4A Semifinals Preview

Two interesting matchups this week in 4A ball as the top 4 seeds head to the semi's. Here's a look at the 4A semifinals matchups: &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#4 Glendale @ #1 Poston Butte<img class="size-medium wp-image-68469 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/11/IMG_4834-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></strong></span> Poston Butte secured the #1 seed by going 8-2 in the regular season, as their only two losses came against open division contenders ALA-Queen Creek and Cactus. If they can play consistent to the top of their level, then it will be tough for Glendale to beat them, as Poston Butte blew out Prescott last week in the quarterfinals 49-7, but Prescott beat Glendale at the beginning of the season. However, Poston Butte barley nudged out a first round win over Northwest Christian 39-37. For Glendale, they entered the postseason with a 9-1 record, with that only loss coming against Prescott 13-27 week 1. They have since won 11 straight games and have played lights out as they average 34 points per game on offense. Sophomore dual-threat QB Zecheriah Owens has been the X factor this year for Glendale, throwing for 1,733 yards and 18 TD’s while adding another 1,202 yards and 13 TD’s on the ground. For young QB prospect, he has done a great job taking care of the ball as he has limited his INT’s to 4 this season, but will get the biggest challenge of his career going up against a stout Poston Butte defense, especially with ball hawk [player_tooltip player_id="100667" first="Amari" last="Gilmore"] roaming around. &nbsp; *Players to watch: <strong><em>Glendale:</em></strong> <strong>Zacheriah Owens</strong>, <strong>Keyon Walker</strong>, <strong>Junior Dukulay</strong>, <strong>Victor Padilla</strong> <em><strong>Poston Butte</strong></em>: [player_tooltip player_id="100667" first="Amari" last="Gilmore"], [player_tooltip player_id="162057" first="Octavious" last="Joe"], [player_tooltip player_id="100689" first="Riley" last="Nolan"], [player_tooltip player_id="110100" first="Bobby" last="Gaitan"], <strong>Drew Dalmacio</strong> <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#3 Mesquite @ #2 Casa Grande </strong></span> Mesquite entered the playoffs with a 7-3 record with 2 out of their 3 losses coming against open division teams (Cactus and ALA-Queen Creek). Casa Grande secured the #2 seed by going 9-0 in the regular season and were able to squeak out a quarterfinals win last week over St. Mary’s 31-29. Mesquite LB and Marshall commit [player_tooltip player_id="42805" first="Andrew" last="Morris"] is a big time player on both sides of the ball for Mesquite, and he’ll have to have a solid night at LB to help contain that explosive Casa Grande offense. Casa Grande QB and recent Northern Arizona commit [player_tooltip player_id="42811" first="Angel" last="Flores"] has solidified himself as the top QB in 4A and has had a huge senior season by throwing for 2,227 yards and 25 TD’s with just 4 picks, and has added another 1,016 yards and 12 TD’s on the ground. With that being said, we’ll see how Mesquite’s defense with a top 2022 LB in [player_tooltip player_id="42805" first="Andrew" last="Morris"] will game plan for Flores and see if they can slow them down a bit, which nobody has been able to do yet.<img class="size-medium wp-image-190937 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/08/RebrandPostPRZ_2-300x187.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="187" /> &nbsp; *Players to know: <em><strong>Mesquite:</strong></em> [player_tooltip player_id="42805" first="Andrew" last="Morris"], <strong>Blake Corner</strong>, <strong>Gerrardo Saenz</strong>, <strong>Carter Wojcik</strong> <strong><em>Casa Grande:</em></strong> [player_tooltip player_id="42811" first="Angel" last="Flores"], [player_tooltip player_id="161937" first="Dematris" last="Azcueta"], [player_tooltip player_id="100649" first="RJ" last="Keeton"], <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="100721" first="Jake" last="Sylvestre"], Andon Diaz</strong>