The championships are set after a great weekend of semifinal football. In the top three divisions, all three favorites advanced to the finals (although one just barely) and will be favored to repeat as defending champs from last year. Here's a look at how the final two teams made it to the last game of the year.
Division I
#1 Hamilton def #4 Desert Ridge, 31-21
#3 Desert Vista def #7 Basha, 42-32
Hamilton just keeps rolling, adding to the state record winning streak with their 53rd straight win over last years runner-up Desert Ridge. Once again, Desert Ridge played well and had the ball down three in the third quarter. However, Hamilton quarterback Blake Kemp and receiver Kendyl Taylor made too many plays for Desert Ridge to keep pace. Kemp threw for four touchdowns and Taylor was the recipient on two.
Desert Vista beat Basha by pounding the football on the ground offensively. They finished with six touchdowns on 381 rushing yards in the win and were able to move the ball effectively as well as control the clock. Similar to Desert Ridge, Basha trailed by only four in the fourth quarter, but could not get the stops they needed to swing momentum.
Division II
#1 Chaparral def #5 Centennial, 31-30
#2 Cienega def #6 Ironwood Ridge, 24-21
By far the best game of the semis was Chaparral eking out the win over Centennial by a point. After building a 17-0 lead, Chaparral nearly choked away the game by allowing 21 unanswered to a Centennial team that never gave in. A botched snap on a punt gave Chaparral the opportunity to retake the lead, 24-21. Then, with a 31-30 lead late in the game, Chaparral's Davonte' Neal made an interception in his own end zone to clinch the victory.
Cienega, who has somewhat quietly remained unbeaten this year, came back in this game after Ironwood Ridge's Mitch Fischer scored twice early to grab a 14-0 lead. Cienega then scored 17 straight points to end the first half with the lead. After some back and forth scoring in the second half, Ironwood Ridge was unable to convert on a late fourth down and Cienega held on to win 24-21.
Division III
#5 Saguaro def #1 Sabino, 49-27
#3 Cactus def #7 Arcadia, 37-0
As noted before, the seeding in this division was misrepresented after Saguaro sat healthy players in the season finale against Chaparral and was dropped to the fifth spot. Thus they had to travel to Tucson for this semifinal against Sabino, and they still conquered. Saguaro was dominant from the onset and again D.J. Foster showed his talent, running for 293 yards and three touchdowns while catching another touchdown pass from Luke Rubenzer in the rout.
In the other semifinal, Cactus was able to completely shut down running back Sosaia Maafu and the Arcadia offense. Maafu had run rampant against #2 seed Liberty to reach this game, but was stifled in this one. Offensively, Cactus quarterback Michael Putko was able to run and throw for big chunks of yardage and put up more than enough points for this defense.
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