Glad Basha won...... I needed that 1 point in pickem'

My confidence level was 1 meaning I wasn't very confident.

Basha looks like a TL team. their OLine is Huge!.... Don't like their QB though.... They said he is committed to Princeton but he does not throw a good ball....

Guy has D1 size and the previous two Basha QBs are at Power 4 schools. Those things being what they are, there's a reason Princeton is the best opportunity for him (he doesn't have FBS arm talent).

My buddy that graduated from Basha was apoplectic that they were as vanilla on offense as what they were (i.e. seemed to be cycling through the same three plays) but their D was successful in ball-hawking Chandler into submission. Not a bad product for the state to roll out on the national stage to start the year.

Saguaro pulls out of rivalry game with Chaparral due to low numbers.

Saguaro pulls out of rivalry game with Chaparral due to low numbers.

Wow, what's the reason for the decline of that program?

Wow, what's the reason for the decline of that program?

- when Mohns left they had a continuous line of succession that was easily traced back to their 2006 championship; Mike Reardon was that team's HC, his DC John Sanders took over when he left and Mohns was his OC before taking over. They went away from that line of succession when they replaced Mohns with Zach Hill and followed his departure with the hiring of a guy that had only briefly been with the program. Those last two moves came with a ton of decorated, long-time assistants leaving the program.

- a few kids left after Mohns did but nothing crazy. When Hill left an email from the school principal lamenting the football team's affinity for "n-word music" was leaked and the floodgates opened. This past year the AD was forced out when screenshots of him having an inappropriate conversation with a middle schooler went public, and it took the admin 72 years to finally settle on the old Bellevue coach as the next HC. Yeah.

Saguaro was never supposed to be as successful as what they were. With 1200 students they are small for even a 4A school and but got around that with really strong ties to the community and the ability to leverage their success to draw kids away from larger schools nearby (and sometimes not so nearby). This pissed off a lot of people and that's largely why we 1) now have our Open playoffs; and 2) a promotion/relegation system for realignment. Now that they are 6A it's not possible for them to maintain that success without a ton of out of area kids.

This past year the AD was forced out when screenshots of him having an inappropriate conversation with a middle schooler went public

Theme for the week out here is "Arizona versus Everybody" as nine of our top 20 teams (per Maxpreps) have OOS tilts this weekend. My picks in caps, and possibly some commentary on a couple of these:

BASHA @ Orange Lutheran
Vegas Arbor View @ HAMILTON
Cathedral Catholic @ CHANDLER

Corner Canyon @ LIBERTY - I'm going to roll with the home team getting vengeance in an upset, I think the Lions had sufficient growing pains versus Mesa to roll the dice

Lake Oswego @ CASTEEL

HIGLEY @ Dakota Ridge (CO) - if the Knights can avoid a repeat of Queen Creek's 350-yard passing performance in their opener I like them on the road

INGLEWOOD @ Highland
PERRY @ Vegas Centennial

PEORIA CENTENNIAL @ Servite - of course I'm taking my guys, though I have looked up every buffet in Anaheim so I can stay out of the way of the hosses on Servite's line. I want no trouble from any of those young men.

I do think this would be a best-case scenario for Arizona here, realistically though I think five wins is in-play for the week. 2-0 against the Trinity League would be earth-shattering but is probably a pipe dream; hopefully Basha has a good trip and is recovers nicely to finish their season strong 😂

Some decent games.
You should try your hand at pickem'.

It's not too late.

Some decent games.
You should try your hand at pickem'.

It's not too late.

I was on local boards for 20 years and never participated in any Pick 'Em until 2020 and COVID forced me to stay home on Fridays. I won the whole thing on my local board that year and proved I was only sparing everyone else sitting out before then 😂

With Pick 'Em I recognize I go off vibes way more than what I should. Long-form stuff forces me to at least attempt to attach some logic to things.

If I were forced to attach confidence points to these games it'd look like this:

Hamilton 9
Inglewood 8
Perry 7
Chandler 6
Peoria Centennial 5
Liberty 4
Casteel 3
Higley 2
Basha 1

...and even then I'll acknowledge that I'm really trying hard to wish #5 into existence.

Anyone here been to the Sonoran Desert?

Saguaro pulls out of rivalry game with Chaparral due to low numbers.

Really??? Wow. They used to be one of the top dawgs in AZ.

Centennial receives kickoff and get out to midfield first three plays. QB gets picked and Servite takes over just on their side of field.

Centennial stops Friars on 4th and 1. Zeros in first.

Zeros after one. Servite driving around midfield.

Jordan Wells houses the punt return, Friars up 7-0 with 9:55 left in second.