Make way for the Chandler Unified School District.

The district pulled up to Arizona State’s Mountain America Stadium Saturday, planted its flag on Frank Kush’s Field and towed three big school trophies back to its headquarters.

Two of those championship trophies were of the big school football variety, a first in a single year for CUSD. Throw in a runner-up trophy as well, and it adds up to quite a one-day haul. 

It started when Casteel stunned defending 6A champ Centennial and ended with sister schools Basha and Chandler meeting for the biggest prep prize in the state: the Open Division title. In the end, the Basha Bears were the final team left standing in the Open after a dominant 34-7 victory over the Chandler Wolves.

Since last year’s loss in the Open to a program that had Basha’s number, Liberty, the Bears set out to redeem themselves in 2025. They atoned for last year’s Open finale fail to Liberty with a hard fought 19-16 over Liberty in last week’s Open semifinals. 

Basha’s defense demonstrated in the postseason that it was the best unit on that side of the ball this year. It also ranks right up there with the 2022 Open championship defense of the Bears as one of the program's best. 

Basha held this year's 6A total yards leader, quarterback Will Mencl, in check most of the night while limiting Chandler to a season low 224 yards of offense.

“This win means so much for us,” game MVP Mason Lewis of Basha said. “We’ve been working since December, ever since the last loss. I’m so grateful that I came here. We’ve been working all year for this, and it’s great. No one worked harder than us and it showed on the field.”

Basha athlete Mason Lewis 

Lewis stripped the ball from a Chandler running back during the Wolves longest play of the first half. 

Basha also caused a Mencl fumble when Chandler went with a no huddle for the first time in the game to try and pick up the pace after falling behind 7-0. 

Lewis scored twice during similar plays, sweeps to the left, with each traveling about 10 yards for his first touchdowns of the year for the Vanderbilt commit athlete. The first one, at the start of the second period, placed his team ahead 14-0, and the second one, at the start of the fourth quarter, left Chandler trailing 27-7.

Just in case the media near the end zone forgot, Lewis put two fingers up to remind reporters how many times he had scored in the game so far.  

Not everything went as smoothly for the Bears this season as Saturday’s game might indicate, however. 

Their offensive line, the team's biggest question mark entering the season, lost starters to injury during the regular season. There was also a loss to Hamilton in the regular season and a quarterback change as well due to injury.

Speaking of quarterbacks, Saturday’s starter, Jake Rogers, performed like a seasoned veteran in the final en route to the Offensive Player of the Game reward. The junior showed off a move or two he may have borrowed from two of his talented tailbacks, Noah Roberts and Joshua Gaines, during a 30-yard scoring scamper for Basha’s first points.

 

He finished the night completing 17 of his 24 attempts for 242 yards and a touchdown. 

Basha quarterback Jake Rogers“Coming into that Hamilton game, I couldn’t get the job done,” Rogers said. “But I promised (teammates) that this wouldn’t happen again, and they had my back. They really picked me up when I was down, and it really means a lot.”  

But Rogers wasn’t the only one who emerged from the CUSD this season to make a great first impression. 

First year-coach Ty Wisdom guided Chandler (10-3) to a surprising Open championship appearance after it finished last year with its first losing season in 19 years. This was the second consecutive year that Wisdom coached in a title game, reaching a final in Nebraska with Millard South last year.

His Wolves organized their best drive between 5:37-3:05 of the third quarter when it went 80 yards, capped by a Mencl 3-yard touchdown run. During the ensuing drive, Chandler’s defense had a chance to hold Basha to a three-and-out. 

But on 3rd and 8 Kash Brock broke free for his second biggest play of the second half. 

His 44-yard reception set up a 1st and goal at the 9-yard line. Brock also accounted for a 57-yard catch that led to another score.

Junior receiver Christian Diaz rounded out the scoring for Basha with a six-yard reception in the fourth quarter for his first and only touchdown of the year. This is the third time in the past four years that the Bears (12-1) have reached an Open final while representing a district that has claimed the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s highest classification 15 times since 2000.        

“Obviously I feel great about it (winning the Open),” Basha coach Chris McDonald said. “But it’s not about me. It’s about these guys. For these guys to have this opportunity that they can hold on to for the rest of their lives, it’s not about me. It’s about these kids.”