Rather than the usual one or two Thursday night high school football games, this week thereβs a handful of Southern Arizona high school tackle football contests.
That will be followed by a 13-game schedule Friday that that features more rivalries and a slew of winning-record-versus-winning-record games.
Here's a rundown of the Thursday and Friday contests involving local teams. All games are at 7 p.m.
THURSDAY
Class 6A
Salpointe Catholic (1-1) at Peoria Centennial (0-3)
Location: 14388 North 79th Ave., Peoria
Notable: Although the Coyotes are winless, their three games were against Arizona football powers Chandler Hamilton, Gilbert Highland and Phoenix Brophy Prep, who are a combined 9-0.
Classes 5A/4A
Sunnyside (1-2) at Mica Mountain (3-0)
Location: 10800 East Valencia Road
Notable: Mica Mountain opened in 2020 and Sunnyside opened in 1955. The Sunnyside Unified School District is almost 100 years older than MM, as it started in 1921.
Sabino's Chance Zimmer (10) gets a finger or two into the face mask of Mica Mountain's Josiah Thornwell in the third quarter of last week's game.
Class 4A
Sahuaro (2-1) at Cholla (1-2)
Location: 2001 West Starr Pass Blvd.
Notable: Former Cholla head coach Virgil Henderson, who resigned in January, is now defensive coordinator for Sahuaro.
Classes 4A/3A
Rio Rico (2-1) at Florence (4-0)
Location: 1000 South Main St., Florence
Notable: Last week, Rio Rico beat rival Nogales 21-7 to win its third straight against the Apaches. Rio Rico had been 0-13 all-time against Nogales before that, according to AZFootballArchives.com.
FRIDAY
Class 5A
Tucson High (2-1) at Buena (3-0)
Location: 5225 East Buena School Blvd., Sierra Vista
Notable: According to AZFootballArchives.com, this is the first time Buena has ever started 3-0 in back-to-back seasons. Last year, it started 5-0.
Mountain View (2-1) at Marana (3-0)
Location: 12000 West Emigh Road
Notable: Mountain View leads the Battle of the Boot series 6-3 in the Max Preps era (since 2004).
Marana's Andres Taylor gets a hug in the aftermath of the Tigers 27-24 win over Salpointe on Aug. 30.
Classes 5A/4A
Walden Grove (0-2) at Cienega (2-1)
Location: 12775 East Mary Ann Cleveland Way
Notable: WG started last season 0-2 but beat Cienega 26-7 at home and made the playoffs.
Ironwood Ridge (2-1) at Douglas (0-3)
Location: 1550 15th St., Douglas
Notable: After closing out 2023 with four straight wins, Douglas has lost three in a row.
Flowing Wells (2-1) at Sahuarita (1-2)
Location: 350 Sahuarita Road
Notable: Flowing Wells has scored a combined 34 points in the first quarter of its wins, including 20 last week in a 34-6 victory over Amphitheater.
Sunnysideβs Gio Leyva finds the seam in a win over Flowing Wells on Sept. 5. The Blue Devils visit unbeaten Mica Mountain on Thursday night.
Class 4A
Amphitheater (1-2) at Canyon del Oro (2-1)
Location: 25 West Calle Concordia
Notable: Last week, Amphi faced Flowing Wells in the Battle for Prince Road and this week it heads up Oracle Road to face Amphitheater Public Schools rival CDO.
Pueblo (2-1) at Empire (2-1)
Location: 10701 East Mary Ann Cleveland Way
Notable: The football-playing Vail School District schools (Mica Mountain, Cienega and Empire) are a combined 7-2.
Classes 4A/3A
Pusch Ridge Christian (2-1) at Catalina Foothills (0-3)
Location: 4300 East Sunrise Drive
Notable: Pusch Ridge scored 42 and 51 points in its wins, and Catalina Foothills is giving up 43.6 points per game.
Class 3A
Safford (2-2) at Sabino (2-2)
Location: 5000 North Bowes Road
Notable: Sabino is 7-1 against Safford in the Max Preps era (since 2004) and has won four straight against the Bulldogs.
Class 2A
Bisbee (2-1) at Catalina (0-3)
Location: 3645 East Pima St.
Notable: Catalina lost 28-26 to Florence ALA-Anthem South on Sept. 6 in the Trojansβ first overtime game since Aug. 31 2007, when they beat Desert View 28-27.
Tanque Verde (2-1) at Palo Verde (2-1)
Location: 1302 South Avenida Vega
Notable: Palo Verde leads the all-time series with Tanque Verde 2-1, though TV has won the only matchup of the 2020s, a 42-6 win last year.
Willcox (1-2) at Santa Rita (0-3)
Location: 3951 South Pantano Road
Notable: Willcox has won 10 in a row in Tucson. The Cowboysβ last loss in the Old Pueblo was 40-12 to Tanque Verde in 2015.
Class 1A
Scottsdale Cicero Prep (0-4) at Desert Christian (2-1)
Location: 9415 East Wrightstown Road
Notable: In the two games DC has played, the Eagles have outscored opposition 100-32.
This weekβs 18 matchups involving Southern Arizona teams
