What we learned from Arizona high school football championships media day

Six teams that will play in Arizona high school football championship games were on hand for Wednesday's Arizona Interscholastic Association's media day at the AIA headquarters in Phoenix.

Teams represented included Open Division finalists, Peoria schools Liberty and Centennial; 6A finalists Mesa Red Mountain and Scottsdale Saguaro; and 5A finalists Goodyear Desert Edge and Gilbert Higley.

Not participating were the two schools from outside the Phoenix area, the finalists in the 4A championship game: Tucson-area Canyon del Oro and Yuma Catholic. Both are preparing for their game Friday at 4 p.m., at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe. That will be followed by the 5A championship game at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, also at Mountain America Stadium, the 6A final is set for noon, followed by the grand finale, the Open state championship, at 5 p.m.

Here are takeaways from Wednesday's media day:

What we learned

The Open isn't going anywhere. AIA Executive Director David Hines appreciates how the Open has basically opened it up to create more parity. This will be the third straight year that a different team will win the title. It's the first time two West Valley schools will meet in the Open. Neither Liberty nor Centennial -- both Peoria Unified School District high schools -- have reached the Open championship game before.

"Very pleased with the way it's come out and I'm looking forward to the four remaining games," Hines said.

Hines also addressed complaints that the Open playoff caters to 6A because that conference gets more teams into the postseason since most Open playoff teams are elevated from that conference. This year seven 6A teams were moved to the Open. That allowed seven low-ranked 6A teams that otherwise wouldn't have made the 16-team 6A playoff bracket to be elevated into the conference's playoffs.

"We will be glad to move any team up to the 6A section to compete,'' Hines said.

"Those schedules are brutal all year long," he added, about 6A teams that fell into their 16-team conference bracket. "You have to earn the right to get to the playoffs. There are more. We've had more and more teams move into 6A. We know that it's going to gravitate a little bit more that way. We're just trying to give more people an opportunity."

Saguaro won the 2021 Open title coming from 5A, after reaching the Open final out of 4A in 2019. Centennial was racking up 5A championships before it got moved up to 6A. Liberty was once part of 5A but on-field success and growing enrollment has had the Lions in 6A for a while now. They won their first title in 6A in 2019. One 5A team, Desert Mountain, made the Open playoffs this season.

The AIA isn't moving football teams up or down for next season. This is the first of a two-year block before any moves are made again for the 2025 season.

Liberty QB Navi Bruzon's future in the air

Liberty senior quarterback Navi Bruzon wants to commit to a college in December, so he can get to work there in the spring. He finishes his high school academic requirements in December. But he's had little Division I interest. Air Force is interested. Northern Arizona did offer him, but that was before head coach Chris Ball and his staff were dismissed. He also has an offer from the University of San Diego, but the private college doesn't give athletic scholarships.

"Hopefully, at the end of the season, I'll get some more looks," Bruzon said.

It's mind-boggling that he hasn't had more interest. Even though he is 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, he's proven that he can play. He was the Gatorade Arizona high school football Player of the Year last season and could win that honor again this year, after leading the Lions to the Open final, passing for 3,113 yards and 30 TDs, completing 72% of his passes. He can run, too. He has 892 yards and 20 TDs on 114 carries.

At the same time, his favorite receiver, 6-3, 210-pound Braylon Gardner, has had two Division II offers and only a San Diego D-I offer, despite catching 54 passes for 1,160 yards and 12 TDs in 10 games. That includes six grabs for 192 yards and two TDs in the 36-17 win over Centennial on Nov. 3.

Neither player is focused on the lack of offers. It's all about what they can do for their team.

"We have a target on our backs every game," Gardner said. "We go out there to play our best football. That's how we play."

'A get-back game for me'

Desert Edge junior quarterback Hezekiah Millender is thrilled to have another chance to finish a game against Higley. At the end of the third quarter when the teams met in mid-September, Millender was ejected after a second unsportsmanlike penalty, celebrating a TD, as the offense was rolling. The offense sputtered with him out, then he had to miss the next game. Desert Edge won the Higley game 38-32 in double overtime.

Now Millender is back rolling again. He scored the winning touchdown late last week to beat Horizon 19-14 in the 5A semifinals.

"It's definitely going to be a get-back game for me," Millender said. "They did kick me out of that game and I had to miss the next one (which Desert Edge won). So I'm definitely going to play my heart out for my teammates."

No consolation prize

Scottsdale Saguaro's goal every season since the Open began in 2019 is to win the ultimate state prize at that level. But this season, the first under coach Zak Hill, fell short for the Sabercats starting with the trip to California. The trip resulted in a 63-6 loss at Sierra Canyon, where quarterback Mason Bray was knocked out of the game with a lower-leg injury.

Bray was in a boot for four weeks. However, after a few games getting reacclimated, and with senior Jaedon Matthews now running wild, the Sabercats are seizing this 6A championship opportunity against a Red Mountain team that lost its last five regular-season games before flipping the switch, and pulling out its last two playoff games in overtime.

"We notice that, at the end of the day, it's an opportunity," Matthews said. "I know we expected the Open. I think everybody in here expected the Open. But we faced adversity in the season, injuries, our schedule was really, really, really hard, and we came through it. And now we're playing our best. The opportunity shows we still have potential."

Championship path paved with adversity

Desert Edge was first up at the podium when teams were introduced.

Co-head coach Marcus Carter spoke first with heartfelt words, and explained why he and his brother Mark left South Mountain in January 2020 for Desert Edge. That last South Mountain team they coached went 7-3 in 2019 and didn’t get into the playoffs due to the lack of power points, a schedule weakened by playing Phoenix Union High School District teams. To take teams to the playoffs, they felt they had to go to a school like Desert Edge, which had been an established playoff team.

“We came to compete for championships,” Marcus said. “We had the unfortunate reality that we weren’t going to do that at South Mountain in our coaching careers. So we made the decision to go to Desert Edge, where we could be among the elite like the Higleys, Saguaros, Centennials and Red Mountains. And in four years we made it here."

It was a path paved with adversity for Mark.

"Two years ago, coming from camp my brother almost died due to complication from Crohn’s (disease)," Marcus said. "The next year, his house almost burned down."

Marcus went on to thank mentors in the twins' lives, such as former Cactus coach Larry Fetkenhier, former Liberty coach Mark Smith, former Central coach Jon Clanton and former Tolleson coach Todd Nelson for helping them.

“They poured into us to make sure we’re the coaches we are today,” Marcus said.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona HS football championships media day highlights