Many burning questions entering Week 8
It’s the halfway point for big schools, and we’re getting into the stretch run for the small schools. Here are the top 10 burning questions for Week 8 of the Arizona high school football season.
1. How close to the edge is Saguaro straddling the Open Division?
By a centimeter. It’s do-or-plan-onthe-6A-bracket time for the 2-3 Sabercats. Until they lose another game, I’ll keep saying they are among the top four teams at any level in Arizona, period. They played both Chandler and Liberty tough, and were in both of those games for most of those two losses. In only the Bergen Catholic game, you could see Saguaro didn’t have much of a chance as the game progressed.
But if coach Jason Mohns’ bunch loses to 5A No. 4-ranked Goodyear Desert Edge on Friday, forget about the Open, even if they win the remaining games.
2. Will the extreme toughness of schedule be rewarded?
That’s always a head-scratcher when the AIA playoff rankings come out. It would be good to have a human element in determining the eight Open Division playoff teams. But sometimes, these rankings serve only as motivational fuel. And if a team, say, like Saguaro, gets left out of the Open, that will only charge that team up for a long, deep playoff run in the 6A Conference.
3. Are Basha and Liberty top 25 teams in the nation yet?
MaxPreps doesn’t stop at 25 for its national rankings. The national high school publication goes to 100 each week. This week, it has Chandler (5-0) at No. 9, Basha (5-0) at No. 29 and Liberty at No. 43. This is the first time the Lions (4-0) have cracked the top 50.
4. Why is Snowflake ranked No. 1 in 4A by The Republic in its first big-schools season?
One reason is because of the AIA’s promotion/demotion annual football alignment for conferences. Glendale Cactus, Casa Grande, American Leadership Queen Creek and Gilbert Mesquite all got bumped up from 5A to 4A this year. And Snowflake got moved up to 4A this year after winning the past two 3A titles. The other reason is that the Lobos are really good.
But last year’s 4A runnerup Poston Butte is breathing down its neck at No. 2 and upstart Tempe Marcos de Niza is No. 3. This makes Friday’s game against No. 4 American Leadership Gilbert North huge for the Lobos.
5. What is the best 3A game down the stretch?
It looks like it could be Thatcher against Tucson Sabino on Oct. 21. Sabino has to play Mesa Eastmark the week before that, so it could be banged up. Or battle tested. Sabino was No. 1 in The Republic’s 3A rankings before losing to Tucson Pusch Ridge 41-20 last week. Thatcher sits at No 2 and Show Low at No. 1 by The Republic.They don’t face each other in the regular season, so when and if they meet in the playoffs, that will tell you which has the better team.
6. How good is Phoenix Pinnacle?
The Pioneers, led by sophomore quarterback Wyatt Horton, are better than many believed. This is a young but confident, intelligent, unflappable QB, who got two really good targets in 6foot-6 Duce Robinson and Myles Libman.
7. How has Centennial bounced back since that Hamilton loss?
If you dig a little deeper, Centennial
really wasn’t beaten badly by Hamilton 38-14. They mostly beat themselves with six turnovers, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Since then, the Coyotes have cleaned up the mistakes, have played much more disciplined and have won four games in a row. But Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor on Friday figures to be a tough hurdle to clear.
8. Who is the 5A sleeper team?
I’m looking at Goodyear Millennium. Nobody is talking about the Tigers, whose two losses came against good 6A teams -- Centennial (27-7) and O’Connor (28-20) -- the past two weeks. Millennium’s offensive line is underrated and whenever you have a kid named Zues (Pindernation), who is about 90% of the offense, then the Tigers have a chance to make a run in the 5A playoffs.
9. Will Yuma Catholic’s Richard Stallworth break Spencer Rattler’s state passing record?
Yes. The senior now has 10,060 career passing yards, which puts him within shot of breaking the former
Pinnacle quarterback’s all-time state record of 11,083, set between 2015-18. Rattler is now the QB at South Carolina. Stallworth has six more regular-season games left in 4A, before the playoffs. The rest of the schedule is tougher than Stallworth has seen in the first four games (1,394 passing yards) this year after the move up to 4A. But he’s quite capable of breaking Rattler’s record. The countdown begins.
10. Who has been
Chandler’s MVP so far?
So many candidates for the best team in Arizona, but, the way he’s come out of the gate, it might be junior tailback Ca’lil Valentine. Junior QB Dylan Raiola has garnered national attention with his No. 1 overall 2024 recruit ranking. But Valentine has been the story on offense so far with his 799 yards and 10 TDs on the ground with his 302 yards and four TDs receiving. Coach Rick Garretson hasn’t had to rely on Raiola’s gifted arm in a 5-0 start, because Valentine has been so good out of the backfield. And much of that has to do with the improved offensive line play.