By Richard Smith
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X: @rsmithYWV

Desert Edge is the veteran far West Valley flag football playoff team and will play rival Verrado in a 5A first round game at 6 p.m. tonight.

A win over defending state champ Canyon View 18-12 meant a lot to the program, Coach Sean Ellicott said.

"It sent a message within our team that we can win close games, and that we can play with anyone. We have used it throughout the season for motivation and reminder. 'We won against Canyon View because we played as a team, we have to play that way tonight,' etc," he said. 

Seniors leaders that have helped the Scorpions get to the playoffs are QB/FS Andrea Garcia, WR/SS Alexa Salinas, RB/CB Grace Bryant  and C/LB Deziare Torres. 

"We currently have 13 seniors in the program. Most of them made the playoffs their sophomore, junior, and now senior year. A playoff win would mean so much to them, and would be a great way to end their flag football careers at Desert Edge," Ellicott said. "It would be especially meaningful against Verrado. They are coached well, and they play tough, physical football."

Paradise Honors is in its second year and won its first region title, finishing strong at 11-2.

"The thing that impressed me the most with the ladies this year was how locked in this year the ladies are They never got to high or to low , played with sense of urgency this season. Aspect that improved during the season the most, on defense not giving up the big plays also on offense the turnovers we are protecting the ball better," Coach Louis Faison said.

The #9 seed  Panthers play at #8 ALA Gilbert North tonight in the 4A first round. The Eagles also come in on a roll.

"They have a WR with 20 receiving TDS and the QB has almost 40 TD passes.  Will be a huge challenge for are defense tonight to keep them contained. Defense must communicate & run to the ball tonight to help are offense out. ALA is a very well coached team," Faison said.

Meanwhile, Highland Prep is the only first year West Valley program to make this year's playoffs.

Coach Caleb Cajtaml said to create a foundation for the program with playoff expectations is huge.

"I think that with those expectations comes a level of accountability required by all the athletes to even begin considering competing at that level. Having that standard from the jump moving forward does a lot for how the athletes conduct themselves as a team and as people. On top of that, we had a rough start to our season, just with being new to the sport and those growing pains, and it required a 4-2 finish from us to make the playoffs. I think the lessons learned by the athletes in terms of what it takes to turn around a season—those are invaluable to us, and I hope have done a lot to show them the value of perseverance, particularly as a group working together towards one goal.," he said.

Highland Prep (6-6) is the #14 seed in 3A and travels to #3 Gilbert Christian (10-2) at 6 tonight.

Each of the Honey Badgers leads in their own way, and it's that complete buy-in from to bottom that's put us in this position, Cajthaml said.

"I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Addison Busher and Zoey Sanborn though, our two seniors and the first athletes to sign up for the team. They've been working since the summer and have been instrumental in creating a positive culture for the group," he said. "Our quarterback and safety, Madison Lawrence, was a star on the volleyball team and decided to leave volleyball to play flag football. I think that decision did a lot to get other athletes at our school to take the sport seriously, and her leadership on and off the field has been essential."

Richard Smith
Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps

rsmith@iniusa.org

Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.

An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.

For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.

As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.