Region Breakdown: 6A Premier
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Take a look at a preview of the best region in Arizona high school football: Hamilton The reigning 6A Premier champs will come into 2022 looking to do it again, but they’ll have to have some new faces step up…
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Continue ReadingTake a look at a preview of the best region in Arizona high school football:
Hamilton
The reigning 6A Premier champs will come into 2022 looking to do it again, but they’ll have to have some new faces step up and fill some big time roles. Two key losses for Hamilton are QB Nicco Marchiol (West Virginia) and DE Russell Davis (Arizona), as those two were clear contributors for Hamilton the past few seasons. They’ll retain standout WR Tre Spivey Tre Spivey 6'4" | 185 lbs | WR Hamilton | 2023 State AZ who has emerged as a highly recruited WR here in AZ, along with defensive standouts Taye Brown Taye Brown 6'3" | 210 lbs | DL Hamilton | 2023 State AZ , Alex McLaughlin Alex McLaughlin 6'2" | 190 lbs | DB Hamilton | 2023 State AZ , and numerous others. Another key kid to watch will be standout 2025 TE Bear Tenney, who trasnferred in from Casteel. TE’s have excelled in Hamilton’s offense, and Tenney has the skillset to be that difference maker. It’ll be interesting to see who will fill that QB1 role with a ton of pressure and big shoes to fill. Hamilton comes off an open division semifinals loss to Saguaro.
Chandler
Chandler comes into this season with a chip on their shoulder after coming off a loss in the regular season to Hamilton which costed them the region, and a state championship loss to Saguaro. Needless to say, they’re coming in with something to prove and have a crazy taented squad which includes a top 2024 QB in the country in Dylan Raiola Dylan Raiola 6'3" | 220 lbs | QB Buford | 2024 State GA who transferred in from Burleson High in Texas. Although Chandler loses a handful of standouts in Kyion Grayes (Ohio State), Blaine Hipa (Princeton), Quaron Adams (Iowa State) and numrous others, they will also retain some of the best prospects in AZ. Returning key players for Chandler include A’Mauri Washington A’Mauri Washington 6'5" | 295 lbs | DL Chandler | 2023 State AZ , Andereya Nsubuga Andereya Nsubuga 6'3" | 200 lbs | ATH Chandler | 2023 State AZ , Zarius Wells Zarius Wells 6'6" | 290 lbs | OL Chandler | 2023 State AZ , Nicolas Martin Nicolas Martin 6'4" | 285 lbs | OL Chandler | 2023 State AZ , and many others. They’ll have some younger guys projecting to take a big leap as well like Kennedy Urlacher Kennedy Urlacher 6'1" | 190 lbs | DB Chandler | 2024 State AZ , Ca’Lil Valentine Ca’Lil Valentine 6'0" | 175 lbs | RB Chandler | 2024 State AZ , and Talib Graham Talib Graham 6'3" | 240 lbs | DL Daphne | 2025 AL .
Basha
Basha enters 2022 with all the potential in the world, and they’re coming in with a ton of confidence. They’re the newest addition to the 6A Premier Region and they’ll add a major spark to it as well. They come off an upset loss in the open division playoffs against Liberty, and have the staff and skillset around them to do something big in 2022 as they’ll return almost every key piece. Standout QB Demond Williams Demond Williams 5'11" | 180 lbs | QB Basha | 2024 State AZ has taken off each week since his freshman year 2 years ago and has continued to play lights out. Oregon commit Cole Martin Cole Martin 5'11" | 175 lbs | DB Basha | 2023 State AZ and standout Miles Lockhart Miles Lockhart 6'0" | 185 lbs | DB Basha | 2024 State AZ have clamped up receivers each year establishing themselves as legit gamechangers. Standouts Deshaun Buchanan Deshaun Buchanan 6'0" | 190 lbs | ATH Basha | 2023 State AZ , Bryson Dedmon Bryson Dedmon 5'9" | 155 lbs | WR Saguaro | 2024 State AZ , Mason Arhin Mason Arhin 6'3" | 170 lbs | WR Basha | 2024 State AZ , Wyatt Milkovic Wyatt Milkovic 6'2" | 230 lbs | LB Basha | 2023 State AZ and many others will come back and add to the stregth of that deep Basha squad. One key loss is DB Jeremiah Vessel Jeremiah Vessel 5'10" | 185 lbs | DB Basha | 2023 AZ , who transferred to Bishop Gorman (NV), but that secondary should be just fine considering the talent remaining. Basha is definitely going to be an electric team to watch.
Casteel
In my opinion, Casteel is a team that deserves much more respect. They were a much better team than their 5-7 record from a year ago says they were, as they played arguably the toughest schedule and still competed well with top tier teams. They played Hamilton tough, losing 23-13, they played Chandler tough, losing 21-17, beat Mountain Pointe 35-6, and played Williams Field tough losing 24-14. Last year, if you put Casteel in any other region in 6A, they potentially win it or at least get in that dog fight game for it. They return some serious prospects which include QB Landon Jury Landon Jury 6'1" | 180 lbs | QB Queen Creek | 2023 State AZ and ATH Jeremiah Newcomb, but will have to account for two major losses on defense in Connor Clinton (Northern Ariona), and Shakaun Bowser (Colorado). They’ll have to have some other guys step up and fill big roles here in 2022, and it’ll be intersting to see which new faces step up.
Perry
It’s no secret that Perry has been at the bottom of the region with some work to be done. However, they’ll have a major opportunity to turn that program around for the forseeable future with hiring of former cactus head coach Joe Ortiz. Coach Ortiz could bring a ton of energy to that program and introduce what it taks to establish that winning mindset and winning tradition. Perry definitely has some impressive prospects whihc inlcude Air Force commit Aiden Herring Aiden Herring 6'3" | 250 lbs | DL Perry | 2023 State AZ , Jack Amer Jack Amer 6'3" | 210 lbs | ATH Perry | 2023 State AZ , CJ Snowden CJ Snowden 6'0" | 180 lbs | DB Perry | 2023 State AZ and a handful of others who will need to step up big. It’s going to be tough, but with the addition of coach Ortiz and the talent at Perry, I expect their program to take a big upward trajectory starting this season.