Games of the Week

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are some huge games across the state this weekend that all project to be super close. Take a look at the games of the week: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Liberty @ Saguaro</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two powerhouse programs head into Friday with a big time matchup at hand. Saguaro comes off a 21-31 loss at Chandler last week, while holding a 2-2 record thus far. I don't know the last time Saguaro had 3 losses in a season, as they dropped week 1 to New Jersey's Bergan Catholic. Therefore, this is a huge game for Saguaro and I know those guys over there are fired up. Liberty is straight rolling through opponents coming into the matchup 3-0 with 3 blowout wins as they look like the most well-rounded team in the state right now. They've outscored their opponents 149-14 thus far. <img class="wp-image-459966" style="width: 300px;" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/09/saguaro-crop-610x400-1664328095.jpg" alt=""></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Hamilton @ Highland </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hamilton enters the contest 3-1 with their loss coming against Bishop Gorman (NV) a few weeks back. Since then, scoring points hasn't been a probelm, beating Horizon last week 66-21 and Mountain Ridge the week before 52-24. Highland is also 3-1 with their loss coming against Lone Peak (UT), and they're also fresh off 2 wins over Brophy and Desert Edge. Their defense has played exceptionally well this season, so it'll be interesting to see the high momentum Hamilton offense go up against one of the state's best defenses thus far. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mountain View @ Chaparral </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Don't let Mountain View's 1-3 record fool you, with the exception of last week's blowout loss to Basha, they've been in some tight games with some really good teams. The dropped a close 29-34 game vs 5A contender Desert Mountain and a 21-24 week 1 loss at Helix (CA). Chaparral is another sneaky team in 2022, as they post a 2-2 record and also were handed a close 26-30 loss vs Desert Mountain last week, while their other loss coming against Williams Field. I could definitely see this one ending in a shootout. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Horizon @ Pinnacle </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Horizon is 1-2 with their two losses coming against some tough programs, including a week 1 loss to Notre Dame Prep and a loss last week to Hamilton. Pinnacle is a very underrated team that could be on that open division bubble when it's all said and done. They enter the contest 2-1 with blowout loss at Liberty, but bounced back last week with an impressive 39-13 win over Queen Creek. This matchup will feature two top tight ends with [player_tooltip player_id='42949' first='Duce' last='Robinson'] and Baylor commit [player_tooltip player_id='42926' first='Matthew' last='Klopfenstein'], and should be a gritty, hard fought matchup. <img class="wp-image-292987" style="width: 300px;" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2022/02/Duce-Robinson.jpg" alt=""></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Coconino @ Apache Junction </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coconino enters the contest 1-2 after dropping their last 2 in close games with a 28-29 loss to Poston Butte and a 21-27 loss to Arcadia. Coconino is a physical team with a good amount of talent that projects to get hot eventually, and when they do they could really start rolling through opponents. Apache Junction is 3-0 and has one of the most explosive offenses in the state with [player_tooltip player_id='110115' first='Gavin' last='Limongello'], as they've put up 155 points in 3 games. An exciting 4A matchup with the edge going to AJHS in this one. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->