It is that time of year again. Friday night football is back as across the state of Arizona schools are kicking off their 2016 seasons. And we did not have to wait long before getting some marquee matchups.
Some of the games this week feature some out-of-state competitors, a champion-vs-champion battle, and the debut of a school playing at the varsity level.
Here are Week 0’s can’t miss games:
Casteel at Globe: Aug. 19, 7 p.m.
The Casteel Colts are arguably the most intriguing team coming into the 2016 season. Last season was the school’s inaugural year, not just in athletics but as a school in general. Casteel is a combo junior high and high school featuring grades 7-10.
What makes Casteel so intriguing? The Colts are playing at the varsity level for the very first time, with zero upperclassmen. They are a team of freshman and sophomores going in between the white lines, going facemask-to-facemask with some of the toughest competition in the state.
Casteel is debuting in Arizona’s 3A division in the Metro region along with teams like, ASU Preparatory Academy, Fountain Hills, North Pointe Prep, Valley Christian, and Yuma Catholic.
The Colts will be making their varsity debut against fellow 3A competitor, the Globe Tigers. The Tigers went 5-4 last season led by senior tailbacks Jonathan Martinez and Ben Burgener who racked up a combined 2,456 yards on the ground.
However, the duo has graduated and perhaps Friday night’s game might be the first indication as to who might be stepping up to the plate this year at the running back position.
Globe’s regional competition includes American Leadership Academy, Benjamin Franklin, Coolidge, Florence, and Safford.
The Tigers are not simply going to let Casteel come on to their field and become the talk of Arizona high school football. However, if the Colts can walk into Globe with a team full of 14 and 15-year-olds and, perhaps, beat a team full of players three to four years older than them, Casteel just might be the talk around the state.
Gardena Serra (CA) at Saguaro: Aug. 19, 7 p.m.
Transitioning from being the talk of the state to playing for your state, the Saguaro Sabercats take on Gardena Serra out of California.
The Gardena Serra Cavaliers play in California’s South Section finishing 9-3 with a league record of 5-1. The Cavaliers made it to the quarterfinals in the 2015 CIF Southern Section playoffs a year ago, losing by a single point.
This year’s Serra team is much younger than they were a year ago, losing their leading quarterback, running back, and wide receivers. The new man under center for the Cavaliers this season will be Jalani Eason who threw for more than 300 yards in his limited playing time last year.
If you’ve been somewhat around high school football in the state of Arizona, you’ll know what a stranglehold Saguaro has over the entire state.
The Sabercats worst record in the last six years is 8-4 with the four losses considered to be an “underwhelming” season by Saguaro standards. Two years ago the Sabercats went a perfect 14-0, capping their season off with a 45-21 state championship game win against Williams Field.
Last year’s Sabercats team went 12-2 grabbing the state championship win over Marcos De Niza.
To sum up Saguaro’s success, the Sabercats are back-to-back-to-back Division II state champions.
This year’s Sabercat team got a preseason rank of No. 3 in the state and was featured in MaxPreps’ “Xcellent 25” national rankings.
With the pedigree of winning that Saguaro possesses, thrown in with the always competitive nature of Serra, along with the added dash of out-of-state competition, this should be a recipe for an extremely entertaining Friday night game. Not to mention, with Saguaro shifting to the 4A Division, perhaps the only chance the Sabercats could lose in the regular season.
Centennial vs. Desert Edge at Coconino High: Aug. 20, 6 p.m.
This is the game of the week without a doubt. It is a champion-vs-champion game right out of the gate to start off the 2016 season and part of the return of the Sollenberger Classic, which was not held last season.
Starting off with Centennial; in 2015 they shocked everyone by coming into the Division I state championship playoffs as the sixth seed sitting at 12-2 and snatching the state title in a division that is considered to be owned by Hamilton, Chandler, and Mountain Pointe.
In fact, the Coyotes beat Hamilton in the second round of those playoffs by 11 points and then went on to beat Mountain Pointe the very next week by 10.
Centennial made their money in 2015 by continuously running the football and barely getting the ball through the air. The Coyotes ran for 3,438 yards as a team last year. In the era of the quarterback who stands in the shotgun and can be a threat through the air and on the ground, Centennial have stayed old school, and will run the ball down their opponent's throats the entire game.
Flipping it to Desert Edge’s side now, unlike Centennial, the Scorpions entered the 2015 AIA Division III state playoffs, as a little bit more of a favorite, coming in as the No. 3 seed, entering with a record of 12-2.
Desert Edge were not going to be stopped on their way to the championship game, totaling a plus-69 point differential in their first, second, and third round games. Then, they got to the championship, getting a rematch with the No. 1 seed Paradise Valley, a team who beat Desert Edge in the regular season by 12 points. The Scorpions exacted their revenge, edging out Paradise Valley by two in a 29-27 win to secure the Division III state title.
Much like Centennial, the Scorpions are an extremely run heavy team, outdoing the Coyotes, racking up more than 5,000 yards on the ground in 2015, much of which was tallied by dual-threat quarterback Tehran Thomas.
The Scorpions are also bringing an 11-game win streak into the 2016 season.
This game really hypes itself up, not many times is there a champion-vs-champion matchup straight out of the gate. There is a lot more than just a “W” being played for in this game, this is for bragging rights, this is to see who is the better team in the state.
Saturday night’s game is going to be won in the trenches. It is going to be a nonstop battle for supremacy between the two front sevens. And whoever proves themselves to be more superior up front will most likely win the football game.
