The story below was published in our football program, which can be dowloaded for free. Stories previewing the remaining state championship football games and color photos and rosters of every football team are in the program. 

Even in the near future, when folks revisit the Division I 2015 high school football season in Arizona, explaining what unfolded this year may take time.

That seems farfetched since the division carried just 17 teams and will cease to exist after only one fall run. But this one-season divisional experiment did cause a lot of upheaval, on and off the field, in 2015.

And more D-I tremors are expected when the behemoths in the trenches in Friday’s state championship game take University of Phoenix Stadium’s field. Centennial and Desert Ridge reached the final after sending shock waves throughout the state, especially in Chandler, with their playoff victories over Hamilton and Chandler High, respectively.

Nobody was prepared to see the city of Chandler, the throne of Arizona’s big school football kings after replacing Mesa in the early 2000s, not represented in the highest divisional championship game. The last time that happened was in 2007. 

But it’s not as if Centennial and Desert Ridge weren’t attempting to get fitted for the crown themselves. Desert Ridge has been knocking on the big school’s castle’s doors since 2009 under coach Jeremy Hathcock, reaching a state title game once and five semifinals in the process.

Centennial played in a lower division up until this year, but the pride of the West Side has competed just like Chandler's teams for championship hardware. Under its mild-mannered coach, Richard Taylor, the program has won four rings in seven state title appearances and won 268 total games.  

Taylor is ranked 8^th in the state in all-time wins and can tie Hamilton’s Steve Belles and legend Jesse Parker for most big school titles, five, with a victory Friday. Hathcock is 89-36 since joining Desert Ridge in 2006. 

The former state championship running back for Blue Ridge, and his Desert Ridge team went back to Hathcock’s roots to get his team on track this season.

The team struggled in the early going but made a concerted effort to run the ball more in the second half of the season. Desert Ridge (11-2) has won its past six games since dropping a Week 7 game to Mountain Pointe.

With most of its key players being juniors, Desert Ridge appears poised to make a run at next year’s title as well. But the focus is on winning the school’s first state crown this year.

C.J. Fowler, Jathan Tenorio (team-high 1,326 rushing yards, 15 TDs), Stephan Gomez (10 rushing touchdowns), Jalen Harris, and linebacker Christian Allen (team-high 105 tackles) are some of the the junior leaders on the team. Gomez, a safety, is only 5-feet-6 and weighs 160 pounds put plays bigger than his size.

His inspirational performance against Chandler in the semifinal helped knock off favorite Chandler, 24-21. Harris can stretch the field if Desert Ridge opts to go deep, and Harris also is a threat on defense, having collected 17 sacks so far. 

Centennial defensive end Chris Jules also has the same amount of sacks.

Harris and senior defensive lineman D.J. Davidson have a difficult task ahead of them with Centennial’s massive offensive line.

That line wore down Mountain Pointe in the state semifinals. Churning out top-level offensive lineman for its power run game is one of the Centennial's calling cards.

But this year’s offensive line lost its leader, Arizona State commit Marshal Nathe, to an injury. Still, Centennial went to its well of lineman to fill some big shoes and boasts 6-feet-7, 320-pound Andrew Ruelas, a junior. 

Nathe’s injury is just one of the bumps Centennial has faced in its roller coaster season despite being 11-2. Centennial lost for the first time to in-city rival Liberty after giving up a late lead, costing Centennial a section title. Coach Taylor also was suspended for one game for a violation, and Centennial needed a late-game kick return for a touchdown by David McGriff to help Centennial beat Chaparral.

Quentin Gomez (1,152 rushing yards), quarterback Isaac Steele (team-high 13 rushing touchdowns) and running back/defensive force John Rincon (12 touchdowns) are the offensive threats for Centennial. Centennial is just the fourth West Valley school to reach a championship game in the highest division. 

One of the rewards for that achievement is a short, 12- mile road trip to the University of Phoenix Stadium for its 3 p.m. Friday game. Centennial decided not to petition to play up next season, so this might be the only season that Centennial will ever participate in the same division as Arizona’s big boys.

It’s another anomaly that will need to be explained in the future.

But it sure will be sweet to win a title either way. The same can be said for Desert Ridge as it goes for its first trophy.