rush touchdowns. And if you manage to catch Millender, you’ll have to reroute and find a way to stop the senior runningback, Marki McKinnon. The Idaho commit averages 120 rush yards per game and has reached the endzone 11 times.

Senior DE, Deshawn Warner, sits ninth in the state with 15 sacks in 2023 and has been dominant on defense. The Kansas commit not only has tallied 19 total tackles for loss but also snagged two pick-sixes this season on top of his seven forced fumbles. Senior middle linebacker, Jaylen Dawson, has also been vital to this Scorpion defense, leading the team with 75 total tackles and earning nine tackles for loss.

This is just the second all-time meeting between Desert Edge and Horizon. Their only other meeting was a barn-burner on Sept. 17, 2021, in a 31-30 Horizon victory. The winner will battle either #1 Higley or #5 Apollo at Mountian America Stadium next Friday night at 8 p.m. for the 5A Conference Championship.

 

Open Division: #5 Highland vs. #1 Liberty

After three consecutive years of meeting a roadblock in the Open Division semifinals, the Liberty Lions return to the final step of the latter en route to seeing their elusive first Open Division Championship appearance.

But on the other side of the field sets a fellow team looking to make a long-awaited climb to the top. After being snubbed from the Open Division Playoffs on more than one occasion, the Highland Hawks have let out their frustrations on the rest of 6A Conference with back-to-back Conference State Championships. Junior quarterback, Kalen Fisher and senior running back, Jay Martin, led the Hawks to a thrilling 19-14 victory over Chandler in the Open quarterfinals to face off against Liberty.

The Lion defense will look to put a stop to Fisher’s pass game of 1,785 yards this season and Martin’s 909 rush yards that has led to 12 TDs this season. LHS sophomore, Hudson Dunn has been a tremendous surprise, adding an instant impact to Liberty’s already intimidating offense. The s’more has racked up 12.5 sacks this season. Fellow sophomore, Paz St. John, has been another splendid youngster on defense with four sacks of his own. But the defense is still spearheaded by seniors, Keaton Stam with 86 total tackles, and Zane Tallman with 72 total tackles and two INTs.

While the Highland offense has averaged 29 points per game, that pales in comparison to an electric 47 points per game that the Liberty offense has averaged behind defending Gatorade Arizona Player of the Year, Navi Bruzon. The senior is leading another illustrious season, pairing his 2,875 passing yards and 28 touchdowns with another 795 rush yards and 17 rush TDs. 

Senior running back, Jon Wilson, has been another helpful threat on offense, averaging 108 rush yards per game and was also utilized more in the pass game in Liberty’s 39-27 quarterfinal victory against Hamilton last week. Fellow senior, Braylon Gardner, continues to be one of the best pass catchers in the 6A Conference with his 1,026 receiving yards and 11 touchdown catches. Liberty’s offense has been outrageous all season but needs to stay consistent. Highland’s defense allowed 14 first-quarter points against Chandler last week, then held the Wolves scoreless for the rest of the game.

This is only the second matchup between Liberty and Highland, the first came in the 2018 6A Conference Quarterfinals in a defensive bout that resulted in a 15-12 Highland victory. The winner will play either #2 Centennial or #3 Basha in the Open Division State Championship at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 5 p.m.

 

Open Division: #2 Basha vs. #3 Centennial

On the opposite side of the Open Division bracket, the defending Open Division Champion, Basha Bears, faceoff with a first-time semifinalist, the Centennial Coyotes.

It is almost wild to think that this is the first season that Centennial has won their first-round Open Division games after losses in 2019, 2020, and 2022. Actually, the Coyotes hadn’t won a playoff game since their back-to-back 5A State Championships in 2017 and 2018. But this looks like a Centennial team of old, full of exuberance and statement wins in what is now another 10-win season after last week’s 24-3 win over Desert Mountain.

Senior, Marcus Logan, was a large part of keeping Desert Mountain out of the endzone one week ago with his two interceptions, including his pick-six. Fellow senior, Iverson Small, has been tremendous on defense with 99 total tackles in 2023 while senior and Washington commit, Noah Carter, leads the ‘Yotes with 11 sacks. The defense will have to be on top of their game to hold back the blistering offense of the defending champion Basha Bears and senior quarterback, Demond Williams Jr. who has averaged 272 passing yards per game and 32 touchdowns throws with only three interceptions.

Regardless of how well the CeHS defense plays though, Basha touchdowns are inevitable. The Bears have scored 31 points or more in 10 of their 11 games this season, with the one exception being their lone loss to Highland in Week Two, 22-21. That means the Centennial offense will have to keep up. Sophomore quarterback, Kainan Manna, continues to impress, averaging 163 pass yards per game while only throwing a single interception this year.

Senior running back, Tony Greer, has been a valuable cornerstone of this offense, averaging 85 rush yards per game. Meanwhile, multiple receivers have helped Manna command the offense with seniors Noah Carter, Kenneth Worthy, and Rick Munoz combining to average 73 yards per game.

This is Centennial and Basha’s fifth all-time meeting with all four prior games coming between 2013 and 2015. Their most recent battle was the opening round of the 2015 Division I State playoffs where Centennial earned their third all-time win against the Bears, 38-13 en route to the 2015 DI State Championship. The winner plays either #1 Liberty or #5 Highland in the Open Division State Championship at Mountain America Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 5 p.m.

 

Be sure to head out and support your local teams this Friday and Saturday night! Also, keep watch at Sports360AZ for all of our high school football content including Bleacher Talk, Zone Read, AZ Audibles, Recruiting Roundup, and more.

Join the conversation on Twitter using #FridayNight360AZ and follow @Sports360AZ to keep up with the action from across the state on Friday nights!

Related posts:

Best in the West: Quarterfinals Tournament Preview

Best in the West: Week 2 Preview 2019

AIA Realignment Renews West Side Rivalries

Best in the West 2023: Nov. 17 Spotlight

Arizona native, Devon Henry, joined the Sports360AZ crew in 2018 after graduating from Arizona State's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication. Devon has avidly partaken in coverage of the Arizona high school sports scene since 2013 and has covered NASCAR and INDYCAR at Phoenix Raceway since 2017. Devon is also a play-by-play announcer, calling over a dozen different sports and hundreds of events.

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