4A State Championship Preview

The 4A championship will take place on Friday, Dec. 10th at 4pm in Tempe at Sun Devil Stadium. The top two seeds in Poston Butte and Casa Grande will go head to head in what projects to be a tough, gritty matchup. Take a look: &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>#2 Casa Grande vs #1 Poston Butte</strong></span> [caption id="attachment_227979" align="alignright" width="310"]<img class=" wp-image-227979" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/11/PRZ-Generic-Gray-300x187.jpg" alt="" width="310" height="193" /> Photo: Prep Redzone[/caption] Last week, Casa Grande was able to gut out a 41-28 semifinals win over the 4A defending champs Mesquite High, while Poston Butte was able to get hot in the second half to secure a W over Glendale 41-20. Both teams have had some close games throughout the playoffs, which includes a 39-37 first round Poston Butte win over Northwest Christian, and a 31-29 Casa Casa Grande quarterfinals win over St. Mary’s. We all know about Casa Grande standout QB and recent NAU commit [player_tooltip player_id="42811" first="Angel" last="Flores"], but what is failing to be mentioned is the strength of that Casa Grande defense. In the regular season, the most points scored on undefeated Casa Grande was when Peoria put up 21. Other than that, they posted 3 shutouts, 4 one score games, and a 14 point game week 1 vs Sunnyslope. The point is, when that Casa Grande defense clicks, they are one of the most complete teams in the state. For Poston Butte, they have numerous players that can change the game in a split second from numerous dimensions on both sides of the ball. Friday should be an interesting day down at Sun Devil Stadium, as this matchup has been extremely tough to project. &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Players to know</strong></span> <strong><em>Poston Butte<img class="size-medium wp-image-235121 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/11/IMG_1339-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></em></strong> [player_tooltip player_id="100667" first="Amari" last="Gilmore"], <em>DB ’22: </em>94 tackles, 4 TFL’s, 3 INT’s, 3 total TD’s, 2 FF, FR [player_tooltip player_id="162057" first="Octavious" last="Joe"], <em>RB ’22: </em>216 carries for 1,904 yards rushing and 20 TD’s [player_tooltip player_id="100689" first="Riley" last="Nolan"], <em>LB ’22: </em>102 tackles (42 solo, 60 asst.), 14 TFL’s,  2.5 sacks, INT, FR [player_tooltip player_id="110100" first="Bobby" last="Gaitan"],<em> LB ’23: 54 tackles (22 solo, 32 asst.), 21 TFL’s, 8 sacks, FF, FR</em> <strong>Drew Delmacio</strong>, <em>QB ’22:</em> 994 yards passing and 7 TD’s, 693 yards rushing and 19 TD’s &nbsp; <em><strong>Casa Grande<img class="size-medium wp-image-59649 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/IMG_1567-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></strong></em> [player_tooltip player_id="42811" first="Angel" last="Flores"], <em>QB ’22: </em>2,272 yards passing and 25 TD's, 124 carries for 1,016 yards and 12 TD's [player_tooltip player_id="100649" first="RJ" last="Keeton"], <em>RB ’22: </em>129 carries for 1,201 yards and 17 TD's [player_tooltip player_id="161937" first="Dematris" last="Azcueta"], <em>DB ’22: </em>31 tackles (22 solo, 9 asst.), INT, FF, PR TD [player_tooltip player_id="100721" first="Jake" last="Sylvestre"], <em>LB ’22: </em>124 tackles (97 solo, 27 asst.), 5 TFL's, 2 INT's, 2 FR <strong>Kevin White</strong>, <em>WR/DB '22:</em> 26 receptions for 344 yards and a TD, 9 carries for 94 yards and a TD, 44 tackles (34 solo, 10 asst.), 3 INT's, FF