Region Breakdown: 6A Premier

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Take a look at a preview of the best region in Arizona high school football: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Hamilton</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The reigning 6A Premier champs will come into 2022 looking to do it again, but they'll have to have some new faces step up and fill some big time roles. Two key losses for Hamilton are QB Nicco Marchiol (West Virginia) and DE Russell Davis (Arizona), as those two were clear contributors for Hamilton the past few seasons. They'll retain standout WR [player_tooltip player_id='165883' first='Tre' last='Spivey'] who has emerged as a highly recruited WR here in AZ, along with defensive standouts [player_tooltip player_id='42896' first='Taye' last='Brown'], [player_tooltip player_id='214076' first='Alex' last='McLaughlin'], and numerous others. Another key kid to watch will be standout 2025 TE [player_tooltip player_id='368903' first='Bear' last='Tenney'], who trasnferred in from Casteel. TE's have excelled in Hamilton's offense, and Tenney has the skillset to be that difference maker. It'll be interesting to see who will fill that QB1 role with a ton of pressure and big shoes to fill. Hamilton comes off an open division semifinals loss to Saguaro. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><img class="wp-image-64677" style="width: 200px;" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/10/IMG_4635-rotated.jpg" alt=""></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Chandler </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chandler comes into this season with a chip on their shoulder after coming off a loss in the regular season to Hamilton which costed them the region, and a state championship loss to Saguaro. Needless to say, they're coming in with something to prove and have a crazy taented squad which includes a top 2024 QB in the country in [player_tooltip player_id='364178' first='Dylan' last='Raiola'] who transferred in from Burleson High in Texas. Although Chandler loses a handful of standouts in Kyion Grayes (Ohio State), Blaine Hipa (Princeton), Quaron Adams (Iowa State) and numrous others, they will also retain some of the best prospects in AZ. Returning key players for Chandler include [player_tooltip player_id='165882' first='A'Mauri' last='Washington'], [player_tooltip player_id='42941' first='Andereya' last='Nsubuga'], [player_tooltip player_id='203117' first='Zarius' last='Wells'], [player_tooltip player_id='358503' first='Nicolas' last='Martin'], and many others. They'll have some younger guys projecting to take a big leap as well like [player_tooltip player_id='115501' first='Kennedy' last='Urlacher'], [player_tooltip player_id='169404' first='Ca'Lil' last='Valentine'], and [player_tooltip player_id='368913' first='Talib' last='Graham']. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Basha </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Basha enters 2022 with all the potential in the world, and they're coming in with a ton of confidence. They're the newest addition to the 6A Premier Region and they'll add a major spark to it as well. They come off an upset loss in the open division playoffs against Liberty, and have the staff and skillset around them to do something big in 2022 as they'll return almost every key piece. Standout QB [player_tooltip player_id='115519' first='Demond' last='Williams'] has taken off each week since his freshman year 2 years ago and has continued to play lights out. Oregon commit [player_tooltip player_id='42934' first='Cole' last='Martin'] and standout [player_tooltip player_id='115486' first='Miles' last='Lockhart'] have clamped up receivers each year establishing themselves as legit gamechangers. Standouts [player_tooltip player_id='42897' first='Deshaun' last='Buchanan'], [player_tooltip player_id='169410' first='Bryson' last='Dedmon'], [player_tooltip player_id='169403' first='Mason' last='Arhin'], [player_tooltip player_id='42938' first='Wyatt' last='Milkovic'] and many others will come back and add to the stregth of that deep Basha squad. One key loss is DB [player_tooltip player_id='214071' first='Jeremiah' last='Vessel'], who transferred to Bishop Gorman (NV), but that secondary should be just fine considering the talent remaining. Basha is definitely going to be an electric team to watch. <img class="wp-image-133975" style="width: 175px;" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/04/AZ-NP-Showcase-Demond-Williams-1.jpg" alt=""></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Casteel </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In my opinion, Casteel is a team that deserves much more respect. They were a much better team than their 5-7 record from a year ago says they were, as they played arguably the toughest schedule and still competed well with top tier teams. They played Hamilton tough, losing 23-13, they played Chandler tough, losing 21-17, beat Mountain Pointe 35-6, and played Williams Field tough losing 24-14. Last year, if you put Casteel in any other region in 6A, they potentially win it or at least get in that dog fight game for it. They return some serious prospects which include QB [player_tooltip player_id='42922' first='Landon' last='Jury'] and ATH Jeremiah Newcomb, but will have to account for two major losses on defense in Connor Clinton (Northern Ariona), and Shakaun Bowser (Colorado). They'll have to have some other guys step up and fill big roles here in 2022, and it'll be intersting to see which new faces step up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Perry </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's no secret that Perry has been at the bottom of the region with some work to be done. However, they'll have a major opportunity to turn that program around for the forseeable future with hiring of former cactus head coach Joe Ortiz. Coach Ortiz could bring a ton of energy to that program and introduce what it taks to establish that winning mindset and winning tradition. Perry definitely has some impressive prospects whihc inlcude Air Force commit [player_tooltip player_id='110146' first='Aiden' last='Herring'], [player_tooltip player_id='165892' first='Jack' last='Amer'], [player_tooltip player_id='358551' first='CJ' last='Snowden'] and a handful of others who will need to step up big. It's going to be tough, but with the addition of coach Ortiz and the talent at Perry, I expect their program to take a big upward trajectory starting this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->