ArizonaVarsity Top 10 Preseason Rankings, 4A
ArizonaVarsity Top 10 Preseason Rankings, 4A
ArizonaVarsity.com's Preseason Top 10 Teams in the 4A Division
The 4A Division is filled with teams that were competitive in 3A over the last couple of years, so this might be the most complicated prognostication of the 2022 season. There are a handful of teams that didn't make my preseason top 10 that it felt strange to exclude so that I could fit in teams from last year's 3A playoffs, and teams I felt were ready to make a leap had they stayed in 3A this year that I couldn't justify including in a 4A top 10 (looking at you, Arizona College Prep).
I have Poston Butte as my 4A title favorite heading into the 2022 season, and as the 2021 runner up, some might think this is obvious, but the Broncos have to replace a very productive and athletic starting QB. According to the AIA Sollenberger preseason magazine, PB has five different players competing to take that spot over, and that went a long way into restoring my confidence that Cade Alissa, Conor Lopez and company would be back competing for a title.
I'm all in on Yuma Catholic being able to make a smooth transition to 4A title contender, because of the absurdly prolific passing offense that most 4A defenses will be completely unprepared for. Not only is Richard Stallworth the odds on favorite for 4A player of the Year, if he does what he did last year after the Shamrocks got moved up to 4A, the overall Arizona player of the Year has to be a reality.
I have Canyon del Oro in my top 3, in part because I think they're the class of their region. If they can beat St. Mary's on the road, they might have a legitimate shot at a 10-0 regular season.
Prescott over Coconino as the lone Grand Canyon region representative is something I went back and forth over, but Prescott's performance in last year's playoffs has me thinking they haven't peaked just yet.
I think ALA Gilbert North is more than ready for this challenge, and at the same time, if they aren't ready, a 3-7 record isn't hard to imagine either. They're probably the team with the greatest variance in what their end of season record can be.
There are three teams besides Coconino that I didn't include in my top 10 that I might be embarrassed about at the end of the season. Apache Junction, Walden Grove, and Lake Havasu all have players that I'm excited about, and schedules that I can envision might work out in their favor.
