6A and Open Division Championship Preview

<p>Championship Week has arrived, and everything comes down to this. Months of preparation, adversity, and growth have led to the final stage, where the best teams in the state battle for the ultimate prize. The margins are slim, the stakes are massive, and every snap carries the weight of a season's worth of work. The state's brightest stars will have their chance to etch their names into history. Here are this year's Championship Matchups:</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">6A Championship: Casteel (8-5) vs Centennial (9-4)</h2>   <p>What a marvelous matchup we have ahead of us as the Casteel Colts will be looking to win their first 6A state championship in school history vs the reigning 6A champions in the Centennial Coyotes. Casteel got hot at the right time, winning their previous two playoff games against the Higley Knights and the Salpointe Catholic Lancers. They are looking to claim their first state title since 2017 when they won the 3A state championship. Centennial is no stranger to this stage. This year, they defeated Mesa and ALA–Queen Creek to earn a spot back in the championship game. Last year, they remarkably entered the playoffs as a 14-seed after a 3–7 regular season and went on to win the title. Now can they go back-to-back? Casteel QB Tee Smith has been masterful in their playoff run and they will need another star-studded performance out of him if they hope to claim the title. In the playoffs, he has accounted for 529 passing yards, 5 passing TDs, 258 rushing yards and 3 rushing TDs. Centennial's defense will look to slow him down with players like DL [player_tooltip player_id='883404' first='Luke' last='Franklin'] who has had 4 sacks in his postseason run and DB [player_tooltip player_id='1399733' first='Elijah' last='Carothers'] who has been a tackling machine with 14 total tackles with 10 of those being solo tackles. Centennial's offense has been balanced this postseason with QB [player_tooltip player_id='1325884' first='Titus' last='Hill'] dishing it out to his playmakers and RB [player_tooltip player_id='412188' first='Owen' last='Reynoso'] getting it done on the ground with 306 rushing yards and 4 rushing TDs. Casteel's defensive playmakers will have to step up and disrupt this offense with DB Kobe Olivares and LB Carter Volrich.</p>   <p><strong>Casteel QB Tee Smith</strong></p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Open Division Championship: Chandler (10-2) vs Basha (11-1)</h2>   <p>The biggest game in all of AZ. The Chandler Wolves will be taking on the Basha Bears in Mountain America Stadium for the state title. For the Wolves, they were able to claim victory over Brophy Prep and get their revenge on regional opponent #1 seeded Hamilton to advance to their first open division title game since 2021. Their last state title was in 2020 and the team will be focused on ending that championship gap. Meanwhile for Basha, they have been able to beat Williams Field and a close competition with the defending Open Division champs in the Liberty Lions to advance to their third Open Division Title game in the last four years. It's unclear whether the Basha Bears will go with recently committed Oklahoma State QB [player_tooltip player_id='1369445' first='Brodie' last='Vehrs'] or backup QB Jake Rodgers. One thing is clear though for the Bears, they know they can rely on RB [player_tooltip player_id='883266' first='Noah' last='Roberts'] to be a consistent weapon for the offense as he has 196 rushing yards and 3 TDs in his postseason run. Chandler's defense has their work cut out for them and will be looking to players like DB [player_tooltip player_id='739445' first='Hamisi' last='Juma'], LB Iona Kupa and DL [player_tooltip player_id='1369438' first='Jaime' last='Quihuis'] to slow down this rushing attack for Basha. Chandler's QB [player_tooltip player_id='1190650' first='Will' last='Mencl'] has put his superman cape on and not looked back. He has been extremely efficient and compiled 70% completion percentage, 482 passing yards, 2 passing TDs, 251 rushing yards and 6 rushing TDs in 2 postseason games. Basha looks to recent Wyoming commit DL [player_tooltip player_id='1369395' first='Dante' last='Bruley'], LB [player_tooltip player_id='401160' first='Eli' last='Cramer-Cronin'], and LB [player_tooltip player_id='734768' first='Marc' last='Duerson'] to contain Chandler's dual threat offense.</p>   <p><strong>Chandler DL [player_tooltip player_id='1369438' first='Jaime' last='Quihuis']</strong></p>

Championship Week has arrived, and everything comes down to this. Months of preparation, adversity, and growth have led to the final stage, where the best teams in the state battle for the ultimate prize. The margins are slim, the stakes are massive, and every snap carries the weight of a season's worth of work. The state's brightest stars will have their chance to etch their names into history. Here are this year's Championship Matchups: