Liberty Opens Its Open Division Dynasty with Win Over Centennial
Mountain America Stadium, Tempe — December 2, 2023
Liberty capped a run through Arizona's toughest bracket by claiming the AIA Open Division state championship, defeating Centennial 33-21 on December 2, 2023, at Mountain America Stadium. The win marked the first of what would become back-to-back Open Division titles for the Lions, kicking off a stretch of dominance at the top of Arizona high school football.
The Open Division, reserved for the state's elite programs regardless of enrollment classification, has quickly become the most competitive stage in Arizona prep football, and Liberty's 2023 run through it established the Lions as the team every other program in the state had to catch. Centennial, no stranger to championship weekends itself, pushed Liberty throughout, but couldn't slow down a Liberty offense that found the matchups it needed when it mattered most.
The victory set the tone for what would follow. A year later, Liberty was back on the same field, facing a different opponent but chasing the same trophy — and came away with it again, becoming the first repeat Open Division champion in the bracket's short history. But it all started here, on a December night in Tempe, when Liberty made clear it belonged at the top of the state.
For a program that had spent years building toward this level, the 2023 title was validation. For everyone else in the Open Division, it was a warning: the bracket now ran through Liberty.