NOTE: This 2011 high school football preview covers the area from north Scottsdale west through Phoenix, the southwest and northwest Valley, northwest Arizona, northern Arizona and northeast Arizona, including Native American communities.

 

By Don Ketchum

Can anyone stop Scottsdale Chaparral?

Bishop Gorman proved it could in last weekend’s Sollenberger Classic at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, rolling to a 42-22 win over the Firebirds.  But Gorman is from Las Vegas, Nev., and now Chaparral, winner of the last two Class 5A Division II titles before this year’s realignment, begins the Arizona portion of its schedule.

The question remains.

Now that the new Division II has been set, a number of teams could be included in the answer.

At the top of the list is Peoria Centennial, which fell to Chaparral in last season’s 5A-II title game.

Centennial coach Richard Taylor has strong nucleus of returnees led by Zach Hoffpauir, one of the state’s top all-around athletes. The senior excels at safety, wide receiver and tailback. Don’t be fooled by his 5-foot-11, 200-pound frame – he is fast and can hit with the best of them.

Other key players for the Coyotes in Division II, Section I are senior receiver-cornerback Troy Hawthorne, junior tailback-cornerback Jalen Ortiz, junior linebacker Wes Westbrook and junior defensive end Marcus Farria.

Also in Centennial’s section are Glendale Apollo, Laveen Betty H. Fairfax, Phoenix Camelback, Laveen Cesar Chavez, Glendale Deer Valley, Yuma Gila Ridge, Glendale Independence, Glendale Ironwood, Avondale La Joya, Lake Havasu, Goodyear Millennium, Glendale Raymond S. Kellis, Phoenix South Mountain and Surprise Willow Canyon.

Apollo is led by elusive quarterback Jonathan Brown. Kevin Belcher continues to build a strong program at Betty H. Fairfax. His team is led by lineman Dwight Melvin, an Arizona State commit, and quarterback Kurtis Walls.

Deer Valley has speed with senior back Trae Armstrong, perhaps the top sprinter in the state.

Willow Canyon coach Mike Hudnutt thinks this division could have as many as six teams reach the playoffs. He hopes his is one of them.

He has a strong stable of players with whom to work – linebacker Austin Desaulniers, defensive back Streeter Turner, receiver Diandre Harding, quarterback Taylor Nezdoba, defensive back Gaetano Florio, running back Antony Thompson, linebacker Tyler Inman, defensive lineman Adonis Hernandez, linebacker Brian Keyes, offensive lineman Austin Mathews, offensive lineman Gabe Swaba and tight end Daniel Andrade.

Division II, Section II features teams from the Tucson area.

Division II, Section III is a mixture of teams from across the Valley and north-central Arizona  – Phoenix Barry Goldwater, Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain, Cave Creek Cactus Shadows, Chaparral, Phoenix Horizon, Kingman, Tempe Marcos de Niza, Tempe McClintock, Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep, Gilbert Perry, Prescott, Phoenix Shadow Mountain and Phoenix Sunnyslope.

Bradshaw Mountain is led by quarterback-cornerback Tyler Audsley, offensive tackle Jacob Julian, linebacker Colton Willey, offensive tackle Cody Perry, tight end Taylor Moor, cornerback Damian Otero and linebacker Carlos Gonzalez.

Quarterback Bryce Kinsler threw a lot of passes for coach Chad DeGrenier as a sophomore at Cactus Shadows last season, but now that Greg Davis is leading the Falcons, the offense likely will show more balance

Quarterback Ryan Stanford graduated from Horizon, so who will replace him. Coach Steve Casey has moved Kyle Woods to that spot.

Notre Dame, moving from Class 4A Division II to Division II, faces a very tough schedule that includes Chaparral and Chandler Hamilton.

Steve Moran takes over as coach at Prescott. He has a good nucleus of players coming back -- running back Dakota Peterson, running back Brady Mengarelli, quarterback Brad Hall, center-defensive end Marvin Pitts, guard-defensive lineman Mike Garcia, tight end-defensive lineman Clayton Lackey and wide receiver-linebacker Gunner Wilken.

Mike Giovando-coached Shadow Mountain hopes to maintain momentum gained from its first playoff run in a long time.

Sunnyslope is led by new coach Damon Pieri. He has a solid core of senior leadership that he hopes will make the team competitive through a tough schedule.