Sept. 3-5 football games at a glance

September 3, 2015 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


By now it should be apparent there are no weak weeks on the prep football schedule this season. Among the matchups from an array of divisions are Basha-Centennial (D-I); Desert Edge-Paradise Valley (D-III), River Valley-Yuma Catholic (D-IV) and Northwest Christian-Tempe Prep (D-IV-D-V).

Here's a glance at some of the top contests this week (Thursday Sept. 3 through Saturday Sept. 5):

Thursday Sept. 3

Desert Edge (1-0) at Paradise Valley (2-0): As expected these teams have taken no prisoners in their initial contests wth routs in their games to date -- Desert Edge vs. Catalina Foothills and PV topping Rincon University and Betty Fairfax. Both have outstanding quarterbacks and Desert Edge brings a massive, young offensive line mature for its age. Desert Edge junior QB Tehran Thomas had a hand in all six of his team's touchdows ( five rushing, 1 passing) in beating Catalina Foothills two weeks ago. PV QB Daniel Bridge-Gadd has thrown for 368 yards in two games without playing a full game. Versatile WR Jacob Brown and RB Jared Beamon are two more weapons for PV. Expect something bordering a shootout.

Friday Sept. 4

Centennial (1-1) at Basha (2-0): Centennial has played the more rugged schedule so far, but gets tested through the air facing one of the state's top passing QB's in Ryan Kelley. Kelley has a pair of 300-plus yard games in two starts. Pretty much his norm. Kelley riddled Centennial last year for 396 yards and 4 TDs in a 38-21 Basha triumph. Basha will have its hands full defensively trying to stop the Coyotes, who can run and throw effectively. Centennial wore down talented Saguaro last week and are built to do that to many opponents. They'd like a little payback with Basha, hoping to slow Kelley this time.

Hamilton (2-0) at Highland (2-0): Hamilton has a pair of wins over solid D-II programs (Ironwood Ridge and Queen Creek), each of whom could compete respectively at the D-I level. Highland didn't wait until the final seconds to prevail last week, taking care of upset-minded Mesa High early. Best barometer of where Highland is at -- the result of this one. 

Perry (2-0) at Mesa Mtn. View (2-0): So far, so good for these D-I teams. While not facing top competition yet, they've won games they should. Perry is one of the youngest teams in the division and Mountain View is riding a strong start from the QB-WR tandem of Tristan Askan and Mata' ave Ta'ase. The pair hooked up 15 times for 268 yards and three TDs last week. 

Chandler (1-1) at Chaparral (1-0): Chandler doesn't have time to feel sorry for itself after having its 11-game winning streak ended to national-title oriented Bishop Gorman. Bishop Gorman has a different agenda than most high schools. The Wolves are still quite formidable even with the loss for the next few weeks of Chase Lucas to knee ligament strain suffered last week at Bishop Gorman. Chaparral took to the road in California and prevailed in its opener over Helix High. Firebirds engaged in a defensive struggle there for the most part. This is the Firebirds' chance to see what it can do against a D-I big boy. Its defense will be tested more than last week.

Notre Dame Prep (1-0) at Skyline (1-0): Notre Dame won in the debut of coach Mark Nolan, once a coaching comrade of Skyline mentor Angelo Paffumi when the pair were assistants at Gilbert High 15 years ago. Skyline had the week off last week and continues to play well having won 11 of its last 13 games. Skyline is led by running back Amarii Keyes, who rang up 251 yards, 4 TDs  in his 2015 debut vs. Westview. Notre Dame railied from down 10-7 at half last week to Tolleson to build a 27-10 lead and eventually prevail, 27-17. Saints used three QBs in opener.

Williams Field (1-0) at Desert Vista (1-1): Williams Field won its opener, taking a defensive struggle last week from Campo Verde. The Black Hawks are interested to see how they fare against a D-I opponent (DV). WF limited Campo Verde to 101 yards of offense, sacked the quarterback five times and forced two turnovers. DV tangled with La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif)  last week to net its first win after a tough zero-week loss in the final seconds to Highland. Junior running back Lelon Dillard is averaging 100 yards rushing per game in two starts - season high 154 last week.

St. Mary's (2-0) at Corona del Sol (1-0): St. Mary's continues its trek across the East Valley with a third straight road game following wins over Gilbert High and Seton Catholic. First-year coach Marcel Lopez is having a blast so far. Corona had nice debut last week, throttling Westwood, 35-7, as it begins what may be only a one-year hiatus from D-I to D-II. The win over Westwood, a D-II playoff team last year, snapped a nine-game losing streak for Corona.

River Valley (1-0) at Yuma Catholic (2-0): This skirmish pits last year's D-IV champ (River Valley) against last year's D-V champ (Yuma Catholic). Yuma Catholic has moved up to D-IV to join River Valley. The teams have met the last four years and YC has won ech time. The last three have been close games to the finish. Both teams have plenty of changes from2014 at the skill positions where each excelled. Yuma Catholic has been led in its two wins by a pair of transfers from Bishop Gorman -- QB Stetson Stallworth and RB Wyatt Skurski. River Valley is trying to plug holes left by QB Brady Viles and RB Brandon Long (4.000 yards of offense combined last year). That has fallen to QB Ryan Economou and RB Andres Galvez.

Northwest Christian (1-0) vs. Tempe Prep (1-1) at Mesa Community College: It doesn't matter that NWC is now competing in D-IV and Tempe Prep (last year's D-V runnerup) remains in D-V. These teams play great games vs. each other no matter the division they compete in. NWC opened with a romp over Fountain Hills last week and Tempe Prep lost to tough D-IV Snowflake, a D-IV runner-up last season. The teams have played eight times since 2009 and NWC has won five. Tempe Prep, however, has won three of the last four, including 19-18 last year.