4A Conference football preview, Top 10 rankings
It’s day-to-dayduring this pandemic, but high school football has the green light from the Arizona Interscholastic Association to play, with most varsity games kicking off Oct. 2.
Let’s break down the conferences, one each day, starting with 1A and working up to the Open Division (Super 10).
4A Conference
Gilbert Mesquite and Glendale Cactus were inches apart from getting to the 4A final.
Mesquite squeaked it out in the semifinals, and went on to overcome Goodyear Desert Edge for the school’s first football championship.
Now, with Desert Edge bumped up to 5A, it’s another expected tough battle to the top between Mesquite and Cactus.
But will they be good enough to be part of the Open fray?
Mesquite holds the edge over Cactus, simply because it returns one of the best quarterbacks in the country in five-star senior Ty Thompson, an Oregon commit.
Thompson is ranked by The Arizona Republic as the No. 1 college prospect in the 2021 class in Arizona.
When the Arizona Interscholastic Association decided to stay on its timeline to begin the season next week, Mesquite players, coaches and fans all gave a collective sigh of relief.
Had the season been moved to January, the Wildcats would have been without Thompson, who will enroll early to the University of Oregon to get started on his college career.
With wide receiver/defensive back Eric Lira transferring in late this summer from Phoenix Central, when it appeared there would not be a fall season in the Phoenix Union district, the Wildcats added another great player to
an athletic group both on offense and defense.
Coach Scott Hare graduated his starting defensive front, but he believes the athleticism on defense, led by linebacker Andrew Morris, should be his team’s strength.
“We should be a very athletic team,”
Hare said.
“We have many different guys who could handle the ball.”
Dark horse
Northwest Christian is making its biggest jump yet as a football program, moving from the small-school ranks to big schools, and, even though coach David Inness believes it could be a struggle against schools twice his size, he’s got 27 seniors who grew up together in the system and experience in the trenches.
Key players
Ty Thompson, Mesquite, QB; Andrew Morris, Mesquite, LB/WR; Eric Lira, Mesquite, WR/DB; Aaron Gerle, Greenway, DL; Cameron Mack, Peoria, RB; Rocco Bruney, Glendale, QB; Blake Sparks, Northwest Christian, QB; Nick Samaniego, Marcos de Niza, OL; Ben Strawn, Northwest Christian, OL/DL; Alex Hernandez, Northwest Christian, OL/DL; Brayden Nelson, Prescott, WR; Nate Wright, Prescott, RB/LB; Zion Burns, Poston Butte, RB/DB; Gavin Lloyd, Poston Butte, RB/OLB; Nick Cocomello, Poston Butte, RB/LB; Nick Martinez, Phoenix St. Mary’s, QB; Liam Phelan, St. Mary’s, RB/LB; Antonio Figueroa, St. Mary’s, OL/DL; Charles Allison, Tempe, QB; Humberto Ledezma, Tempe, OL; Joey Jensen, Combs, RB; Brodee Tucker, Combs, OL; Riley Davies, Cactus, DE/Te; Ethan Price, Cactus, DT; Zach Allen, Kingman Lee Williams, OL; Angel Corona, Bullhead City Mohave, OL; Michael Kelley, Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain, OL/LB; Zach Bennett, Flagstaff Coconino, RB; Luis Jaramillo, Flagstaff, RB/LB; Davion Nelson, Marcos de Niza, DB.
Key date
Oct. 16: Mesquite plays host to American Leadership Queen Creek in a battle of 2019 champions. ALA-QC won the 3A title, behind RB Aziya Jamison, who transferred to Williams Field.