Strong field set to battle it out in quarterfinals
The first round of the 5A playoffs lacked both surprises and close games. With only one 5A team — Scottsdale Saguaro — in the Open Division, the conference playoffs are left with some heavy hitters. With the cream of the 5A crop advancing to the quarterfinals, we’re left with some heavyweight matchups, all kicking off this Friday at 7 p.m. Let’s break them down and make some predictions:.
No. 9 Vail Cienega (8-3) at No. 1 Scottsdale Horizon (9-2)
Had Horizon beaten Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep to close out the regular season, it may have been heading to the Open Division. But the Huskies lost that game — just their second defeat of the season — and now they seem intent on making the best of these 5A playoffs. Led by junior running back Wesley Lambert’s 174 yards, they opened their postseason with a 49-0 shellacking of Cave Creek Cactus Shadows.
Now, though, Horizon comes up against a Cienega team that has locked opponents down for the past two months. The Bobcats started the season 1-3 but allowed just 41 points in five games to close out the regular season. Prediction: Horizon 42, Cienega 24 No. 5 Peoria Sunrise Mountain (7-4) at No. 4 Scottsdale Desert Mountain (11-1)
Friday night in Scottsdale will pit two teams with very different paths to this point. Sunrise Mountain had the hardest schedule in 5A this year, while Desert Mountain had the second easiest schedule among the eight remaining schools.
Sunrise Mountain’s difficult slate was punctuated by matchups against two Open Division teams as well as two of the top three teams in 5A. And though the Mustangs lost all four of those games, only one — a 50-7 loss to Glendale Cactus — was a blowout. In close losses to Horizon, Desert Edge and Peoria Liberty, they showed they can play with anyone. Now, that experience is a significant asset.
Desert Mountain is a dangerous team with a potent offense led the Tapley brothers — junior quarterback Drew and sophomore receiver Dylan. The Wolves’ defense, meanwhile, is allowing just 11.4 points per game.
Prediction: Sunrise Mountain 28, Desert Mountain 24
No. 6 Tucson Desert View (11-1) at No. 3 Goodyear Desert Edge (9-2)
Desert Edge hasn’t quite lived up to the Open Division expectations it rightfully carried into the season after making that leap a year ago. That might not be a bad thing, though. Last year, the Scorpions lost their first round playoff game, 52-0, to Chandler. Now, they have every chance to compete for a 5A title, as they proved in last week’s 43-7 win over Waddell Canyon View. It’s hard not to view the top three teams in 5A — Horizon, Tucson Salpointe Catholic and Desert Edge — as a cut above the rest.
Prediction: Desert Edge 30, Desert View 10
No. 7 Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep (8-3) at No. 2 Tucson Salpointe Catholic (9-2)
This might be the game of the week in 5A. Notre Dame is a different team than it was early in the season, but Salpointe Catholic has every chance to take home a state title. There’s a reason that, after Friday night’s 56-21 win over Glendale Apollo, Notre Dame Prep coach George Prelock — who has a talented team of his own with some dynamic playmakers, most notably senior receiver Gavin Smith — needed just one word to describe his upcoming foe: “Outstanding.”
The Lancers hung 63 on Sunnyslope. Prediction: Salpointe Catholic 41, Notre Dame Prep 35