5A Games of the Week

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Take a look at the top 3 games of the week in the 5A conference: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Desert Edge @ Notre Dame Prep</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two of the top teams in 5A go at it, and there will be a ton of talent on full display this Friday night. Desert Edge is coming in with something to prove, as they suffered a 14-0 loss last week against Centennial. For how explosive their offense is and how many weapons they have, you have to believe that this ignited a fire and they're going to come out with a purpose. [player_tooltip player_id='368922' first='Hezekiah' last='Millender'] looks to matchup well on paper vs that NDP defense, but [player_tooltip player_id='169421' first='Deacon' last='Shea'] from NDP has to be an identified threat pre snap, as he has that ability to be a legit difference maker. Offensively, Notre dame Prep will have a tough test vs a stout DEHS defense with [player_tooltip player_id='169401' first='Aundre' last='Gibson'], [player_tooltip player_id='364181' first='Deshawn' last='Warner'], and many others. [player_tooltip player_id='115517' first='Noah' last='Trigueros'] and [player_tooltip player_id='368921' first='Cooper' last='Perry'] have been electric, and it'll be interesting to see these two go up against more division 1 talent and see if they can get something going. One of the best 5A matchups of the year goes down in Scottsdale on Friday night. <img class="wp-image-811644" style="width: 320px" src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/05/16051497_599f0ac8915c48149dcf68353bd52a93.jpg" alt=""></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Higley @ Clayton Valley (CA)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Higley will travel to CA to play a solid team that would love nothing more to start their season 2-0 and pick up a win vs an out of state program. Higley enters the contest 1-0 after a blowout week 1 win over Campo Verde. They've been a team of a hot topic this summer when top 2025 QB Jamar Malone announced he was leaving to attend IMG Academy in Florida. The panic quickly resolved when it was announced that [player_tooltip player_id='368911' first='Luke' last='Haugo'] was transferring from North High to Higley. Well now, Higley found out they have another guy that can dice it up, as sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1134311' first='Gunner' last='Fagrell'] threw for 446 yards and 5 TD's last week against Campo Verde. The 5A state champs offense doesn't seem to be slowing down, as Daxen Hall could be the big difference maker in this one. He's a super dynamic kid that can excel at just about anything, and it'll be tough for Clayton Valley to gameplan for the versatility of Hall along with the new emergence of Fagrell. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/Luke_Haugo/status/1692953857985257632?s=20","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/Luke_Haugo/status/1692953857985257632?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Snowflake (4A) @ Cactus</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Snowflake will travel down to the valley to take on a tough 5A opponent. Snowflake has been rolling with success these past couple years, and a large part of that is due to coaching. It seems like every year the chatter around Snowflake is that they're "graduating and won't be as successful", but that has simply not been the case. They're coming off a 24-14 loss against Bradshaw Mountain which you know isn't sitting well with them, so I expect them to come out better than last week. Cactus is coming off a very impressive week 1 win over Sunnyslope 41-32. Both QB's at Cactus [player_tooltip player_id='927258' first='Braiden' last='Lagafuaina'] and [player_tooltip player_id='283577' first='Antonio' last='Casias'] both played super well, throwing for a combined 231 yards and a TD. Lagafuaina also put up 85 yards on the ground and looks to be a huge threat on any snap. That cactus defense faces a much less explosive offense last week, so they're entering very well prepared. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->