ArizonaVarsity Top 10 Preseason Rankings, 5A
ArizonaVarsity Top 10 Preseason Rankings, 5A
ArizonaVarsity.com's Preseason Top 10 Teams in the 5A Division
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I'm not asking for pity, but 5A is the hardest division to determine a TRUE top 10. My top 10 is attempting to project what the top 10 will look like at the end of 2022, but a true top 10 probably includes teams from three of the eight regions (San Tan, Desert West and Northeast Valley).
In a perfect world, none of these teams get included in an open division playoff, because none of these teams would be included in a top 10 ranking of 6A.
But the AIA, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that both promotion and an Open Division playoff will help create more parity, which is like opening the window and the refrigerator to cool your house.
Angry rant aside, I do like four teams that have been opening round warm up acts in the Open over the last three years to finish atop the 5A.
Desert Edge plays a tough schedule, and is replacing some serious talent, but the talent they have left, and the continuity of having the Carter brothers around for three years should go a long way in helping them finish at the top. ALA Queen Creek is talented, runs a fantastic offense, and has the returning talent on defense to justify being a favorite to compete for a 5A title if they don't get pulled up. Horizon is well coached, and WR Cole Linyard showed toward the end of last year that he should be on everyone's 5A Playe of the Year watchlist. Desert Mountain has a tough schedule, but QB play might be the thing that sets them apart in the end.
I like Cienega to go undefeated in region, even if they start the year at 2-3, and I feel strongly about the star power of Marana QB Elijah Joplin and Apollo RB Adam Mohammed leading them to region titles as well. Central should probably pull off a region title, and be a playoff team, but I have them outside the top 12 as far as end of season rankings.
Higley has somehow managed to go under the radar after struggling through a youth movement, and I think anyone sleeping on them is making a mistake.
The two teams I debated including, and would love to be proven wrong about, are Millennium and Gilbert. Zeus Pindernation and Cooper Zellner are fantastic talents, and either team needs to have a strong in-region run to get into the postseason.
The division I know the least about is the 5A Central Valley, but if I had to guess, Paradise Valley and Copper Canyon will take the region title down to the wire.
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