FOOTBALL: Division III Championship Preview

November 26, 2015 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Division III State Championship

 

Arizona Stadium, 11 a.m.

Saturday, Nov. 28

No. 1 Paradise Valley vs. No. 3 Desert Edge

 

THE HISTORY

 

Paradise Valley (13-0) has gone undefeated since moving down from Division II this fall. The Trojans made it to the quarterfinal round last year and finished with a record of 10-2. It was the program's best record since 2004.

This will be the first championship appearance for the school and for head coach Greg Davis. Davis is in his second year with Paradise Valley and has a record of 23-2. Davis spent three years at Cactus Shadows prior to moving over to coach the Trojans.

Desert Edge (11-2) has had an incredible run since Rich Wellbrock took over in 2010. In that time, Wellbrock has built a 63-13 record which averages out to over 10 wins a year. The Scorpions reached the 2012 championship game where they lost to Queen Creek 9-7.

Desert Edge made it to the semifinal round in 2013 and the quarterfinal round last year.

Paradise Valley defeated Desert Edge 33-21 on Sept. 3. and then Desert Edge lost to Chaparral the following week. There have been no close calls since and the Scorpions win streak includes an 83-point outburst at Agua Fria. 

 

THE PLAYERS

 

PV: Senior quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd has thrown for over 3,800 yards this year and just over 9,000 in his career. The University of Washington commit also has 112 touchdown passes in his career including 44 this year.

Bridge-Gadd has trio of big senior receivers with Jacob Brown leading the way with 1,532 yards. Aron Smith has pulled down 889 yards and Jim Dragon has added 810. Brown has 21 TD receptions.

Bridge-Gadd has also rushed for almost 600 yards but Jr. Jared Beamon has collected over 1,100 yards with 20 TDs. Bridge-Gadd has 16 rushing TDs.

Sophomore Max Seifer has 116 tackles and Sr. LB Grayson Fattaleh has 112. Sr. Manny Martinez has over 10 sacks.

DE: Jr. QB Tehran Thomas missed three games due to a foot injury but he still managed to throw for over 1,000 yards to go along with his 1,400 yards rushing. So. RB Rocky Perez has also passed the 1,000-yard mark and Jr. Roshaun Johnson has added almost 700 more. Thomas has thrown for 16 TDs and has rushed for 26 more. Johnson has 14 TDs. Johnson is also the leading receiver with over 400 yards.

Jr. Vince Delponte has 96 tackles and So. Treyvon Williams has 89.

 

THE GAME

 

Paradise Valley is the top-ranked team for a reason. Well, actually several reasons but most of those reasons begin and end with Bridge-Gadd. His individual 4,500 yards of offense would be a dream for several teams.

He rushed for 117 yards and threw for 354 yards against Desert Edge and collected five TDs in the process but, still, Paradise Valley only won that game 33-21.

But Thomas was not the QB for Desert Edge that day. Sr. Alias Sturges filled in while Thomas was injured and he managed 32 yards in the loss. A couple of fumbles also hurt Desert Edge.

Desert Edge was the top-ranked team prior to their first match but Paradise Valley has flipped that around this time. Both teams appear to be at full-strength but the edge has to go to Paradise Valley.