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Something to Prove

In what most state-wide media is deemed the “Game of the year”, watching the #1 ranked Marana Tigers take on the #8 ranked Hamilton Huskies was nothing short of an Open Division game to remember. Coming off of a 10-0 regular season run with notable wins against teams such like #5 Higley, 6A Salpointe, and 5A Buena, Marana has put up impressive stats deeming them worth of a top spot in the playoffs this season. Prior to the playoff rankings being revealed, it was forecasted that Marana would be a contender in the Open as the #1 seed, which had many people questioning their legitimacy, considering their strength of schedule wasn’t as competitive as others in the playoffs. On November 9th, the AIA dropped their playoff rankings, having Marana paired up against #8 ranked Hamilton. Hamilton had an impressive regular season, racking up notable wins against teams such as Red Mountain and Centennial. The Huskies have a great roster of players including freshman Roye Oliver III, Saguaro-transfer Reiss Rinaldi, junior runningback, Jacob Brown, amongst others.

Showtime

The open-division is deemed the most competitive and talented division in Arizona for post-season play. Having Marana as the #1 seed gave Marana the home field advantage and brought loads of attention to the town of Marana itself. Being on the sidelines of this game gave me loads of college game day feels coming from the energy of both the stands and the teams playing. Throughout the whole game, Marana was playing confident and content, especially on offense putting up 2 receiving touchdowns and 1 rushing touchdown. One of the standout Marana players being Washington-commit Dezmen Roebuck, who recorded 16 receptions for 129 yards and 1 touchdown. On the other sideline, the Hamilton Huskies recorded 3 receiving touchdowns and 1 rushing touchdown. Jacob Brown showed out with 242 total all purpose yards, helping Hamilton to secure the win over Marana. 

What’s Next

After taking down Marana, Hamilton will have to play a much more talented program being Liberty High School in the semifinals to see who moves on to the state championship. Liberty had an amazing regular season run finishing 9-1 with their 1 loss coming from nationally ranked, Centennial High School (California). Liberty has been a legacy program over the last decade. Coming off of a state win last year, they are bringing it all on the field to try and secure yet another state title in this playoff run. Hamilton will have to pull something out of their sleeve if they want to beat this powerhouse of a team to advance. This matchup will be played at a neutral site (Mountain Pointe High School) giving the Huskies a better chance than if it were to be at Liberty’s home field. If Hamilton can pull off an upset, this will be one of the greatest achievements for the 8th seed in open division history.

Story: Weston Inners