After watching Saguaro's 28-game winning streak end and gradually wilt to Centennial in the showdown of two of last year's state football champs on Thursday night, Saguaro is where it should be -- Division II.

Saguaro possesses a D-III enrollment, but bulldozed that level of play with so many D-I caliber college players in the fold each year. I've made the snap judgement to myself over the summer that the Sabercats belong even a notch higher in Division I because they've been so dominant.

But Thursday night's 41-21 loss to Centennial confirms what recent Saguaro history shows. Playing D-I caliber teams over the last five years have accounted for nearly all the Sabercats' losses in that span. Saguaro has eight losses total since the start of the 2011 season. Two to Desert Vista, three to Chaparral, one to Centennial and one each to Paradise Valley and Desert Edge. The latter two are the only D-III losses suffered by the Sabercats in that span. And guess what. Those two teams may be the two best in D-III this year.

Centennial and Chaparral were technically D-II schools when they beat Saguaro, but without a doubt both should have been competing in D-I (2011 to present) during that time. Centennial, to its credit, played a lot of high-caliber D-I schools while playing in D-II and held their own. Chaparral also played some, but not as many good ones as Centennial did.

Saguaro's outcome with Centennial was a microcosm of its tough sledding vs. D-I teams. Hang with them for a half, maybe longer, then falter. If playing this season in D-I Saguaro would likely finishe between 6-4 and 8-2. That's certainly respectable and playoff caliber. And maybe that's good enough to be placed there now.

But let's watch how the Sabercats do the rest of this season in their D-II digs. Quite possible they run the table from here on out. I expect them to at worst reach the D-II title game if not win it all in the end. If they do that, and do it convincingly, then the door is cracked open to be D-I next time around. For now D-II is just right.