It’s another crucial week for tackle football in Southern Arizona.
While the actual playoffs start for 8-Man football, in 2A and 3A the seasons are winding down, in 4A the playoff teams are starting to separate, in 5A a region title could be decided and the local 6A team returns to region play.
All games start at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
1A Playoffs: First Round
No. 9 Williams (4-5) at No. 8 Desert Christian (5-3)
Location: 7525 E. Speedway Blvd. (6 p.m.)
Notable: DC hosts Williams in its first every playoff game, in its first home postseason game, in its first season. The Vikings come down from the North having lost two straight but have made it to the playoffs 10 straight seasons, finishing as 1A runner-up in 2016, 2020 and 2022 and state champions in 2017 and 2019 in that span. The 1A tournament is 12 teams playing in three or four rounds. The winner plays at top seeded Winkelman Hayden.
Head coach Jason McKibben gathers the Eagles for a last huddle before ending the day’s practice at Desert Christian High School on Sept. 4. The Eagles are playing their first season of competitive football, in the eight-man 1A-Independent class.
Class 6A
No. 14 Salpointe Catholic (4-2) at No. 12 Phoenix Mountain Pointe (5-2)
Location: 4201 E. Knox Road, Phoenix
Notable: Salpointe’s only losses are at Open No. 1 Marana and to Open No. 4 Peoria Liberty, by a combined 13 points.
Class 5A
No. 37 Desert View (2-5) at No. 16 Casa Grande (5-3)
Location: 2730 N. Trekell Road, Casa Grande
Notable: The Cougars snapped their three-game losing streak to Southern Arizona teams with a win over DV’s rival Sunnyside 32-6 last week.
No. 24 Sunnyside (3-4) at No. 20 Cienega (3-4)
Location: 12775 E. Mary Ann Cleveland Way
Notable: A pair of traditional powers from the southeast with 3-4 records fight to stay in the playoff hunt. (Currently there are three 5A sides in the Open so a 5A ranking of 19th or better would get them into the postseason if the playoffs started today).
No. 44 Nogales (0-7) at No. 5 Ironwood Ridge (6-1)
Location: 2475 W. Naranja Drive
Notable: At No. 5, IR has a shot at a top-two seed in the 5A and potentially three home playoff games. They’re also No. 13 in the Open.
No. 10 Buena (6-1) at No. 1 Marana (8-0)
Location: 12000 W. Emigh Road
Notable: With a 3-0 region record, Marana can win the 5A Southern with a win over Buena. The Colts are 2-0 in the region.
No. 18 Mountain View (4-3) at No. 23 Maricopa (4-3)
Location: 45012 W. Honeycutt Ave., Maricopa
Notable: In a manner of speaking, the playoffs start for MV as the Mountain Lions face bubble team Maricopa, then close out the regular season with 5A playoff probables Tucson High and Ironwood Ridge.
No. 26 Flowing Wells (3-4) at No. 8 Tucson High (5-2)
Location: 400 N. Second Ave.
Notable: A must win for the Cabs if they want to make the state tournament as they close out the season with winless Nogales and No. 23 Maricopa.
Class 4A
No. 39 Rio Rico (3-4) at No. 34 Amphitheater (4-4)
Location: 125 W. Yavapai Road
Notable: According to azfootballarchives.com, RR head coach Carlos Duran is one win away from tying the first-year coach record for the Hawks, currently held by Zach Davila (2016), Kevin Kuhm (2019) and Jeff Scurran (2022).
No. 40 Pueblo (2-5) at No. 15 Canyon del Oro (4-3)
Location: 25 W. Calle Concordia
Notable: Unbeaten Mica Mountain played Pueblo and CDO in successive weeks, defeating the Warriors 59-7 on Oct. 11 and the Dorados 50-6 last week.
No. 53 Cholla (1-7) at No. 36 Empire (3-4)
Location: 10701 E. Mary Ann Cleveland Way
Notable: Empire leads the all-time series with Cholla 5-1 and have won two in a row against the Chargers.
No. 32 Sahuarita (4-3) at No. 46 Rincon/University (2-5)
Location: 421 N. Arcadia Avenue
Notable: The Mustangs have won three in a row to double last years win total through seven games.
No. 5 Mica Mountain (7-0) at No. 27 Sahuaro (3-4)
Location: 545 N. Camino Seco
Notable: MM has a chance to earn their second straight top-three state tournament seed. They were No. 3 last season and reached the state semifinals.
No. 33 Catalina Foothills (1-6) at No. 10 Walden Grove (5-2)
Location: 15510 S. Sahuarita Park Road
Notable: The Red Wolves have won five in a row and their two losses were by five and three points.
Class 3A
No. 20 Morenci (3-5) at No. 25 Sabino (2-6)
Location: 5000 N. Bowes Road
Notable: The Sabercats are 0-2 against the Wildcats, falling to Morenci in 1973 — a 33-0 loss in Sabino's second-ever season — before a 31-28 Sabercats' win last year, according to azfootballarchives.com.
No. 7 Pusch Ridge Christian (7-1) at No. 1 Thatcher (7-1)
Location: 615 N. Stadium Ave., Thatcher
Notable: Not only the de facto 3A South championship game, a win could move PRCA into position to host two playoff games. In the 3A bracket, the first two games are at the better seed and then the semifinals and championship are in the Phoenix area.
Class 2A
No. 11 Willcox (5-3) at No. 16 Benson (5-3)
Location: 360 S. Patagonia St., Benson
Notable: Since losing 21-7 to 3A Show Low, Willcox has scored 65, 45, 40, 41 and 50 points.
No. 34 Palo Verde (3-5) at No. 44 Catalina (1-7)
Location: 3645 E. Pima St.
Notable: PV has won six of the last eight against the Trojans, including 60-0 in 2022 and 34-14 last year.
No. 19 Tanque Verde (4-4) at No. 50 Santa Rita (0-8)
Location: 3951 S. Pantano Road
Notable: TV is 4-0 against SR, thanks two forfeits in 2022 and 2021 and on field wins in 2017 (59-12) and 2016 (55-12).
No. 6 Bisbee (7-1) at No. 23 Tombstone (5-3)
Location: 1211 N. Yellow Jacket Way, Tombstone
Notable: Bisbee has won five in a row and Tombstone has three straight victories.
