Preseason Preview: Desert Edge

<!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Overview</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If there's any school in the state that's coming into the season with a chip on their shoulder, it's Desert Edge. They enter the season with a new coach, new QB, and a whole lot to prove. It was a shocker to everyone in the state when it was announced that Desert Edge would not have coach Mark Carter due to alleged "recruiting violations", and then co-head coach Marcus Carter stepped down, and the program is now turned over to coach Henri. To be clear, the Carter brothers have received a ton of respect from players, staff, alumni, media, and many across the state. Now from a talent perspective, Desert Edge without a doubt has elite level athletes that are fully capable of running it back for another shot at the 5A state championship. The biggest piece they'll have to fill is that QB1 role, with standout Zeke Millender moving to Georgia. They also lose some big time play makers to graduation on the defensive side of the ball as well. But aside from their adversity they've faced this offseason, Desert Edge retains numerous division 1 level players ready to get it rolling. Last year, they posted an 11-3 record with those losses coming against open division runner up Centennial, Cactus, and Higley in the 5A state championship. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/DEdgeFootball/status/1794083261100224840","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/DEdgeFootball/status/1794083261100224840 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Players</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jamar Beal-Goins, DB '25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1145517' first='Jerry' last='Washington'], DL '25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1353795' first='David' last='Cabrera'], WR '25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Aryon Thomas, RB '25</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='401165' first='Jalayne' last='Miller'], OL '26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1177565' first='Cam' last='Hamiel'], DB '26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='549596' first='Zerek' last='Sidney'], ATH '27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='884388' first='Mikyal' last='Davis'], WR '27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='884389' first='Blake' last='Roskopf'], QB '27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/MikyalDavis/status/1797370608508105102","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/MikyalDavis/status/1797370608508105102 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Schedule</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>8/30- Liberty</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>9/6- Notre Dame Prep </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>9/12 @ Camelback </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>9/20- @ Higley </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>9/27- Sunnyslope </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>10/4- @ Millennium </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>10/18- @ Sunrise Mountain </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>10/25- Canyon View</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>11/1- Cactus</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>11/8- @ Verrado </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->