From the outside it looks like Peoria's top football teams suddenly stormed the gate at Arizona's highest level.
Centennial and Liberty are both playing in their first Open Division final Saturday night. The journey here, though, was at least a two-year process - for teams that did some soul searching in 2021 for completely different reason.
Richard Taylor's Coyotes have been the West Valley's gold standard in the 21st Century with seven state titles, including one at the state's highest level in 2015. But Centennial appeared to be crumbling in the wake of a 3-8 season in 2021, its first losing mark since 1999.
