How has Centennial responded to its preseason prowess as the favorite to repeat in 5A? To noone's surprise -- convincingly.

The top-seeded Coyotes sport a perfect record with the only team giving them a battle during the season Nevada power Bishop Gorman in late August. Centennial is a win away from its sixth title-game appearance this decade. #5 Higley has emerged as Centennial's next opponent. #2 Williams Field and #3 Notre Dame Prep collide in the other semifinal with the winners meeting up on December 1 at 12:30 p.m. at Sun Devil Stadium for the championship. Notre Dame was runner-up to Centennial last year. Williams Field is the last team to beat Centennial in a championship tilt, taking the 2016 title in a defensive struggle.

A capsule look at these final-four combatants:

CENTENNIAL (12-0) brings a 16-game winning streak to the semis adding last year's four playoff wins. The line play on both sides of the ball is what separates the Coyotes from the rest of the field. Offensively it's a heavy dose of the ground game with a mixing of four or five running backs behind a veteran, stout line. Tawee Walker (775 yards, 15 TDs), Jaydin Young (551 yards, 13 TDs), Jeiel Stark (482 yards, 8 TDs), Marc Jacob (373 yards, 1 TD) and Davon Fountain (350 yards, 4 TDs). That's a bit less than 3,000 yards and 41 TDs. Leading the O-line are center Carson Keltner and Jacob Fyffe. Junior quarterback Jonathan Morris has been steady passing for ,1913 yards and 18 TDs to keep defenses honest. Centennial has outscored its opponents 509-64 and its conquests include Casteel, Cienega, Sunrise Mountain, Sunnsylope and Ironwood Ridge --all playoff teams and all via rout. Its defense has registered 52 sacks and is allowing only 67 yards rushing per game. 2018 playoff conquests: 49-10 over Sunnyslope; 55-7 over Cienega.

HIGLEY (9-3) punched its ticket to the semis by reversing a lopsided loss to #4 Casteel in the quarterfinals with a 34-27 victory. In late September, Higley fell to Casteel, 56-24. This is the third year in a row Higley has reached the semis - the last two in 4A.  It's only title-game appearance was in 2006. Higley is defined by its offense. Senior quarterback Spencer Brasch is the focal point. In the loss to Casteel in the regular season he was limited to 258 yards passing and threw as many picks (2) as TDs. In the playoff win over Casteel, he produced nearly 400 yards passing, four TDs and no picks. Higley has a handful of outstanding individuals on defense, led by D-linemen Ty Robinson, Logan Maxwell and Jason Harris. The trio has combined for 30 sacks, but the Knights' 368 points allowed (30 per game) often doesn't bode well deep in the playoffs. Higley will have to be tough against the run facing Centennial. 2018 playoff conquests:  47-21 over Ironwood Ridge; 34-27 over Casteel.

WILLIAMS FIELD (11-1) is riding an 11-game winning streak. Defense usually gets it done for the Blackhawks as it did again last week in downing Sunrise Mountain by a touchdown in the quarterfinals. Williams Field allows 16 points a game and that number would be less if not for the 49 points it gave up in a season-opening loss to California power Norco. Williams Field has faced top-flight QBs often this season -- Casteel's Gunner Cruz, Sunrise Mountain's Keegan Freid, Gilbert's Will Plummer, Marana's Trenton Bourguet and Higley's Brasch. Only Freid has enjoyed a huge day aginst the Blackhawks in the first of their two meetings. Williams Field has been tough up front and the secondary is outstanding with 23 interceptions on the year. Senior quarterback Zack Shepherd consistently manages game's well and the backfield tandem of Jaden Thompson and Kendrix Lurry give the ground game enough traction. 2018 playoff conquests: 42-7 over Maricopa; 21-14 over Sunrise Mountain. 

NOTRE DAME PREP (12-0) was close to starting over after massive graduation from last year's runner-up squad. The Saints haven't skipped a beat with a second consecutive perfect regular season. The key player who didn't nab a diploma last year is versatile Jake Smith. Smith picked up where he left off last year contributing plenty of offense as a ball carrier and receiver. Smith leads Notre Dame Prep in receiving with 44 catches for 958 yards and 20 TDs. He's added 715 yards rushing and 15 TDs. Junior Dominick Mastro has stepped in as the featured back. Mastro has shredded defenses for 1, 325 yards and 11 TDs after getting his feet wet at the position last year. Senior quarterback Jake Farrell hasn't allowed any dropoff at quarterback getting his chance to be the starter this year. He's upped the ante a bit by throwing for 2,842 yards and 38 TDs with only seven picks. Notre Dame put up 350 yards of offense last week in eliminating Millennium, even thought it tallied a season-low 14 points. The defense posted a shutout.Notre Dame's schedule isn't on par with the other three semfinalists in terms of rigor, but the Saints 25-1 record the past two seasons is proof enough they are worthy. 2018 playoff conquests:  46-30 over Gilbert; 14-0 over Millennium.