Championship Weekend – What you need to know
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Championship Weekend – What you need to know

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

Here we are.

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

There is a unique balance in school demographics: 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 and Sports360AZ.com teammate and overall smart guy Chris Eaton (Gridiron Arizona) provide a little roadmap for the four upcoming games at ASU.

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

Two young, fast-rising programs meet that want to lift their first gold ball into the air on Friday evening. To illustrate, Mica Mountain is only in its fourth season of varsity football, while ACP is in its seventh.

Both are undoubtedly built correctly.

The Thunderbolts, who enter with a perfect 13-0 record, are led by longtime Tucson area head coach Patrick Nugent, who won a combined 90 games at Canyon del Oro and Cienega before starting at Mica Mountain. Aided by Nugent’s leadership and brand new facilities, Mica began postseason success last season, reaching the 4A semifinals before falling to eventual champion CDO. Now they want 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 2,700 total yards.

The undisputed star of the defense is the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Jimmy Leon, who holds offers from ASU, NAU, New Mexico State and Portland State. He leads 4A with 16 sacks and has 22.5 tackles for a loss. Junior safety Riley Carson has six interceptions. Mica has forced 35 takeaways in 2024.

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

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

After losing in the season opener, Vaught’s team has won 12 times in a row and scored 34 or more points 12 times in a row since the road loss in the Midwest. They outscored their three playoff opponents (Estrella Foothills, Arcadia, Snowflake) 131-49. Her rise from being a freshman in the 3A program to being a mainstay in the 4A program has been impressive.

Junior quarterback Evan Heinrich was masterful, completing 70% of his attempts for 30 touchdowns. He threw just one interception in 210 attempts. Fellow junior running back Max Sasso 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 that know each other so well are ready to battle it out again on Friday night.

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

Now long-time DE assistant Henri MacArthur has his young team back in the big stadium to close the deal. After starting the season 1-3, the Scorpions have won eight of their last nine games, including a 27-14 semifinal win over rival Verrado, a team that beat them back on Nov. 8.

Take away the loss to Higley in Week 4, the Edge defense has not allowed more than 20 points in any game all season. This unit is anchored by 4-star Texas A&M cornerback Jamar Beal-Goines and leading tackler and middle linebacker Joshua Hopphaus.

One of the young offensive stars was second-year wide receiver Zerek Sidney, who had 44 receptions for 550 yards and 11 touchdowns. 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior David Cabrera was another option on the outside, recording 39 receptions for 624 yards and five scores.

“Two Desert West rivals that may be the bitterest rivals in the state,” Eaton said. “In the first meeting, the Scorpions secondary got the better of Cactus and held them to 4 of 16 passes. The Cobras also didn’t run the ball well and had 42 yards of total offense. What will they do differently this time?”

Cactus has been on a roll since losing to DE in early November and capped that late-season run with a 38-35 win over top-seeded ALA Gilbert North in the semifinals last week.

Head coach Brian Belles, who has won seven of his last eight games, likes the way his team is playing right now, and who can we argue?

The Cobras have one of the most balanced offenses in Arizona, scoring 28 touchdowns on the ground and 28 through the air. Junior quarterback Antonio Casias is the straw that stirs the drink. He is 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) leads a stout defense that enjoys tackles for loss (59) and turnovers (27).

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

West Valley vs. East Valley in this clash of long-time successful programs that came to the 6A state championship via completely different paths.

In late September, Zone Read focused on Centennial’s difficult start to the season. The Coyotes, mired in a 4-0 loss at the time, saved their best for the final round in late fall.

Why should we expect anything different from Richard Taylor’s team?

After losing their final two regular season games to Pinnacle and rival Liberty, Cen10 began their surprising playoff run against third-seeded Red Mountain, then 11th-seeded Casteel, and finally second-seeded Queen Creek to triple complete their East Valley road trip.

We all knew a few mid-season transfers would help, and they didn’t disappoint. Cactus transfer Nikko Boncore-Montoya has emerged as a major threat with five touchdowns and over 500 receiving yards in just eight games. Tucson Sabino transfer Shamar Berryhill was also electrifying with five touchdowns in six games played. Kai Manna has 20 touchdowns, but more importantly, he took care of the ball (just four interceptions on 207 attempts).

Andrew Taylor’s defense has an impressive 50.5 sacks, with three players recording at least 10 sacks. Middle linebacker Aaron Alvarez leads the team in tackles with 84 tackles, including 14 for losses.

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

Mountain View will pose a challenge due to their size and physicality, which could be akin to a street fight against Centennial, where playing in a phone booth is perfectly fine.

Andy Litten’s team enters the contest healthy aside from starting quarterback Brady Goodman, who wore a walking boot earlier this week but is expected to play. The Toros were mostly dominant on their road to Tempe, helped by a relatively soft regular-season schedule, save for a regular-season loss to Liberty.

Goodman’s 41 touchdowns were distributed to a number of gifted playmakers, most notably junior Talan Arnett, whose video game numbers include 52 receptions for 1,159 yards and 23 scores, a single-season state record. Their mutual heart and soul is Cal signee Beckham Barney, a downhill linebacker and fullback who does a little bit of everything for MV.

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

That’s what we’ve been wanting all season, isn’t it?

I’ll let someone else explain to me how these two ended up second and fourth in the rankings.

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

“Both teams are undefeated against Arizona competition,” Eaton said. “The last two Open champions meet to see who wins their second Open title. Basha has scored 30 or more points in eight straight games. Liberty has scored 30 or more points in 11 consecutive games. This could look like an arena football game where a single stop could make the difference. The Lions have looked like the 1923 Liberty team since the Salpointe game.”

Both are well trained.

Both are extremely talented.

Both do the basics and wait for their opponent to give in as the game reaches the final stages.

Buckle up.

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