Open Division Championship Preview

<!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Overview</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saguaro will look to repeat as the open division champs as they'll take on Basha on Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium. Saguaro has shocked the state throughout this playoff run and did something nobody else could do this year, as they upset undefeated Liberty in the semis. The way Liberty had been playing all year made it pretty much unanimous around the AZ high school football scene that they would get to the title at the very least. Well, Saguaro showed why you should never count them out on anything. They finished the regular season 7-3 with losses to Bergan Catholic (NJ), Chandler, and Liberty. Then, they nudge out two close playoff wins against Hamilton (45-35) and Liberty (43-42). They played arguably the toughest schedule in all of AZ high school football this year, and they are a very dangerous football team heading into this game. Basha has had one of the most impressive seasons I've seen in a while, finishing with a 9-1 reglar season record. Their lone loss came agaisnt Liberty, but then they turn things around to beat Chandler twice (1 regular season, 1 post season), Hamilton, Casteel, and Perry and ran that Premier Region. They are so electric on both sides of the ball with the ability to flip the script and change the game on any given play. You almost couldn't ask for a better matchup in December, and it'll be a dog fight for 48 minutes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneAZ/status/1600899726278172672?s=20u0026amp;t=p1lgXSuZws0N8PkRHL_7zg","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneAZ/status/1600899726278172672?s=20&amp;t=p1lgXSuZws0N8PkRHL_7zg </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Saguaro Key Players </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='42902' first='Devon' last='Dampier'], QB, 2023 (New Mexico commit) </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='115524' first='Jaedon' last='Matthews'], RB, 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='155808' first='Jojo' last='Clark'], ATH, 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='368906' first='Dajon' last='Hinton'], ATH, 2025</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='42909' first='Deric' last='English'], WR, 2023</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='42919' first='Carlos' last='Griffin'], DB, 2023</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='115483' first='Jaci' last='Dickerson'], ATH, 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='42901' first='Zaccheus' last='Cooper'], RB, 2023<img class="wp-image-64635" style="width: 250px" src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/10/IMG_4613-rotated.jpg" alt=""></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Basha Key Players</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='115519' first='Demond' last='Williams'], QB, 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='42934' first='Cole' last='Martin'], DB, 2023 <em>(Oregon commit)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='42938' first='Wyatt' last='Milkovic'], LB, 2023 <em>(Boise State commit) </em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='42908' first='James' last='Durand'], OL, 2023 <em>(Wisconsin commit)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='165884' first='Ryan' last='Blum'], OL, 2023<em> (Central Michigan commit)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='42897' first='Deshaun' last='Buchanan'], RB, 2023 <em>(Idaho commit)</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='115486' first='Miles' last='Lockhart'], DB, 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='169410' first='Bryson' last='Dedmon'], WR, 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='279502' first='Thomas' last='Prassas'], DB, 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->