5A Semifinals Preview

The top 4 seeds will all play in the semi's this week for 5A ball, all of which have several big time prospects looking to capatalize on their productive seasons. Both should be close matchups, so here's a look at the 5A semifinals preview: &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#4 Desert Mountain @ #1 Horizon</strong></span> Desert Mountain entered the playoffs on a 9-1 record, and has won 10 straight games since their lone week 2 loss against Chaparral 9-27. They keep it in the family at Desert Mountain, as QB [player_tooltip player_id="220185" first="Drew" last="Tapley"] has established a lethal duo with his younger brother [player_tooltip player_id="169419" first="Dylan" last="Tapley"]. Drew has thrown for 1,902 yards and 22 TD’s while his brother Dylan has hauled in 42 receptions for 605 yards and 8 TD’s. On the defensive side of the ball, [player_tooltip player_id="42832" first="Porter" last="Sweet"] has been extremely disruptive all season and should be an identified threat pre-snap. At the beginning of the year, Horizon was the best kept secret in the state, fast forward til now, and they were in the discussion for a potential open division slot but ultimately land the #1 seed in 5A. Horizon is stacked with high motor, competitive kids across the board. [player_tooltip player_id="100648" first="Daniel" last="Santiago"] is an absolute bully along that defensive line, with [player_tooltip player_id="162082" first="Ethan" last="Tinsley"] locking down the back half of the field. TE [player_tooltip player_id="42926" first="Matthew" last="Klopfenstein"], WR [player_tooltip player_id="211752" first="Cole" last="Linyard"] and RB [player_tooltip player_id="211753" first="Wesley" last="Lambert"] are three promising juniors that have been having impressive seasons, and they’ll look to continue along the same trajectory to help Horizon light up the scoreboard and get a shot at a state title.<img class="size-medium wp-image-211671 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/10/IMG_6544-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /> &nbsp; *Players to know: <strong><em>Desert Mountain:</em></strong> [player_tooltip player_id="220185" first="Drew" last="Tapley"], [player_tooltip player_id="169419" first="Dylan" last="Tapley"], [player_tooltip player_id="42832" first="Porter" last="Sweet"], [player_tooltip player_id="42858" first="Matt" last="Katergaris"], <strong>Nolan Clement</strong> <em><strong>Horizon:</strong> </em>[player_tooltip player_id="100648" first="Daniel" last="Santiago"], [player_tooltip player_id="42926" first="Matthew" last="Klopfenstein"], [player_tooltip player_id="211752" first="Cole" last="Linyard"], [player_tooltip player_id="211753" first="Wesley" last="Lambert"], [player_tooltip player_id="162082" first="Ethan" last="Tinsley"], [player_tooltip player_id="210196" first="Skyler" last="Partridge"], [player_tooltip player_id="227735" first="Chase" last="Jung"], <strong>Landon Smith </strong> <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#3 Desert Edge @ #2 Salpointe Catholic </strong></span> Desert Edge will travel down to Tucson to take on Salpointe Catholic in a game that will showcase two of the top 2022 QB’s in the state in [player_tooltip player_id="42789" first="Adryan" last="Lara"] and [player_tooltip player_id="42798" first="Treyson" last="Bourguet"]. Last season Desert Edge lost to Chandler in the first round of the open division playoffs, now they’ll get a shot to compete against another 2020 open division squad. We know that Lara can dice up defenses with his arm, but the Desert Edge defense has been lights out the past 4 weeks and deserve some more respect. 2024 prospect [player_tooltip player_id="169401" first="Aundre" last="Gibson"] will be a kid to watch, as he’s a had an impressive sophomore season thus far with 4 INT’s and will most definitely get tested on Friday night. Salpointe Catholic nudged out a close 45-42 win over Notre Dame Prep last week, and they’ll need some guys to step up and compete with a Desert Edge squad who has been playing lights out. Dual-threat QB [player_tooltip player_id="42798" first="Treyson" last="Bourguet"] and RB [player_tooltip player_id="100696" first="Anthony" last="Wilhite"] have been a nice duo to watch in the backfield, but a sneaky kid that could potentially be an X factor in this matchup is WR Dyaln Dreis. Dreis has had a productive season and an underrated role, as he is a very talented athlete all around with the ability to make a difference from multiple spots, as he could probably start at QB a most other schools in the state as well.  Either way, a very intriguing matchup to watch down south this week.<img class="size-medium wp-image-48101 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/09/AZ-Adryan-Lara-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" /> &nbsp; *Players to know: <em><strong>Desert Edge:</strong></em> [player_tooltip player_id="42792" first="Gavin" last="Broscious"], [player_tooltip player_id="42789" first="Adryan" last="Lara"], [player_tooltip player_id="169401" first="Aundre" last="Gibson"], [player_tooltip player_id="162025" first="Matthew" last="Willis"], <strong>DJ Warner</strong>, <strong>Fabian Lopez</strong> <strong><em>Salpointe Catholic:</em> </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="42798" first="Treyson" last="Bourguet"], [player_tooltip player_id="100696" first="Anthony" last="Wilhite"], [player_tooltip player_id="115500" first="Elijah" last="Rushing"], [player_tooltip player_id="161940" first="Cruz" last="Rushing"], [player_tooltip player_id="155807" first="Luis" last="Cordova"], <strong>Dylan Dreis</strong>