3A Game of the Week: Thatcher vs Paradise Honors
Thatcher will travel to Paradise Honors as we kick off the 2023 season with two of the top 3A teams in the state. Thatcher loses a ton of seniors to graduation while Paradise Honors retains all of those explosive playmakers…
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Continue ReadingThatcher will travel to Paradise Honors as we kick off the 2023 season with two of the top 3A teams in the state. Thatcher loses a ton of seniors to graduation while Paradise Honors retains all of those explosive playmakers from a year ago. Take a look:
Thatcher
Thatcher’s 13-1 season ended in the state championship on a 42-21 loss to Eastmark, and you can believe they’ll come into 2023 with a purpose. They start of the year in a tough matchup vs a high powered Paradise Honors, which will be an immediate, huge test for their defense. They also lose a ton of returning starters to graduation, as they’ll have to have and find some new faces to step up and fill some big roles. One kid they do get back is ATH Wyatt Nicholas, who had 2 INT’s, 26 tackles, and 8 PBU’s last season as a sophomore. He’ll have to step up here this fall, as he is definitely going to get tested against a pass heavy, high powered Paradise Honors offense. I’m expecting Paxton Echols to be touted with a big role as well, as he served as the backup QB to Brandon Napier a year ago. Thatcher is in for a tough week 1 and will have to have those newer guys step up, but given the success of the Thatcher program, don’t be surprised to see some of these unknown guys put themselves on the map.
Paradise Honors
Paradise Honors comes off a 9-2 season after they suffered a playoff loss to Show Low a year ago. However, the energy is still high over at Paradise Honors as they’ll return standout QB Gage Baker Gage Baker 6'1" | 160 lbs | QB Paradise Honors | 2024 State AZ for his senior season. Baker is an absolute gunslinger that will torch a defense if he gets the time to throw. They had 6 games last year where the put up 50 or more points and had that score on command ability. Not only do they return Baker who threw for over 3,800 yards and 54 TD’s, but they also get back nearly their entire receiving core from a year ago. Defensively, they’ll return Bode Joncas who comes off a 77 tackle, 4 sack and 12.5 TFL season. Joncas will have to step up and play a bigger role than he did a year ago to be an anchor in that defense, but all signs point to Paradise Honors having a big 2023 and making a deep playoff run at the very least.