Region Breakdown: 5A Desert West
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An isnide look at the 5A Desert West: Desert Edge Desert Edge enteres the 2022 season with a plethora of young talent. They come off a 10–3 season and a playoff loss from 2021, and even made an open division…
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Continue ReadingAn isnide look at the 5A Desert West:
Desert Edge
Desert Edge enteres the 2022 season with a plethora of young talent. They come off a 10–3 season and a playoff loss from 2021, and even made an open division playoff appearence in 2020, consistently establishing themelves as a west valley powerhouse. Although they have some key losses in Adryan Lara (Kansas State) and Gavin Broscious (Michigan State), they have some young talent that looks more than ready to step up. 2025 QB Hezekiah Millender Hezekiah Millender 6'3" | 195 lbs | QB Desert Edge | 2025 GA has looked electric throughout the offseason and from his 2021 film, and he’ll have some solid weapons around him with Christopher Cordero, Vinny Mansfield Vinny Mansfield 5'10" | 180 lbs | WR Desert Edge | 2023 State AZ , and Gavin Parks Gavin Parks 6'1" | 180 lbs | WR Desert Edge | 2023 State AZ . Kaleb Jackson-Carter Kaleb Jackson-Carter 6'5" | 270 lbs | OL Desert Edge | 2023 State AZ is the newcomer that will be the anchor of that OL and have some big shoes to fill as well. Defensively, DEHS is stacked returning some big time prospects in Aundre Gibson Aundre Gibson 5'11" | 175 lbs | DB Desert Edge | 2024 State AZ , Jaylen Dawson Jaylen Dawson 6'1" | 225 lbs | LB Desert Edge | 2024 State AZ , Maxwell Sawyer, Jaden Pyrah Jaden Pyrah 6'1" | 185 lbs | DB Desert Edge | 2023 State AZ and Deshawn Warner Deshawn Warner 6'4" | 225 lbs | DL Desert Edge | 2024 State AZ .
Cactus
Cactus comes off an undefeated 2021 regular season, then lost their first and only game in the open division playoffs to the eventual champion Saguaro 42-21. However, that score on paper doesn’t match how tight of a game it actually was, as it was one of the toughest and meanest second half performances I’ve seen thus far. Cactus is always a tough and scrappy team that will fight it out for all 4 quarters. They’ll return a lethal 1-2 punch with Will Galvan Will Galvan 5'9" | 160 lbs | ATH Cactus | 2023 State AZ and Damian Jiles Damian Jiles 5'8" | 200 lbs | RB Cactus | 2023 State AZ , along with WR Polo Banuelos Polo Banuelos 5'9" | 165 lbs | DB Cactus | 2023 State AZ . Their QB situaion should be fun to watch, as they have 3 guys that can fill that role with Galvan, Braiden Lagafuaina Braiden Lagafuaina 6'3" | 175 lbs | ATH Cactus | 2024 State AZ , and transfer from Deer Valley Rudy Gonzales Rudy Gonzales 6'0" | 170 lbs | QB Deer Valley | 2023 State AZ . Galvan has the tendency to play multiple positions and excel from anywhere, so it’ll be intersting to see what that offense looks like week 1.
Sunrise Mountain
Sunrise Mountain comes off a 7-5 season, with all of their losses coming against high calibur programs. They return a big time player in WR Micah Johnson Micah Johnson 6'3" | 185 lbs | WR Sunrise Mountain | 2023 State AZ , who has continues to establish himself as one of the top 2023 WR’s in the state. Another kid I think could add a big spark to that Sunrise offense is QB Austin Glimpse Austin Glimpse 6'5" | 205 lbs | QB Centennial | 2023 State AZ , who transferred in from Centennial. Glimpse sizes up with a college ready frame at 6’5″ 215lbs and has an absolute cannon. That Glimpse-Johnson connection could be fun to watch in 2022, and it will be interesting to see how it shakes out and which other guys will step up and standout for SMHS.
Millennium
Millennium comes off a 5-6 season, but again, all of those losses were close games as they always play everybody tough. They do lose a major part of that offense in QB Blake Sparks (Northern Michigan), who I believe was one of the most underrated players in the state last year. However, they’ll return their standout 2024 RB Zues Pindernation Zues Pindernation 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Millennium | 2024 State AZ , DB Eric Rivera, and DB Shahid Wilson Shahid Wilson 5'11" | 180 lbs | DB Millennium | 2023 State AZ . There’s going to have to be other guys on that squad that’ll have to step up in order to compete for the region. One of those guys i’m looking forward to watching is QB Titus Johnson Titus Johnson 6'3" | 215 lbs | QB Millennium | 2024 AZ . He’s an athletic kid with a ton to prove and should have a big opportinuty to do so here in 2022. Overall, a talented team that could be a compeitior if they can put it all together this fall.
Verrado
Verrado comes off a 7-4 season and is actually a similar to Millennium in terms of competitiveness as they play everyone really tough. They return a handful of guys that I really like and think could be a huge difference maker in 2022 which include Nathan Bilski Nathan Bilski 6'1" | 210 lbs | LB Verrado | 2023 State AZ , Colin Tibbs Colin Tibbs 5'10" | 170 lbs | DB Verrado | 2023 State AZ , and Erick Santiago Erick Santiago 5'9" | 160 lbs | QB Verrado | 2023 State AZ . Verrado has a talented 2023 class that should bring a ton of maturity and leadership into the fall, which could be the difference from last year as they’ll have a better shot at nudging out close games in 2022 than they did in 2021. I think they can be a sneaky team in 5A and take a major leap from last season to this season, and I wouldn’t be suprised if we see them land a significant playoff seeding and compete. Definitely looking forward to seeing how this season plays out, as they have some solid potntial over there.