2012 Arizona High School Football Championship Preview

by Jeff Fisher
Editor-in-Chief
High School Football America
Follow @HSFBamerica

After an 0-2 start that came on the heels of a loss in last year's state championship game, Hamilton (11-2) finds itself back in familiar territory.

The Huskies will played Mountain Pointe next Saturday at noon in the Arizona Division I championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium.  It will be Chandler Hamilton's fifth straight appearance in the championship game, having won three straight titles from 2008-2010. 

Last year Desert Vista beat Hamilton in the championship game, which snapped the Huskies 53-game win streak.

Mountain Pointe will be playing in the school's first-ever state football championship game. 

The game is a rematch of the season-opener between the two won by Mountain Pointe 17-14.  Mountain Pointe has a strong running game led by Garette Craig and Thomas Warren, who have combined for over 2,400 yards this season.

In Division II, Ironwood Ridge will take-on Centennial on Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. 

These two also met during the regular season with Ironwood Ridge winning 28-24 in September.  Centennial has won three state championships since 2006.

Centennial's offense has been very good lately, having topped the 40 point mark in six of the last seven games. Ironwood Ridge running back Anthony Braunreiter is hard to stop with over 1,600 yards rushing and 25 TDs.

In Division III, like Mountain Pointe Pointe, Desert Edge (13-0) will playing in its first title game.  Desert Edge will play Queen Creek (13-0) on Saturday in Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium.

In Division IV, defending state champ Blue Ridge (14-0) will meet Seton Catholic (12-1). Blue Ridge, under head coach Paul Moro, will be going after its 13th overall state championship.  Moro is only one of four coaches in Arizona with more than 300 wins.

In Division V, Northwest Christian (12-1) will be trying to win its second state title in three years when it meets Morenci (13-0).