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Zone Read: Championship Weekend – What You Need to Know

Eric Sorenson
Arizona Sports News online

Here we are.

What started for eight teams early in 2024, will end, for better or worse, this weekend at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.

There is unique balance in school demographics with four from the west Valley (Liberty, Centennial, Desert Edge, Cactus), three from the southeast Valley (Arizona College Prep, Basha, Mountain View) and one from Tucson (Mica Mountain).

Myself, along with Sports360AZ.com teammate and overall smart guy, Chris Eaton (Gridiron Arizona), provide a little road map four the four upcoming games at ASU.

4A: (4) Mica Mountain vs. (2) ACP

This is a match-up of two young, rapidly ascending programs looking to hoist their first gold ball Friday night. For perspective, Mica Mountain is only in their fourth season of varsity football, ACP is in their seventh.

Both have, unquestionably, been built the right way.

The Thunderbolts, who enter with a perfect 13-0 record, are led by long-time Tucson area head coach Patrick Nugent, who won a combined 90 games at Canyon del Oro and Cienega, before starting up Mica Mountain. Aided by Nugent’s leadership, as well as brand new facilities, Mica’s post-season success started last season, reaching the 4A semi-finals, before falling to eventual champion CDO. Now, they’re looking to take the next step, their first state championship,

The senior backfield combination of quarterback Jayden Thorenson, and running back Josiah Thornwell, have combined for 44 touchdowns and over 2700 total yards. 

The unquestioned star of the defense is 6’4, 240-pound Jimmy Leon, who holds offers from ASU, NAU, New Mexico State, and Portland State. He leads 4A with 16 sacks and has registered 22.5 tackles for loss. Junior safety Riley Carson has six interceptions. Mica has forced 35 takeaways in 2024. 

“Mica Mountain has four shutouts and held six other teams to eight or less points,” Eaton said. ” ACP (12-1) lost its only game to a big-school team in Indiana in Week 1.  The Knights have scored 34 or more points versus every Arizona opponent.  Interested to see how ACP game plans for Leon.”

At ACP, Myron Blueford provided the blueprint and foundation, now former Chandler High defensive coordinator Steve Vaught is ready to complete the project and bring the Knights a championship.

After dropping their season opener, Vaught’s team has rattled off 12-straight wins, scoring 34 or more points, 12-straight times since their road loss in the Midwest. They outscored their three playoff opponents (Estrella Foothills, Arcadia, Snowflake) 131-49. Their rise from 3A program newcomer to 4A mainstay has been impressive.

Junior quarterback Evan Heinrich has been masterful, completing 70% of his attempts for 30 touchdowns. He’s thrown just one interception in 210 attempts. Fellow junior, running back Max Sasso, has helped balance the offense with 773 rushing yards, and nine touchdowns.

5A: (7) Desert Edge vs. (4) Cactus

Let’s get weird, west Valley.

Two programs who know each other oh so well are ready to tangle again Friday night.

The Scorpions are back in the title game, after last year’s heart-breaking, last-second, controversial loss to Higley in a contest that featured a little bit of everything. 

Now, long-time DE assistant Henri MacArthur has his young team back in the big stadium looking to finish the deal. After starting the season 1-3, the Scorpions have won eight of their last nine, including a 27-14 semi-final win over rival Verrado, a team which beat them back on November 8th.

Take away a Week 4 loss to Higley, the Edge defense hasn’t allowed more than 20 points in any game all season. That unit is anchored by 4-star Texas A&M cornerback commit, Jamar Beal-Goines, as well as leading tackler, middle linebacker, Joshua Hopphaus.

One of the young stars offensively has been sophomore wide receiver Zerek Sidney who’s hauled in 44 receptions for 550 yards, and 11 touchdowns. 5’9, 175-pound senior David Cabrera has been another option on the outside, registering 39 receptions for 624 yards, and five scores.

“Two Desert West rivals that may be the most bitter rivals in the state,” Eaton explained. “In the first meeting, the Scorpions secondary locked down on Cactus holding them to 4-of-16 passing.  The Cobras didn’t run the ball well either and had 42 yards of total offense.  What will they do different this time.”

