It’s crunch time for Southern Arizona high school football.
The 3A and 2A conferences close out their regular seasons on Friday and the big schools play their penultimate games. Translation: 2023 Arizona state playoff berths, tournament seeding and region titles are all at stake.
All games start at 7 p.m.
Class 6A
No. 10 Salpointe Catholic (7-1) at No. 11 Scottsdale Saguaro (4-4)
Location: 1545 E. Copper St.
Notable: If the state tournament were to start today, Salpointe would be the third seed and Saguaro the four since the Open ultimately decimates what's left of the 6A tourney. No. 21 Tempe Corona del Sol would be in the 6A state tournament despite a 2-6 record.
Class 5A
No. 19 Marana (3-5) at No. 12 Casa Grande (6-2)
Location: 2730 N. Trekell Road, Casa Grande
Notable: The Tigers look to move closer to the playoffs with an upset of Casa Grande while the Cougars look to avenge their flag football team’s 2-0 loss (a safety was scored) to Marana in the sport’s inaugural Southern Arizona AIA game on Aug. 29.
No. 27 Desert View (3-5) at No. 22 Cienega (4-4)
Location: 12775 E Mary Ann Cleveland Way
Notable: The Bobcats look to keep their playoff hopes alive against DV before they close out the regular season at Marana in what could be a play-in game.
Ironwood Ridge’s Grant Dooling (11), left, and Buena’s Latavis Walker (8) collide during a punt return in a very wet first quarter of their high school football game at Ironwood Ridge High School on Sept. 1.
No. 10 Ironwood Ridge (7-1) at No. 36 Maricopa (3-5)
Location: 45012 W Honeycutt Ave., Maricopa
Notable: The Rams are 2-2 against Southern Arizona competition, beating Sahuarita and Nogales but losing to Tucson High and Mountain View the last two weeks.
No. 41 Flowing Wells (1-7) at No. 45 Nogales (0-8)
Location: 1905 Apache Blvd., Nogales
Notable: The Caballeros have lost four in a row while the Apaches have lost eight consecutive.
No. 14 Buena (6-2) at No. 20 Sunnyside (4-4)
Location: 1725 E. Bilby Road
Notable: After starting 5-0, the Colts have lost two of their last three and suddenly find themselves on the bubble. The Blue Devils need the win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
No. 24 Mountain View (4-4) at No. 33 Tucson High (3-5)
Location: 400 N. Second Ave.
Notable: Fans of running the ball rejoice as last week MV ran for 321 yards, led by senior Justin Holguin’s 135, in a 42-14 win over Maricopa while the Badgers ran for 345, led by senior Prince Mugisha’s 168, in their 35-28 win over Flowing Wells.
Class 4A
Amphi’s Riley Robinson (11) hangs on to drop Empire’s Jared Ahuero (9) for a sack in the first quarter of their matchup at Empire High School on Oct. 5.
No. 52 Sahuarita (2-6) at No. 27 Amphitheater (6-3)
Location: 125 W. Yavapai Road
Notable: At 4-1 in region play, Amphi leads the 4A Gila. Amphi likely need to win its last game to clinch at least a share of the region title as Douglas and Empire sit at 3-1.
No. 33 Sahuaro (2-6) at No. 2 Canyon del Oro (8-0)
Location: 25 W. Calle Concordia
Notable: Now that they dropped out of the eight-team Open’s top eight (to tenth) the rankings focus for CDO is if they can jump up No. 1 Yuma Catholic and get home city advantage through out the playoffs; if a Tucson area team is the higher seed in the state title game, it will be in the Old Pueblo. If a Yuma (or Phoenix-area) team is higher it will be in Tempe.
No. 39 Rio Rico (3-5) at No. 35 Empire (4-4)
Location: 10701 E. Mary Ann Cleveland Way
Notable: All the Vail Unified District football playing high schools are .500 or better. Cienega and Empire are 4-4 and Mica Mountain is 7-1.
No. 10 Walden Grove (6-2) at No. 4 Mica Mountain (7-1)
Location: 10800 E. Valencia Road
Notable: After missing out on the state tournament last year despite going 8-2 due to a weak strength of schedule, Walden Grove faces the opposite problem this year: closing out the season with difficult Mica Mountain and CDO.
Canyon de Oro’s Izaiah Lucero (2) flies in to make the shoestring tackle and stop Mica Mountain’s Conner Hangarner (7) on his catch and run in the second quarter of their matchup at Canyon del Oro High School on Oct. 13.
No. 25 Catalina Foothills (3-5) at No. 31 Pueblo (3-5)
Location: 3500 S. 12th Ave.
Notable: The streaky Falcons lost three in a row, then won two in a row and then lost the last two. The Warriors have lost four in a row.
No. 32 Douglas (4-4) at No. 48 Rincon/University (2-6)
Location: 421 N. Arcadia Avenue
Notable: On Friday, Rincon will celebrate the school's 65th anniversary. There will be a reception for alumni at 5 p.m., a campus tour at 5:45 p.m. and those that attend the tour will be recognized at half-time.
Class 3A
No. 1 Bullhead City Mohave (9-0) at No. 7 Sabino (6-3)
Location: 5000 N. Bowes Road
Notable: Mohave plays home games inside, at Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse. It seats 4,000. Among the college courts the school has on hand for use during basketball season: ones from Syracuse, Texas Tech and Nevada.
No. 11 Pusch Ridge Christian (6-3) at No. 14 Safford (4-5)
Location: 1400 W. Bulldog Blvd., Safford
Notable: After losing three of their last four, the Lions look secure a state tournament berth and maybe even get back into hosting a first round game.
Class 2A
No. 7 Tanque Verde (7-2) at No. 24 Benson (4-5)
Location: 360 S. Patagonia St, Benson
Notable: Although 2A has seven at large bids, there aren’t any potential bid stealers so the seedings will reflect the rankings as the Hawks try to host a home playoff game for the first time. If Catalina upsets Willcox, TV can win the region by beating Benson.
No. 14 Willcox (5-4) at No. 36 Catalina (3-6)
Location: 3645 E. Pima St.
Notable: The Trojans have lost six in a row after their 3-0 start but if they finish 3-7 then it would be their best record since 2018 when they went 3-7 at the 3A level.
No. 37 Palo Verde (2-7) at No. 12 Tombstone (7-2)
Location: 1211 N. Yellow Jacket Way, Tombstone
Notable: Last week PV beat fellow TUSD small school Catalina 34-14 to snap a five game losing streak. Although Palo Verde did have a slight advantage since the school's enrollment is 699 and Catalina’s is 628.
VIDEO: Ironwood Ridge junior WR Aiden Norris catches the ball over the middle and completes the 69-yard touchdown play during the Knighthawks' 37-22 win over Tucson High School Oct. 6, 2023 in Oro Valley. (James Kelley/Special to the Arizona Daily Star)
