2014-15-aia-football-sollenberger-azpreps-report-highres

Quarterback is one position open as are running backspots. A weapon Skyline is counting on is Truman Tucker,who rushed for 362 yards and caught 27 passes for another402 yards. Six of his receptions were for TDs. Stalwartson the offensive line are Josh O'Brien and AaronNutt. The defensive line is anchored by Billy Uasike (53tackles and two sacks). Safety Zach Olague was a playmakerwith 72 tackles and four interceptions.Desert Mountain: The Wolves have been on a prettygood roll of late with three playoff appearances in the lastfive years. Coach Tony Tabor, beginning his ninth seasonas head coach, graduated 35 seniors and has no linemenwith experience and only two starters back on each side.The best, and he is outstanding on both sides of the ball, isrunning back/linebacker Deion Warren. Warren managedto rush for 941 yards and added 276 yards receiving. Hetotaled 16 TDs. Warren was equally productive on the defensiveside with 61 tackles and a team-high six sacks.This section garnered five of the 16 playoff berths in D-Ilast year. The Wolves have their work cut out for them inthat regard.Section iVMountain Pointe: The Pride has a couple holes to fill, butthey'll have nothing to do with talk of one-and-done as faras state titles go. Coach Norris Vaughan expects his teamto give an able account as it brings a 14-game winningstreak even in losing the likes of Jalen Brown, WesleyPayne, Antonio Hinojosa, Natrell Curtis and TimmyHernandez to name a few. Vaughan's optimism rises froma returning a trio of offensive-line starters Nick Carman,Collin Lambdin and Davis Perrott, lightning-fast runningback Paul Lucas and another solid back from a year agoin Brandyn Leonard. Lucas, a multi-time state sprintchamp, rushed for 1,008 yards and 12 TDs last yearwhile Leonard added 626 yards and 11 trips to paydirt. Atransfer from Minnesota, Tyrek Cross, is a two-way talentwho may be capable of filling gaps left by the same twowayPayne. Defense has its share of returnees with tackleBruce Hester, and linebackers Keondre Churchwell andAustin Cronen. Another southpaw quarterback, GarvinAlston, is the replacement for Hinojosa. Kicker JohnAbercrombie figures to be solid in handling both placekickingand punting duties. He scored 38 points as thePride's backup last year.Brophy Prep: The Broncos would have liked to own a better-than-.500record last season, but the 5-7 mark they finishedwith wasn't bad all things considered. With aFootball Division I Previewpage 12revolving door at quarterback due to injury and injuries atother positions as well, the Broncos with any kind of goodfortune could have been 7-5. Brophy is still relativelyyoung this year with a lot of juniors already seasoned andset to start. Running back Ryan Velez darted his way to1,189 yards and 13 TDs. Wide out Isaiah Oliver was a verticalthreat with 22 catches for 413 yards and seven TDs.Cade Knox got his share of time at quarterback, the positionhe'll start at this year. Knox can also play receiver,safety and return kicks. Coach Scooter Molander watchedDante Diaz-Infante and Connor Murphy do good things onthe defensive line as sophomores, ditto that with WalkerAdams at linebacker. Even with an influx of juniors playinghuge roles, Molander likes the senior leadership he's seenover the summer. The one worry is a lack of depth at somepositions. Brophy's schedule helped it immensely in qualifyingfor the playoffs last year at 4-6. Barring another rashof injuries, the Broncos should eclipse that mark and nothave to worry about qualifying.Desert Vista: The Thunder won't showcase many big-timecollege recruits this season, but coach Dan Hinds thinksthe collection of "good high school players" he has can getthe Thunder back to the playoffs. Desert Vista finishedfourth in the five-team section last year with an overallrecord of 4-6. The Thunder will rely on Alex Farina to leadthe offense at quaterback. Farina appeared in five gamesbehind center last year and passed for 658 yards and sixTDs. TJ Roberts, the second-leading rusher in 2013,pounded out 339 yards and four TDs on 66 carries. Leadingthe defense are Cade Van Raaphorst and DrewMcIntyre. Both will play linebacker. Van Raaphorst playedsome quarterback last year.Corona del Sol: The Aztecs welcome alumnus CoryNenaber as their new coach, their fourth in the last fiveyears. The Aztecs, 3-7 last year, were overseen by twohead coaches in their first 30 years following GaryVenturo's retirement after the 2010 season. Nenaber washead coach at Maricopa for four seasons where he posteda 19-23 record. At Corona he has a handful of veteranplayers to work with in his debut season. Topping the list isdefensive end-tight end Cassius Peat, who has threechampionship rings from basketball. Peat produced 34tackles and 6.5 sacks last year. He is still undecided forcollege with a boatload of suitors, including ASU. Alsoposting a solid defensive season a year ago was linebacker-runningback Elijah Hassell (63 tackles). There arebits and pieces of experience at the skill positions -- runningback Colin Freeland, receiver Tyler Stehr and quarter-