Cactus has been on a roll since their early November loss at DE, capping this late-season run last week with a 38-35 upset of top-seed ALA Gilbert North in the semi’s.

Winners of seven of their last eight, head coach Brian Belles likes how his team is playing right now, and who are we dispute that?

The Cobras have one of the most balanced offenses in Arizona, scoring 28 touchdowns on the ground, as well as 28 through the air. Junior quarterback Antonio Casias is the straw that stirs the drink. He’s surrounded by a 1,000-yard back in Tayejion Player, as well as a 1,000-yard receiver in dynamic senior Julian “Juju” Stubblefield.

Junior linebacker Jayson Burkhard (team-high 96 tackles), paces a steady defense which feasts on tackles for loss (59) and turnovers (27).

6A: (14) Centennial vs. (4) Mesa Mountain View

West Valley versus east Valley in this clash of long-time successful programs who have gotten to the 6A State Championship taking completely different paths.

In late September, “Zone Read” focused in on Centennial’s rough start to the season. The Coyotes, at the time mired in a 0-4 trench, have saved their best for last heading into the late fall.

Why would we expect anything else from Richard Taylor’s team?

After dropping their last two regular season games to Pinnacle, and rival Liberty, Cen10 started their upset playoff run starting with 3-seed Red Mountain, then 11th-seeded Casteel, and finally 2nd-seeded Queen Creek to complete their east Valley road trip trifecta.

We all knew there was helping coming mid-season from a handful transfers and they haven’t disappointed. Cactus transfer Nikko Boncore-Montoya has become a big-play threat with five touchdowns and over 500 receiving yards in just eight games. Tucson Sabino transfer Shamar Berryhill has also been electric with five touchdowns in six games played. Kai Manna has 20 touchdowns but, more importantly, has taken care of the ball (just four interceptions in 207 attempts).

Andrew Taylor’s defense has an eye-popping 50.5 sacks, with three players tallying at least 10. Middle linebacker Aaron Alvarez leads the team in tackles with 84, including 14 for loss.

“Mountain View set a school record with 622 points scored this year,” Eaton noted. “The Toros were 2-0 in close games after sliding past Brophy last week.  Centennial was 0-3 in one-score games early in the season, and lost another one later against Pinnacle by three.  But finally, the Coyotes ended up on the right side of a close games with a 37-32 win at Queen Creek last week.  Aaron Alvarez was 3-of-3 on field goals and could be a difference maker if it comes down to the end.”

Mountain View will present challenges with their size and physicality, in what could be a street fight against Centennial which is just fine playing the game in a phone booth.

Andy Litten’s team, outside of starting quarterback Brady Goodman who was in a walking boot earlier this week but is expected to play, enters the contest healthy. The Toros, aided by relatively soft regular season schedule, have been mostly dominant, sans an in-season loss to Liberty, on their trek to Tempe. 

Goodman’s 41 touchdowns have been distributed to a number of gifted playmakers, most notably junior Talan Arnett who video games numbers include 52 receptions for 1159 yards and 23 scores, a single-season state record. Their two-way heart and soul is Cal signee Beckham Barney, a down hill linebacker and fullback who does a little bit of everything for MV.

Open: (4) Liberty vs. (2) Basha

This is what we wanted all season, right?

I’ll let someone else try to explain to me again how these two were slotted second and fourth in the brackets. 

Regardless, the cream always rises to the top and no one is surprised this is the main event Saturday night.

“Both teams are undefeated vs. Arizona competition,” said Eaton. “The last two Open champs meet to see who gets their second Open title.  Basha has scored 30 or more points in eight-straight games. Liberty has scored 30 or more points in 11-straight games.  This could look like an Arena football game where a single stop could tip the balance. Lions have looked like the ‘23 Liberty team since the Salpointe game.”

Both are well-coached.

Both are extremely talented.

Both execute the fundamentals and wait for their opponent to submit as the game reaches the latter stages.

Buckle up.

 

 

 

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A Valley native, Eric has had a passion for the Arizona sports scene since an early age. He has covered some of the biggest events including Super Bowls, national championships and the NBA and MLB playoffs in his near 20 years in local media.

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