Zone Read: Championship Saturday – Ask the Experts

And just like that, the big school Arizona state football championships are just hours away.

The 2025 season, as expected, has been another memorable one, so “Zone Read” thought there would be no better time than now to reach out to a group far smarter than yours truly to get their thoughts on Championship Saturday – featuring Casteel against Centennial in the 6A game and CUSD members, Chandler and Basha, facing off in The Open under the lights at ASU.

Cody Cameron (Sports360AZ.com) – “The big match up I can’t wait to watch this weekend is the Chandler receiving core against the Basha defensive backs.

“That Chandler wide receiver room had an amazing year and I believe as a group, they are the best in the state at creating separation in man-coverage. The Basha secondary is littered with athletes who will play on Saturdays at the next level. That’s an ultra athletic group who are both skilled in zone and man coverage. They are also not afraid to come up and get active in run support as well.

“These are two really well-coached units and I’m excited to see them square off against each other.”

Cameron Cox (KPNX Channel 12) – “The Open Division title game is the definition of hard work paying off.

“Chandler and Basha both had to really earn this moment. For the Wolves, many considered this a rebuilding year after they missed the (Open) playoffs last season and with a new head coach, Ty Wisdom, taking over. After  Chandler upset Hamilton in the Open Semis, Coach Wisdom stood there with tears in his eyes watching his team celebrate like a proud dad. Players talk about how much “hard work” they put in to get Chandler back to their first title game since 2021.

“For Basha, it was about revenge after losing to Liberty in The Open Championship game last year. All offseason coaches reminded them about that game and then — to knock off Liberty in The Open semis stopping them on a goal line stand…. that’s football poetry.

“Chandler and Basha, despite being in the same school district, didn’t play each other this season. These two teams know each other very well, and many of the kids on both sides grew up together. Now both match up to crown a new king of Arizona high school football.”

Chris Eaton – (ArizonaVarsity.com) – “For overall storylines, a couple interesting ones are that IF Canyon View and Chandler both win this weekend, then all four of the championship coaches would finish with a title in their first year at that school.  We had about 70 coaching changes last year and it’s safe to say that some of them gave immediate results.”

 “Looking at the 6A, it’s a Casteel team playing in its first big-school championship game.  The Colts won a title in its second season in 2017, but that was in the 3A.  Casteel is facing a team used to playing on the last Saturday of the season.  Centennial is seeking its eighth championship, and second straight in the 6A.  In the last 21 years, the Coyotes have played in 14 championship games (including this year).