Open Division Semifinals Preview

Saturday night will decide who moves on to the open division state championship at Sun Devil Stadium, and the road to get there goes through the southeast valley at Hamilton and Chandler High Schools. Here’s an inside look at the biggest matchups in the state this weekend: &nbsp; [caption id="attachment_64659" align="alignright" width="311"]<img class="wp-image-64659 " src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/IMG_4617-rotated-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="311" height="204" /> Hamilton @ Saguaro- October 2020[/caption] <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#5 Saguaro @ #1 Hamilton</strong></span> A big anticipated matchup between Saguaro and Hamilton will go down on Saturday night. Last season, Hamilton edged a close win over Saguaro on ESPN, and it looked like they were going to get another crack at each other in the semi’s, until a COVID situation at Saguaro forced them to forfeit. Therefore, Saguaro has been hungry for over a year for another shot at Hamilton, while Hamilton has proven that they’ll go head to head with anyone in the country for 4 quarters. Be ready for a dog fight type of atmosphere, as both teams play with a ton of energy and emotion. Two key things to watch are how the Saguaro defense will game plan for [player_tooltip player_id="42783" first="Nicco" last="Marchiol"], and which QB will get the starting nod for Saguaro, [player_tooltip player_id="42806" first="Ridge" last="Docekal"] or [player_tooltip player_id="42902" first="Devon" last="Dampier"], as Dampier comes off a very strong performance last week vs cactus. Either way, tons of talent will be on full display Saturday night in the southeast valley. &nbsp; *Players to watch: <strong><em>Saguaro:</em> </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="42790" first="Tristan" last="Monday"], [player_tooltip player_id="42794" first="Parker" last="Brailsford"], [player_tooltip player_id="42795" first="Javen" last="Jacobs"], [player_tooltip player_id="42902" first="Devon" last="Dampier"], [player_tooltip player_id="42806" first="Ridge" last="Docekal"], [player_tooltip player_id="162038" first="Thomas" last="DeChesaro"], [player_tooltip player_id="115524" first="Jaedon" last="Matthews"], [player_tooltip player_id="155808" first="Jojo" last="Clark"], [player_tooltip player_id="42898" first="John" last="Butler"], [player_tooltip player_id="161938" first="Myller" last="Terameau"], <strong>Dajon Hinton</strong> <strong><em>Hamilton:</em> </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="42783" first="Nicco" last="Marchiol"], [player_tooltip player_id="42837" first="Christian" last="Anaya"], [player_tooltip player_id="165883" first="Tre" last="Spivey"], [player_tooltip player_id="22681" first="Grayson" last="Stovall"], [player_tooltip player_id="42801" first="Michael" last="Masunas"], [player_tooltip player_id="100647" first="Russell" last="Davis"], [player_tooltip player_id="162027" first="Tre" last="Tate"], [player_tooltip player_id="100683" first="Grant" last="DeGraffenreid"], [player_tooltip player_id="42904" first="Chandler" last="Davis"], [player_tooltip player_id="214073" first="Logan" last="Krei"] <hr /> <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>#6 Liberty @ #2 Chandler </strong></span> For the second year in a row, Liberty will head southeast and take on Chandler in the semifinals. Say what you want, but Liberty is a flat out different team once they get into the playoffs, as they play lights out all across the board. Last week they were able to upset a powerhouse Basha squad, which everyone thought had a chance to run the tables in the open division. Last year, they lost to Chandler 34-35 in overtime on a failed 2 point conversion attempt. Bottom line, they have proven they won’t back down from anyone and can play with anybody in the state. Chandler defeated Liberty week 4 of the season 41-21, but both teams have made some big adjustments and have seen a big spark in maturity on both sides of the ball. Chandler gets their Ohio State commit WR [player_tooltip player_id="42787" first="Kyion" last="Grayes"] this time against Liberty, while Liberty now has a young prospect behind center with tons of potential who continues to step up in dual-threat 2024 QB [player_tooltip player_id="115509" first="Navi" last="Bruzon"]. Both defense are stacked across the board as well, so all signs project this matchup to be a gritty game. <img class=" wp-image-199818 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/09/IMG_6453-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="249" height="332" /> &nbsp; *Players to watch: <em><strong>Liberty:</strong></em> [player_tooltip player_id="42912" first="Mykeil" last="Gardner"], [player_tooltip player_id="42810" first="Jax" last="Stam"], [player_tooltip player_id="115509" first="Navi" last="Bruzon"], [player_tooltip player_id="165904" first="Zach" last="Wallace"], [player_tooltip player_id="165891" first="Layton" last="Vining"], [player_tooltip player_id="100680" first="Kane" last="Metts-Terrell"], <strong>Jordon Guevara</strong> <strong><em>Chandler:</em> </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="42787" first="Kyion" last="Grayes"], [player_tooltip player_id="165882" first="A’Mauri" last="Washington"], [player_tooltip player_id="42840" first="Jacob" last="Holmes"], [player_tooltip player_id="161934" first="Blaine" last="Hipa"], [player_tooltip player_id="42786" first="Quaron" last="Adams"], [player_tooltip player_id="42793" first="Nason" last="Coleman"], [player_tooltip player_id="203117" first="Zarius" last="Wells"], [player_tooltip player_id="100666" first="Alfred" last="Smith"], [player_tooltip player_id="42869" first="Travis" last="Roberts"], [player_tooltip player_id="161972" first="Devin" last="Dunn"], [player_tooltip player_id="42886" first="Anyale" last="Velazquez"], [player_tooltip player_id="152269" first="Zone" last="Wierenga"], [player_tooltip player_id="100682" first="Isaiah" last="Johnson"]